Firestone Child & Environmental abuse in Liberia

[AzaniaSpeaks]

From Priority Action Network [PAN]
Contact: PriorityAfrica@yahoo.com

Dear PAN friends:

When I returned to my home country of Liberia, West Africa, several months ago, I was saddened but not surprised to find it devastated after 25 years of war. I was looking for signs of hope and recovery, but instead I found Liberia being further raped by the American icon Firestone. I visited Firestone’s “plantation� and found myself transported back to the American South in the days of slavery. Firestone built a plantation system in 1926 where workers were exploited, the land was polluted, and the country paid a token 6 cents per acre for its rubber resources. Firestone’s plantation system is still firmly in place today.

From the workers on Firestone's "plantation" forced to bring their children to work in order to meet daily tapping quotas or risk losing the measly $3.19 per day wage; to the government denied valuable fees and taxation, Firestone has built its billions on the back of Liberia's poor. In 2005, Firestone took advantage of a caretaker government to sign a new, even more exploitative agreement to extract Liberia's rubber resources for an additional 37 years at a token 50 cents per acre for the largest rubber plantation in the world. All while Bridgestone/Firestone announces record profits for 2005.

IPS is working with our colleagues in Liberia and in the U.S. to stop Firestone's exploitation of Liberia and her people. Firestone will stand as an example to others who seek to exploit resources and workers in Liberia and other emerging democracies in Africa, as well as throughout the developing world.

We have launched lawsuits against Firestone in Liberia and in the United States, and we are waging a public pressure campaign in advance of the April 3rd court date to show Firestone that the world is watching, and it doesn’t like what it sees. Please visit www.stopfirestone.org to learn more about Firestone and the lawsuits, and to send a letter to Firestone president Dan Adomitis demanding an end to Firestone’s modern-day slavery and other abuses.
Sincerely,

Emira Woods, co-director, Foreign Policy In Focus, at the Institute for Policy Studies.

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Priority Africa Network (PAN)
P O Box 2528
Berkeley CA 94702
Tel: (510) 527 3917
PriorityAfrica@yahoo.com
http://www.priorityafricanetwork.org/page.aspx

[Erzulie Danto]

Sistah AzaniaSpeaks,

give thanks for this important message. i will spread the word and send my letter of protest to these corporate bloodsuckers. our Liberian family has suffered so much esp in the last decade. this direct action is the least we can do. towards a Liberated Liberia! Boycott Firestone!

[Baba Ahmed]

I'll print it out and give it too a few Liberians known to me. I must say tho, to me a dot org signals generally to me folk who're controlled by this Federal Gov't. Also this organization's Mission Statement is enough of a sign to me. It conforms, as it must, to a governmental set of guidelines to receive grants. Grants are awarded according to an organization's mission which must coincide with awarding corporation. However, I will pass this message on.

Liberia's history shows it to house a difficult set of obstacles for its Native peoples to gain their liberation. Personally I don't trust its present leader bcause of her lineage and employment resume. But if my Liberian friend is willing to take a "lets see" attitude, who am I to keep saying "beware" for she comes clothed in euro ed, euro philosophies of economy, politics and apparent rhetorical ethics.

I'll stand as my friend does, born and reared of indigenous folk in Liberia. Who's lost innumberable family members during the wars there.

[Baba Ahmed]

I wonder if former Atlanta, Ga. Mayor Andrew Young and/or former all pro basketball player Bill Russell have ties with Firestone. Its been reported that Russell owned rubber "plantations" before he graduated S.F. State U. many, many years ago.

Just a thought.

[Kushnology]

Originally Posted by Baba Ahmed

I wonder if former Atlanta, Ga. Mayor Andrew Young and/or former all pro basketball player Bill Russell have ties with Firestone. Its been reported that Russell owned rubber "plantations" before he graduated S.F. State U. many, many years ago.

Just a thought.

Greetings!

You know what Brother Baba, I too have heard this some time ago. This is something that needs to be explored. I'm going to see what I can find out.

Alafia!

[Baba Ahmed]

Greetings of Blackness, my brutha!

Please keep us informed; Liberia & Sierra Leone face similar obstacles. At least since the 19th Century Abolitionists encroachments.