Our Diversity Makes Us Unique, Says LIMANY Board Chairman Bility
Speech by Hon. Mohammed S. Bility
LIMANY Board Chairman
@ THE QUADU-GBONI MANDINGO ASSOCIATION CONVENTION
August 16, 2008

MR. PRESIDENT, OFFICIALS AND MEMEBERS OF THE QUADU-GBONI MANDINGO ASSOCIATION, OLDMAN DWANA, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN.

I bring you warm greetings from the Liberian Mandingo Association of New York.Let me begin with a brief history of LIMANY: Where we are and the next step forward.

Limany was founded in the late 1980's on the simple idea that the bond between us as Mandingoes is greater than anything that can tear us apart, and that if enough of us believe in the truth of that preposition, and act upon it, we can stop Charles Taylor's onslaught on our ethnic group.

It was with this Unity of Purpose in mind; where every Mandingoes had a stake in preventing the annihilation of their kinsmen that prompted Mandingoes from the West African region residing in the United States to gather and to convened a meeting in Brooklyn, New York at the residence of Mr. Abraham Turay to search for ways to stand up to Charles Taylor, and to inform the United States government and the world of the atrocities that were being inflicted on our people.

Many Liberian Mandingoes heard the call and came from all over the United States to join this new organization because they wanted to unite for a common cause, and believed that they had a common interest in achieving a common goal.

At first we were called The Mandingo Association. Then gradually the name LIMANY evolved as the organization became dominated by Liberian Mandingoes.

The founding fathers of LIMANY had what Barrack Obama calls, "The Audacity of Hope". Those mostly cab drivers had the audacity to believe that despite their lack of personal financial and political clout/muscle, they could somehow rattle Charles Taylor in his cage and bring some sense of equilibrium to a war torn nation by giving their brothers and sisters hope that help was indeed on the way. Those pioneers had the gall and the nerve to dream that despite Charles Taylor's military superiority at the time; they had some measure of control and some type of responsibility over the fate of their less fortunate war weary kinsmen. It was that audacity that solidified LIMANY as an organization and those pioneers as leaders for the ages--it was that pervasive spirit of hope that encouraged young professionals like me and others to join.

Where do we go from here? The War is over and Taylor is on trial for his crime; Liberia has a new president. Reconciliation, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation are the buzz words in Liberia.

As some of you may be aware, last year we initiated a humanitarian outreach program to send much needed medical supplies and educational materials to Liberia. This assistance is not limited to one ethnic group or institution but to every Liberian groups in need of assistance. During the President, Mr. Abraham Turay's trip to Liberia last year, we were able to donate medical equipments to J. F. K. Hospital, and education materials to any institution regardless of religious, or ethnic affiliations. As recently as last week we traveled to the State of Maryland to donate educational supplies to both Ganta Methodist Mission and to LTI. As LIMANY remains committed to the revitalization of the Liberian School System we ask every organizations and associations to join us in this endeavor. We cannot sit here and be mere spectators. We must contribute our share to the development of Liberia. This is our moment. This is our time to act. I believe that Quadu-Gboni and Limany can work together and network to identify areas where we can be of assistance to one another.

Since the founding of the first Mandingo Organization in the United States, the idea of a central Mandingo Organization or some kind of Federation of all Mandingo Organizations has been around. There have been many attempts at achieving this common goal with some success and some failures. But is it a realistic goal? Is it realistic to have one Mandingo leader speak for all Mandingoes in the United States? Will it be possible to have one Mandingo leader speak for all Mandingoes in the future in Liberia?

As a member of most of those earlier attempts to unite us under "one umbrella", as the old saying goes, I came away with the impression that while Unity in Purpose is possible, Unity in Association may not be as realistic as many would have you believe.

Mohammed Dukuly of Sydney Australia, (a LIMANY contributing writer) in his article UNITY IN PURPOSE NOT ASSOCIATION correctly points out that those early attempts at UNITY involved men and women who were dedicated and sincere in their desires to protect and promote the interests of the Liberian Mandingo Community. I could not agree more. To buttress his reasoning against Unity in Association he rhetorically asked if anyone believes that 'adjectives' like Koniyaka, Quadu-Gboni, or Madinka can ever seize to exist. I am incline to believe that those "adjectives" as he called them are intertwined in our culture and custom and thus will never seize to exist.

I am sure that most of us will agree to the notion that all Mandingoes should in some way come together and get rid of diversity to create a unified community. What will we do with our Christian brothers and sisters, or those that marry non-mandingoes?

Ladies and Gentlemen, I summit to you that our diversity makes us unique and dynamic; and the values that we share make other ethnic groups envy us. We should not and cannot change that fact.

The best that can be done is for the elders and seasoned community leaders within our ranks to admonish those die-hard-unity-at-any-cost advocates, who have zero tolerance for any idea or opinion that is not in conformity with theirs, to pause and to reflect on their own short comings. My observation is that those unity-at-any-cost advocates are muddying this discourse by adopting the old rule of divide-and conquer. If you don't agree with their kind of unity, your character is besmirched, and a seed of disunity is planted in your home in the name of unity. Any discussion that is not in line with their narrow views is called divisive, dangerous and detrimental to Mandingo Unity. Unity cannot be achieved in this manner, nor can progress be achieved in this manner.

Frederick Douglas used to say of such men: "Those who profess to favor unity and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightening."

I think we are more united than those advocates would have you believe. Take a look around you tonight. You will find almost every Mandingo Organization represented here. If this is not a sign of unity, it certainly cannot be called disunity.

Finally, take a look at all the Jewish Organizations in the United States. Their history of persecution in Europe and the Arab world is well chronicled. They did not become the lawyers, politicians, entrepreneurs, and every acronyms that is associated with success because they had one Jewish person advocating their cause. As it is not realistic for one Jew to speak for all Jews, it is equally not realistic for one Mandingo to speak for all in America nor in Liberia for that matter.

THANK YOU

About the Author: Mohammed S. Bility is a 1999 Graduate of John Jay College (BSC;Legal Studies); a 2004 graduate of Pace University (MA; Education). A ten-year Middle School Teacher in NYC, and Chairman of LIMANY'S Board of Directors