“Our History Is Our Greatest Asset”
Buchanan, Grand Bassa County – Independence Orator Dr. Herbert Brewer challenged Liberians to reject narratives that describe the nation as a failed experiment during his expansive and thought-provoking speech at the country’s 179th Independence Day celebration. He declared that Liberia’s history is its “greatest national asset” and warned that a people who lose confidence in their history will eventually lose confidence in themselves.
In front of President Joseph N. Boakai, high-ranking government officials, diplomats, and hundreds of people gathered in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, on Monday, July 27, 2026, Dr. Brewer stated that Liberia’s biggest problem is not just that many people don’t know enough about their history, but that many have been convinced that it doesn’t matter.
“They tell us that our history is little more than a catalog of failure and disappointment. Some would even suggest that the whole idea of Liberia was a mistake. I reject that view,” Brewer said.
According to the scholar, Liberia’s history goes back hundreds of years through the civilizations, migrations, trade networks, and independent African societies that inhabited the region long before the republic was founded. He emphasized that today’s ethnic identities emerged over time rather than existing as permanent realities, characterizing Liberia as the result of centuries of migration, cultural interchange, diplomacy, and state-building.
Brewer argued that the desire for self-government preceded the republic itself and commended indigenous tribes for building systems of justice, trade, governance, and diplomacy long before the Liberian state was established. He described how Cape Mesurado leaders opposed European attempts to build forts during the slave trade era, portraying their preservation of sovereignty as an early manifestation of the same principles that would later influence Liberia’s independence.
As he traced the republic’s beginnings, Brewer emphasized the contributions made by free individuals of African descent in Sierra Leone, the Caribbean, and the United States while maintaining that native Liberians were essential collaborators in the country’s establishment. He identified William Campbell, David Noah, and William Davis as important African middlemen who facilitated collaboration between early settlers and local authorities by their diplomacy and understanding of local cultures.
Brewer claims that the founding of Africa’s first sovereign Black republic on July 26, 1847, during a period when slavery and colonialism ruled much of the world, makes it one of the most important dates in world history. He stated, “It was the moment a free Black people declared to the world that they had the ability and right to govern themselves.”
Brewer acknowledged difficult periods like the transatlantic slave trade, economic reliance, political turmoil, and civil war but advised against letting those tragedies define Liberia’s whole national narrative. “No nation should be judged solely by its darkest hours. The true measure of a people is not whether they endure hardship, but whether they find the courage to rebuild,” he declared.
Brewer strongly encouraged Liberians to accept both the successes and failures of the past as part of a common legacy and called on young people in particular to take on the role of guardians of the country’s memory. “The question is not whether we inherited a perfect republic; we did not. The question is whether we will leave our children a republic stronger than the one we received. That is the true test of citizenship, and that is the true meaning of July 26,” he narrated.
