Liberia

I was driving through Fargo, North Dakota at 3 p.m. on May 20, 2019, on my way to tour a critical access hospital and interview their executives and staff. I stopped at the tourist information building and learned that there were three Liberian restaurants nearby. I wasn’t hungry yet, I still had a two hour drive to Carrington, and I knew I would be returning to Fargo in a couple days, so I didn’t stay in Fargo for dinner. I was so disappointed when my schedule changed and I never made it back to any of those restaurants. I had never seen a Liberian restaurant before and when would I find another one?

It took me almost two years, but I did find another one, this one in San Leandro, California. In March of 2021, some of us were fully vaccinated, some of us were half vaccinated, and some of us had not yet qualified to be vaccinated, so I picked up food from Kendejah Restaurant and we ate in Mom and Dad’s back yard. Dad and I had red snapper. Suzy and Carmyn had jollof rice with chicken breast. Mom couldn’t decide between the collard greens and the okra, so I ordered both and we all had a taste. The food was delicious, and I was thrilled that I hadn’t missed out on Liberian food. If you want to try to make Liberian food for yourself, some options are here: https://flavorverse.com/traditional-liberian-foods/

I appreciated the book I chose from Liberia. Helene Cooper tells a great story and her book The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood is a combination of Liberian history and personal narrative. She reads the audiobook which I listened to on CD from the San Bernardino County Library. After I finished that book, I went looking for a video with Helene Cooper and found her discussing Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first elected female head of state in Africa, and more recent Liberian history at https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-8064/

If you watched the video with Helene Cooper, you would have heard about some unusual and amusing things that women did to get Ellen Johnson Sirleaf elected. To get a bigger picture of the incredible story about these amazing women who stopped a civil war, see Pray The Devil Back to Hell: https://vimeo.com/188872289

After Pray The Devil Back to Hell, if you want to learn more about Leymah Gbowee, the woman who led the women demanding peace, she is interviewed here along with Abigail Disney, who produced the documentary: https://vimeo.com/128182384

I often read The City and the Writer on Words Without Borders and the one from Monrovia, Liberia is one of my favorites. It has a clearer sense of place and hope than many. I also learned a little about contemporary Liberian writers: https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/dispatches/article/the-city-and-the-writerin-monrovia-liberia-with-wayetu-moore

Besides this recent Liberian history, I also want to acknowledge those who were from the area that is now Liberia, but were taken from it and lost their connection with it until recently. There are several layers of Liberians since these people were taken, making ancestry in Liberia complicated. Let me explain.

The first group of people usually reported in connection with Liberia are the descendants of colonizers from the United States. In 1822, long before the Civil War, freed and free-born people of color were sponsored by the United States government to leave the United States and create a colony in Liberia. Helene Cooper called these the Congo people.

The next group of people reported are the indigenous people groups of that land. They include the Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mandingo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, Sapo, Belleh, Mende and Dey. As a child, Helene Cooper knew these people as country people. Social stratification between the colonizers and the original people of the country contributed to the bloody civil wars.

The hidden Liberians include the descendants of indigenous people who had been taken from that land to be slaves. These people often didn't know of their Liberian ancestry until a DNA test pointed in that direction. These Liberians include Oprah Winfrey, Louis Gossett, Jr., and India Aire. I have enjoyed getting to know more about India Aire while working on this blog. I recommend watching at least this one first song, and if you like her as much as I do, then watch the concert and the biopic on her:

· One India Aire song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq86e4Fhja0

· Full India Aire concert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFPaoJZIaAE

· India Aire story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0SBjj4smW0

For Liberian music direct from the country, here is:

· A traditional program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QkltPA3fXg

· An example of recent Liberian music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xl8X6fuE3c

Yes, Liberia has tourism as shown both here https://visitliberia.net/ and here https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-liberia/#more-19461 Would I go? Of course! I look forward to that time when we can travel broadly again. In the meantime, I’m hoping we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace and health to flourish in Liberia and throughout the world.

Photo Credit: Erik Cleves Kristensen https://www.flickr.com/photos/erikkristensen/25106077003/