Hours spent with neighborhood friends fishing in Stockton Creek, hunting birds with slingshots and playing soccer led me to see Liberia as a quilt woven from many cultures. That insight would deepen during my years at St. Patrick’s High School, which drew students from all parts of Liberia and diverse economic backgrounds.
Getting to St. Patrick’s, on the opposite side of Monrovia, required taking a “holeh, holeh” bus, crowded with fellow passengers from all walks of life.
My route involved stops at Point Four, Logan Town, Free Port, Clara Town, Vai Town and Waterside Market, before heading uptown to the fancy shops, government offices and cinemas on Broad Street. Those years planted the seeds that germinated into these book.
My approach to history is rooted in the view that ethnic groups and polities are dynamic, not frozen. It assumes that relationships between groups throughout history are characterized, not just by conflicts, but also by cooperation too. I also strive to present the history of Liberians in connection with the rest of Africa and larger trends in the world.