I think, what Vince said, mostly. Tribal + cartel loyalist is a good and very interesting RP orientation to consider. The main problem with the Matari RP entity is that there is not enough diversity to my taste (not a your doing it wrong either, we could state that for a lot of other factions). A lot of Matari RPers seem to choose by default the usual "DIE SLAVER DIE" coupled with "FOR THE REPUBLIC/FREEDOM", which is quite normal for a new player not yet experienced with the depths of the Eve lore. We eventually end to interact with copies after copies of the same character archetypes (again, what can be said for a lot of factions, for Amarr its always the common bigot). Which is not necessarily a bad thing. But when people tend to level everything into a standard, a norm, it gets fucking difficult to get out of that norm without being ostracized by it. People forming these entities having had something like a monopoly over a RP doctrine inside one faction get used to it, and when a new mindset emerges from nowhere, this new mindset is going to have rough times before being accepted.
Hell I know what I am talking about, mostly because I RPed in the Knighthood since the beginning of its foundation, and we had a lot of interesting conflicts with PIE and then VI for all the reasons listed above (and probably more I am not aware of). It is natural. Add to that I play a character who does not give a fuck about faction loyalties (except her own) and does not consider that serving the Amarr Empire / Ammatar Mandate is the only way to go for her (she has briefly done it with the Federation before, and she has always considered that becoming a Holder is a burden). It is harder to play, sure, because you always dance on a razor blade, and will have to carefully plan what you are doing and find solid excuses and justifications for everyone of your character's actions. But it is not impossible, and in fact, I find it to be a great source of RP occasions and possibilities. If you play it right, you might even collect the good sides of the "liberal RP" : my character is now speaking with federalists on fed channels, and even interacting with anti slavery mataris. Well, not the first one to do so, you might want to ask Ashar how the character handled so many RP relations at the same time.
You also have another example I find interesting for the cartel : from what i have understood so far, Literia (the character) joined them not because she likes the faction, but to protect people she loves from the Republic grasp. I know it is not the same for Nikita, but you get the idea.
Get out of the mainstream, create more diversity. I think you might still find one or two open liberal Matari RPers to interact with (I have found some so...). Main problem with the Matari RP mainstream is that if you do not actively fight against slavery with weapons, you are the enemy or at least not worth of associating with.
Edit for a sidenote : playing a redemption RP can be full of interesting stuff or surprises. You can find usually "anal retentive" and narrow-minded/radical/harsh/rude (<- pick your choice) characters suddenly becoming all confused and almost whining when something suddenly breaks in their mindset. They can become more malleable, they can also get gloomy or delusioned, or even manipulated while being in a full state of confusion.