Born of a warrior queen on a Liberian battlefield, Momolu Massaquoi was heir to two African royal families and served as the youngest-ever King of the Vai people. American educated, he became Africa

We know Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice as two of today's most high-profile African American political figures, but who paved the way for these notable diplomats? More than one hundred and thirty years ago, Ebenezer D. Bassett served as the first black United States ambassador. In the midst of the aftermath of the Civil War, the U.S. government broke the color barrier by naming this leading educator, abolitionist, and activist to the controversial post of ambassador to the hemisphere's Black Republic - Haiti. For the first time, a nation founded on the principle that all men are created equal would have as its representative abroad someone previously less than equal under the law. This movement toward equality proved to be a force impossible to turn back, leading to a wider acceptance of blacks in U.S. foreign policy. This book lays bare the struggles Bassett faced as a pioneer of racial integration, helping to secure Bassett's legacy as the first African American political figure, a man who not only altered the American political structure, but led the way for all future civil rights advocates. This book highlights Bassett's achievements, which directly contributed to the racial revolution in the U.S. These include being appointed the first African American diplomat and chief of a U.S. diplomatic mission, leading the integration of public schools, and fighting for equal rights alongside revolutionaries such as Frederick Douglass. Bassett played a critical role in foreign affairs during the late 19th century, the formative years of American expansionism in Latin America and the Caribbean. 2008 marks the 100th anniversary of Bassett's death. Though he is long forgotten by history, his legacy as an innovator, activist, and diplomat lives on, and his life story—a tale of intelligence, integrity, and bravery—serves as an inspiration to patriotic Americans of all races and backgrounds. Hero of Hispaniola secures Bassett's legacy as the first African American political figure, a man who not only altered the American political structure, but led the way for all future civil rights advocates to follow.

In this book, Ambassador Martinus L. Johnson, Sr. recounts his experiences growing up in Liberia, obtaining an education in the United States, and ultimately representing his beloved country on four continents. Ambassador Johnson represented the Republic of Liberia for more than 25 years in some of the world's greatest countries as they underwent significant political change: Germany, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, and the former Crown Colony of Hong Kong. During his years as a diplomat, he also served as the First Secretary to the Permanent Mission of Liberia to the United Nations in New York. In reflecting on his career, Mr. Johnson expresses awe at the destruction of Germany during World War II and pride in the United States' Marshall Plan in developing Germany following the war. He clarifies the historical relationship between Liberia and the United States and points to an estrangement in that relationship when Liberia established diplomatic relationships with USSR and China. Born in Edina, Liberia, Mr. Johnson is uniquely qualified to chronicle the struggles of his beloved country. His grandfather was a great grandson of Elijah Johnson who was among the early settlers who immigrated to this small West African country under the auspices of the American Colonization Society. Within the context of Liberia's political engagements, Mr. Johnson weaves his personal recollections from childhood of significant political and sociological events. Mr. Johnson also presents readers with his personal thoughts and first-hand accounts of the major political, historical, economic, and social movements that led to the Liberian civil war, the almost complete destruction of the nation, and the major impediments facing the Liberian Nation today in its struggle toward recovery.

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the African Union during the organization’s first ten years of existence. It takes the reader through the various intergovernmental processes that preceded and followed the establishment of the Union and through the workings of key organs such as the Assembly of Heads of State, the Council of Ministers, the Pan African Parliament and the Commission. The study argues that the African Union represented a rational choice of its member states, who saw it as a means to advancing their individual and collective preferences for liberation, peace and security, good governance and socio-economic development. It maintains that the African Union did not only make marked progress in a number of areas; the Union also established norms that had transformational effects on military and political elites at country and regional levels. However, like in most agent-principal relations, the autonomy of the Union was limited in many ways, and this affected the Union’s effectiveness in such areas as human and socio-economic development, as well as in sustaining peace support operations. At a more general level, the study argues that the African Union offers clear insights into integration as a multidimensional process that no single theoretical tradition can explain in a comprehensive manner. The author’s response to such a theoretical limitation is “fusionism”, an integrated approach that amalgamates various analytical traditions in order to provide a better explanation of the processes of international integration. The detailed analysis and bold proposals will undoubtedly make the study appealing not only to specialists in African Studies, but equally to a broader spectrum of international relations and development scholars.

This critical edition of Princess Fatima Massaquoi's memoirs begins with her birth in southern Sierra Leone, continues through her childhood in Liberia, moves on to Hamburg, Germany, where she lived and experienced the rise of the Nazi movement, and ends with her life in the United States.

A fascinating look at a previously ignored piece of our nation's history, Black Diplomacy covers integration of the State Department after 1945 and the subsequent appointments of Black ambassadors to Third World and African nations. In seven illuminating chapters, Krenn covers the efforts to integrate the State Department; the setbacks during the Eisenhower years; and the gains achieved during the administrations of JFK and LBJ. Not content with simply using traditional sources (federal and other governmental agency records), he gained fresh insights from the papers of the NAACP, African American newspapers, and journals of the period. He also conducted original interviews with Edward Dudley (America's first black ambassador), Richard Fox, Horace Dawson, Ronald Palmer, and Terrence Todman (never before interviewed--ambassador to six nations beginning in 1952, and an assistant secretary of state). This unique look at the period will be of interest to anyone attempting to understand both the history of the civil rights movement in the U.S. and America's Cold War relations with underdeveloped nations during the quarter century after World War II.

Captivating experiences from my unique childhood jump start the book. Human-interest vignettes punctuate fascinating accounts of developing the Predator drone, conducting the 2003 scud hunt in Iraq, and accompanying Senator Obama to Africa. I painfully describe surviving several terrorist attacks and then recount efforts to birth South Sudan.