Liberia & the Quest for Freedom

by C. Patrick Burrowes

Africa's past and present are deeply influenced by the capture and selling of millions of its people over several centuries. To a greater extent, that is true for Liberia, a country to which blacks from the Americas returned. Liberia's recent civil war, the trans-Atlantic slave trade inflicted pains, traumas and losses that cannot be ignored out of existence. Driven beneath the surface, they corrode our conscience and erode our humanity. By pretending they did not happen, we destroy our ability to tell right from wrong, victims from villains. Echoes of the slavery era can be heard in the derogatory names we call each other like "Gio," "Belle," and "ex-slaves." Liberians living today are called upon to build peace by doing away with relations of great inequality. They have no better examples than the first generation of Liberians, both repatriates and indigenous, who worked together to do just that.

Genres: Liberia, Africa, History, Nonfiction

104 pages, Paperback

Published August 22, 2019

Reviews

[Jeanine Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary!

Liberia and the Quest for Freedom should be required reading for all Liberians, and for all who genuinely seek to understand Liberia today. Changing the national narrative and the negative self-image that plague Liberians today can only happen when people realize what is missing in Liberian history and why it got "lost". C. Patrick Burrowes delivers another masterful work that is meticulously researched and easy to digest.

[Ursula Bonar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The audiobook is an easy listen. I listened to it as I walked and it kept me so engaged that now I am walking much further just to continue listening. The book brings to life the stories and motivations of characters I had never heard of before and gave background and context to the familiar players. It took me into the regional and international impact of the various malevelent, the well-meaning, the heroic as well as the accidental participants and contributors to our one story. It is truly a masterpiece of research and devotion which one cannot help but notice with all the meticulous detail to places, dates, and actors. This massive undertaking over vast spaces and time lends itself well to the audible delivery because of the storytale-like rhythm in which it is woven and delivered. A must read/listen to anyone seeking discovery into who we are.

[Athena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very grateful for this book.

It’s one I will always encourage folks to read.

It’s packed with so much knowledge and I love that Dr. Burrowes challenges us to see past our own ignorance and hate, to work for a better future.

100/10.

[yassira · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing eye opener. If you want to begin to understand Liberia (her beauty, her magic, her brokenness), and see a path to her healing, start here.