INAUGURAL BALL

Today, Martha Sinoe is being inaugurated as the President of the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota. Like Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia, Mrs. Sinoe will be inheriting another broken system and dealing with deep divisions within the Liberian community. Her job is cut out to be serious and she will definitely spend a lot of time in the trenches.The magnitude of the challenges brings to mind the thoughts of the two presidents during the history of the US. In 1961, John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech was so powerful that it shook the dust off an entire generation of young people, igniting them to go forth and do something. Scores joined the newly formed Peace Corps, signed up for VISTA, helped start the Special Olympics, and flocked to the space-exploration program. Scores more would go to war. That the 1960s turned out to be an earthquake of a decade for America was in large measure because of Kennedy's speech.He said, “All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.”Today, with the dawn of a new era in Liberia, Martha’s administration is expected to break new ground in development of Liberians in Minnesota and in Liberia. It is expected that this president will reach out to all Liberians and work exceedingly hard to be a good leader and follow her passion and her vision.In 1969, Richard F. Nixon stated in his inaugural speech, “We are caught in war, wanting peace. We are torn by division, wanting unity. We see around us empty lives, wanting fulfillment. We see tasks that need doing, waiting for hands to do them.” Martha has the hands, the tasks awaits her.The responsibility of this unity, fulfillment and the tasks that need to be done rests on all of us; let this day be one that should bring us all together as we plan to help in rebuilding our country, the republic of Liberia, first.In a related development, the 2006 OLM Inauguration has captivated the attention of a wide range of American and Liberian power brokers. They include representatives of the Minnesota Black Council, the Cities of Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, officials of Governor Pawlenty’s office, a proxy of Minneapolis Mayor Rybak, Directors of non-profit foundations, leaders of the business community, social groups, Liberian opinion leaders, just to list a few.On Friday, 10 March, Miss Martha George, Queen of ULAA, arrived in the Twin Cities. Miss George, who is also the Vice-President of the Liberian community in Northern California, was met upon arrival by a high-powered OLM delegation headed by Mr. Abdullah Kiatamba, Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors of OLM. Messrs Zack D. Cooper and Roger Martin.Others expected to arrive include a top-rated ULAA delegation headed by President Arthur Watson. OLM is also bracing for the arrival of delegations from the various Liberian communities throughout the United States, from the Midwest to the East Coast to the West Coast, amongst several other areas.The inaugural committee has been putting final touches to the program and the atmosphere is festive.Beauty salons in Minnesota are experiencing long queues as the result of a massive preparations for the inaugural ball tonight, and many malls have registered a spike in retail sales for clothes and other goods.After the ball, the reality of guiding the community will be awaiting the President as she sets her agenda and complete various other tasks of appointing committees and finalizing the touchy issue of the new OLM List Serve, Audit of the Elections Commission and the completion of various committees. The BushChicken will be here.