A New People One Individual at a Time

Keith Best postulates about how individual Liberians can act as change agents and advocates on their own behalf.

Among the many things the late Liberian political commentator and pamphleteer Albert Porte could always be counted on to do, one that impressed me most was his readiness to say what he felt about whatever claimed his attention. As those who read and listened to him might recall, Porte’s writing and comments, as they related to life in general, liberty and government in particular, often alluded to the “perception of things,” the way things appeared or were desired to be seen, as opposed to what might have been in actuality.

It was not until I found myself at a Liberian social event on Park Hill, Staten Island, in the late 1990s, that I was able to recollect and review Mr. Porte’s constant preoccupation with the difference between substance and form. It was all there. Someone had laid it all out, leaving nothing to chance: the fragrances and accents that wafted out of the décor, the distinct flavours that exotic dishes announced. And as the familiar, singsong chitchat floated across the room, despite barely audible inflections, it seemed impossible that any addition could render the atmosphere more evocative of the old country I had left behind over a decade before.

Gradually, chilled Heinekens, Becks, Guinness and wines, perennial staples at Liberian parties, began working their charm, pulling the guests to the dance floor. Soon they were gyrating to the seductive power of soft notes and angst-filled lyrics: once again, music and dance had trumped war and the confusion it bred, bringing brothers and sisters of a region together as one. Soon, young ladies from The Ivory Coast kicked the party into gear, flaunting their signature mime of a male and female negotiating a retreat to a less-crowded place. Their performance drew appreciative attention. The Sierra Leoneans followed. No longer strangers to the social scene in Abidjan, Accra or Freetown, a few Liberian couples joined what seemed to be turning into a competition. As more guests arrived, a burgeoning circle of Liberians that had fled the war-torn country were heard rediscovering one lost acquaintance after the other. Others joined in recalling their hurried flight from home and new experiences that awaited them.

Many had not travelled outside of Liberia; they had seen Guinea, Nigeria, The Ivory ?Coast, Ghana, Sierra Leone and even Senegal represented by local business people and traders, however. So why had Liberia had not been the commercial or cultural hub they thought it was, or had the potential to become, many of those forced to travel had asked in amazement? Imagine more paved roads in the Ivory Coast than Liberia had roads, though they never would have guessed, based on how importantly Liberia’s political and educated classes perceived and conducted themselves. Still, from the launching of the U.N. to the overthrow of blatant colonialism in Africa, Liberia has had its moment in the sun. Accordingly, following the demise of apartheid, that ultimate bastion of racism on the continent, the Liberian delegation had been the first ?received by South African president, Nelson Mandela, following his ?inaugural.

But back to the party and the emotional dam that broke as our young Liberians recalled the experience of leaving home aboard departing ships with standing space only. The dancing area now a crowded deck, our young men and women broke into song! And all at the party understood that rather than a defeated people, frightened of the unknown, those on deck had been laden with excitement, and hope, that historically had sailed with the adventure of promise and anticipation of possibilities the future held. With their heads held high, those fearless and hopeful young people had braved the ocean’s depths, caring little that they possessed no more than the clothes on their backs. Their triumphant “All Hail, Liberia, Hail” and ““The Lone Star Forever” gave wings to the irrepressible human spirit known to strike fear in the hearts of those who lurk in the shadows, scheming to control or take away by guile, though none could accomplish either. And those that had not been a part of that celebration felt left out and wished they had been there as well.

Now they knew what Bertha Corbin had felt and celebrated, singing the Liberian national anthem on her way to prison over half a century before, at Tubman’s behest; for that experience, Judge Emma Walser and John Stewart walked behind the Revelation Four through the streets of Monrovia singing “We Shall Overcome” to rattle the prison bars in 1975. So let others go on calling out to and waiting on national leaders to do one ?thing or the other. What must be hammered home to those to whom the future belongs is that they burden themselves needlessly over questionable baggage passed on by the choices made by generations past; that, shorn of the burden of care and need handed down by the system their fathers opted for, they allow their nobler qualities to come out; that moving ahead as a group will not happen if individual steps are not taken, though no more than one or two might be willing to move at times; that a “great nation” and “wholesome functioning society” someday might be built on the west coast of Africa; not by leaders who promise them but by those who stand up for what they believe and feel strongly about, especially as individuals.

'Leaders’ will do no more than what the people make them do. And until then, they will do everything in their power to make people accept reality as what they say it is. Only fools abandon what has sustained them in exchange for something questionable, that another proffers. That is why our young people must follow their own minds and listen to what comes from within. That is what will sustain them. That is the lesson of Wilmot Blyden, Albert Porte and a few others!

* Keith Neville Asumuyaya Best is a poet, essayist, journalist, and author. He was a member of the Revelation Four, a group of young intellectuals who set the pace for an era of radical free speech and were imprisoned at various times during the 1970s for their political activism and journalistic activities. Copyright © 2007 Keith Neville Asumuyaya Best
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