An activist, philanthropist and former presidential candidate in Liberia, Ms. Macdella Mackie Cooper, has called for collaboration between African governments and African Americans for the development of the African continent to be actualized.
Ms. Cooper, an educationist and pan-Africanist of note, gave the recommendation in her keynote presentation at the 10th Annual Garvey/Nkrumah Lecture Series held on Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at the Smith Hall of Essex County College, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America (USA).
The hybrid Lecture (onsite and online), organized by the Africana Institute of Essex County College in association with the South African Consulate General in New York, was flawlessly coordinated by Dr. Akil Khalfani, a community leader, activist, Associate Professor of Sociology and the Director of the Africana Institute.
The Consul General, Republic of South Africa, Hon. Motumisi Tawana gave the Opening Remarks to kick start the emotive Lecture by Ms. Cooper, who is also an unapologetic women rights advocate.
She spoke on “African Women in the Struggle for Liberation and Equality: Past and Present,” and detailed her struggles in the political trenches in Liberia, mobilizing women, defending their rights to be on the ballot, to be able to vote and be voted for, and very importantly, canvassing their right to access to education.
Ms. Cooper, who left Liberia as a 13 year old refugee fleeing the ravages of war and found herself in Newark, New Jersey, having passed through Coted’ Ivoire, saw and experienced discrimination and racism in the US, studied at Barringer High School, Newark, worked hard and climbed the ladder to the top of corporate America, but always had the dream of returning to Africa to positively impact her country and continent of birth.
Besides running for the presidency of her country and making a major impact as the youngest and only female in the race, Ms. Cooper has founded the MacDella Cooper Foundation (MCF) to educate, train and motivate disadvantaged youth and marginalized women, not only in Liberia but across Africa.
She said that she was challenged, by the “horrible” education policies, major infrastructure deficits – no motorable roads, lack of affordable and functional healthcare, little or no power supply, etc, to decide to return to Liberia to do something to change the status quo for good.
She told her audience that the way forward for Africa was a strong partnership between the continent and her sons and daughters in the diaspora, a collaboration that would tap from the education, experiences and exposure of African Americans to develop the boundless resources of Africa, and make the continent stronger and better.
Ms. Cooper said that the doors of the continent must be open for African Americans and African immigrants in the diaspora to educate themselves, acquire requisite experience and exposure and return to turn around the continent for the best, and ensure that the rich continent does not continue to be raped by foreign interests.
She said that the children of Africa, both in the continent and in the diaspora (especially those who were ripped away from their homes and taken forcibly to the US and elsewhere as slaves) must embrace each other – men, women, old and young, but that African governments must create conducive environment to welcome back these returning children of the continent.
Insisting that the prohibitive visa and flight costs to some of the destinations in the continent should be reviewed, Ms. Cooper, who said she is the first woman in the continent to build a political party from scratch, said that African American investors must be wooed to come and invest in the continent and must be liberally granted citizenships to ensure that they reattach their roots in the African soil and to guarantee that people of African descent control the economy of the continent.
She said that to achieve the desired, developed Africa, there is urgent need to focus on creation of wealth among the African American community, elevation of blacks out of poverty, widespread education of Africans and provision of affordable and efficient healthcare and other functional infrastructures.
Poverty, she insisted, will make unity difficult; lack of education will make wealth creation an uphill task, but with enough resources, better governments can be emplaced and infrastructures can be provided for the people. She noted that education is very crucial because it would create a level playing field and empower blacks to speak the universal language needed to compete favorably.
Cooper, who runs an Academy in Liberia to educate, especially women, also said that education was critical for Africans in the continent to use as an instrument to bring about good governance with respect for the Rule of Law. It will also help to fight the monster of corruption, utilizing the power of the social media. According to her, the poor and uneducated are the easiest to sway by corrupt leaders and bad governments.
Part of the reasons for poverty in the continent, she said, is the fact that most African countries are raw materials dealers. According to her though the countries are abundantly blessed with raw materials, the leaders simply offload those resources in their raw forms with very little or no processing taking place. This denies the continent of jobs and the real wealth that would otherwise have been derived from those resources if they were processed in the continent and if there was diversification of the economies of the countries.
Saluting the pioneering efforts of Marcus Garvey and Kwame Nkrumah, she stressed that the Black History Month should not only be celebrated in the United States but across the world, especially in the African continent, so that Africans can learn more about what happened in the past and from such knowledge, chart a way forward for the black race.
She also hailed several African women leaders on whose shoulders she and other contemporary women activists are standing to make their own contributions to the advancement of the continent and blacks all over the world. Among them, she named former Liberian President and first female African President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former South African first lady, the ex-wife of President Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela and former first lady, wife of late President Samora Machel of Mozambique and later wife of President Mandela, Dame Samora Machel.
Cooper, who has, through seminars, conferences, protests and other radical actions, also been combatting the scourge of rape in Liberia and elsewhere, and generally motivating women and girls to play their roles in the actualization of the potentially glorious destiny of the African continent, pointed out that she will run for the presidency of Liberia again in 2023 but noted that in Liberia as well as in all other African countries, the Electoral Commissions must be truly independent of the governments in power.
She pointed out that if the electoral processes are fixed and the people are educated enough to know the issues at stake and can chose their preferred leaders freely, the development of the continent can be guaranteed, and commended the Mo Ibrahim Index which has been monitoring the performance of African leaders and rewarding those who make positive impact and who permit smooth transitions of power in their countries.
Responding to a question after the Lecture, Hon. Tawana, the Consul General of the Republic of South Africa, stressed the importance of education to the development of the continent, insisting that individuals must do whatever they can to move Africa forward, as Ms. Cooper is doing, especially in the area of education and empowerment.
He insisted that “the destiny of our continent is in our hands,” noting that people must play their parts, hold leaders accountable and develop capacity in different areas, stressing that it is only if we do something as individuals that the desired positive changes in governments, education, healthcare etc can be achieved.
