In 1974, she became Liberia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations,[1] where much of her work involved the transformation of former colonial states into independent countries.

[5] Brooks was the second born out of a total of ten children, and her impoverished parents could not afford to keep her and made the difficult decision to foster her to a widowed seamstress in Monrovia, Liberia.

[6][3][5] At eleven years old, Brooks taught herself to type and earned money copying legal documents to put herself through school.

[6] Determined to further her education, Brooks successfully applied to Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States.

[6] As a divorced mother of two, Brooks could not afford to pay for passage to America, so after her acceptance, she appealed to Liberia's President, William V. S. Tubman, for help; he was so impressed by her determination that he arranged payment for her trip.

[6] In 1963, while an appointed UN Delegate, Brooks visited Raleigh once again to deliver a speech at North Carolina State University.

[6][11] While Brooks became a delegate almost by happenstance, she served as Liberia's permanent representative to the United Nations every year thereafter until being elected President of the UN General Assembly in 1969.

She made it her personal mission to transform the United Nations into an institution capable of meeting the problems of the world head-on by cutting down on bloviating debate and focusing on substantive deliberation that addressed real issues in a meaningful way.

[7] In her first speech after being elected president of the General Assembly, Brooks stated:We have sometimes failed to realize that neither oratory nor agreements between delegations, nor even resolutions or recommendations have had much impact on the course of affairs in the world at large.

[13] She also expressed concern over the welfare and legal rights of women, arguing that they must have more of a voice in the political decisions of their nations in order to prevent warfare.

[11] Brooks had an intense interest in traditional African art and amassed an extensive collection which was eventually turned into a museum in Liberia.

Despite her intention to return to Liberia to live out her last days, she died on September 9, 2007, in Houston, Texas, United States.