WS Chronicle

The Liberian Organization of the Piedmont (LOP) will hold its inaugural International Liberation Gala, “Champions of Freedom,” at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, at the M.C. Benton Convention Center, 301 W. Fifth St., in Winston-Salem. Special guest speaker will be His Excellency Joseph Nyuma Boakai Sr., President of the Republic of Liberia, West Africa.

The gala will be Boakai’s third visit to the United States after being sworn in this year as the 26th president of Liberia. He was vice president from 2006-2018 under Liberia’s first female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Other dignitaries of Liberia expected to attend the gala are Monrovia’s Mayor, John-Charuk Siafa; the Minister of Education, Dr. Jarso Maley Jallah; and the chairman of the Liberian National Investment Commission, Jeff B. Blibo.

The International Liberation Gala commemorates the release of enslaved Africans from Salem, North Carolina,, their return to Liberia, and the present-day collaboration between the two cities.

Freed slaves from Winston-Salem were among the first settlers of Liberia. The connection between Salem  and Liberia began in 1836 when Moravian physician Dr. Frederick Henry Schumann facilitated the return of his 17 freed slaves plus six others, back to Liberia as part of the American Colonization Society’s program to resettle free Blacks in Africa.

After the end of the American Civil War, the Moravian Church established the former Schumann Plantation as a neighborhood for freedmen, named “Liberia,” which became the historic Happy Hill community in Winston-Salem.

The gala intends to raise awareness about this history, as well as to raise funds to support construction of LOP’s student housing project in the Happy Hill community – the first African American neighborhood in Winston-Salem. The student housing project will be officially announced as part of the gala weekend. The project, once complete, will provide housing to international Liberian students who have been awarded scholarships to attend area universities and community colleges, but lack residential support.

A major initiative of the LOP is to sponsor students from Liberia to further their education at U.S. colleges and universities in order to foster capacity building in Liberia. More than seven Liberian students have received the benefit of an American education at Wake Forest University and Livingstone College in Salisbury. The LOP is also collaborating with Winston-Salem State University, Forsyth Technical Community College, Salem College, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and Carolina University.

“It’s important that people understand the history between Winston-Salem and Liberia,” said Dr. James Y. Hunder, Sr., founding president and chair of the LOP and gala steering committee. “Though our ancestors were once enslaved on this land, converting the property to transform the minds of young Liberian scholars would bring honor to their memories and legacy.”

“I’m excited about the gala and the opportunities that are developing through our relationship with the LOP,” said Winston-Salem Councilwoman Annette Scippio, who is a member of the gala steering committee. “Liberia is a part of the fabric of Winston-Salem’s history. It is important that all residents of Forsyth County know this part of our history and commitment and celebrate a future of freedom for all people,” said Scippio. “We must educate others about this history and support the LOP in order to strengthen the ties that bind us.”

The program will include dinner, music, cultural presentations and remarks, followed by dancing. Tickets to the gala are $100 per person and can be purchased at www.intlliberationgala.org or www.LOPNC.org. Ticket sales end Sept. 19. Attire is black tie or cultural.