By ADINA YOUNG
Observer Staff
Oct. 25, 2007

Movie stars and national and international leaders gathered at the largest-ever annual dinner for Africa in the United States to honor the first female president in Africa.

First Lady Laura Bush and actors Cicely Tyson and Chris Tucker, were among those present honoring Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the recipient of Africare’s 2007 Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award.

At the dinner, held last week in Washington, Bush said women around the world are proud of Johnson Sirleaf’s accomplishments.

“They have every reason to be proud of her,” said Bush. “President Johnson Sirleaf is where she is today because of hard work, her faith in democracy and her belief in the power of eduation. She is an inspiration to everyone who believes in free societies.”

Johnson Sirleaf, who is Harvard-educated, grew up in Monrovia, Liberia and is known as the “Iron Lady” because of her strong stance on democracy, peace and justice, according to a biography from Africare.

After spending a year in jail trying to bring justice to the people of Liberia, she was elected president in 2005.

She managed to bring Liberia out of a deadly civil war resulting in much destruction and thousands of deaths.

“Our leaders in Africa supported by the leaders here (United States) took a stand against the indignity of the people,” said Johnson Sirleaf. “For once Liberia now has the opportunity to rebuild, to reconstruct, to renew, to cease back our future and that’s what we’ve been trying to do.”

Africare, founded in 1970 by African and American leaders, is an organization that works in partnership with African communities in countries like Sierra Leone and Ghana to create healthy societies by providing humanitarian aid, health services and food security.

This humanitarian award, in memory of the late John T. Walker, the first African American Episcopal bishop of Washington who dedicated much of his time to making lasting changes in Africa, is given to a person who does the same.

Others who have received this award, established in 1990, include former President Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela and Colin Powell.