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A review by oleksandr
Madame President by Helene Cooper
4.0
This is a biography of the first Liberian female president and Nobel prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. I’ve read is as a part of March/April monthly read at Non Fiction Book Club group.
There is a lot of history outside of the ‘west’ (Europe plus European colonies) about which we rarely hear and that’s a pity! One of such largely white spots on a historical map is Africa. Take as an example Liberia, the focal point of this book: a colony founded by free black (and Quakers) in Africa, who built up and equivalent of the US South, with them as an equivalent of white minority and locals as ‘blacks’. Fascinating!
Ellen was born in 1938 and her lighter skin (due to the German maternal grandfather) made her a member of local elite. Married at 17 to (as appeared later) and abusive husband, in just 5 more years she got four children. Her talents together with her privilege allowed her to study in the USA in Harvard and get a PhD in economics. The IMF and WB just needed to diversify their mostly western white male stuff, so they gladly recruited her.
Meanwhile in Liberia situation turned bad to worse. Firstly, in 1980 a master sergeant (not even an officer!) overthrew and killed the unpopular president, then, in 1989, the country plunged into 14 year civil war with rape of about 70% of local women, mass murders, tortures, kid solders and crazy prophets. Liberia is one big trauma.
The book doesn’t sing an ode to its heroine, she is real, with own problems, from installing own sons on important state jobs to shifting to local patio and playing grandma, she is a wise politician who has the work done, but like with sausages the process isn’t pretty.
A very strong book about not only her but Africa and role of a woman there. Highly recommended.
There is a lot of history outside of the ‘west’ (Europe plus European colonies) about which we rarely hear and that’s a pity! One of such largely white spots on a historical map is Africa. Take as an example Liberia, the focal point of this book: a colony founded by free black (and Quakers) in Africa, who built up and equivalent of the US South, with them as an equivalent of white minority and locals as ‘blacks’. Fascinating!
Ellen was born in 1938 and her lighter skin (due to the German maternal grandfather) made her a member of local elite. Married at 17 to (as appeared later) and abusive husband, in just 5 more years she got four children. Her talents together with her privilege allowed her to study in the USA in Harvard and get a PhD in economics. The IMF and WB just needed to diversify their mostly western white male stuff, so they gladly recruited her.
Meanwhile in Liberia situation turned bad to worse. Firstly, in 1980 a master sergeant (not even an officer!) overthrew and killed the unpopular president, then, in 1989, the country plunged into 14 year civil war with rape of about 70% of local women, mass murders, tortures, kid solders and crazy prophets. Liberia is one big trauma.
The book doesn’t sing an ode to its heroine, she is real, with own problems, from installing own sons on important state jobs to shifting to local patio and playing grandma, she is a wise politician who has the work done, but like with sausages the process isn’t pretty.
A very strong book about not only her but Africa and role of a woman there. Highly recommended.