The culture of Liberia begins with a group of youngsters playing soccer and yelling in local English, ‘Da penalty!’ or a group of young girls playing a leg sport dubbed ‘Na foot’ yelling almost simultaneously, ‘Da my time to play!’ It stretches to a child holding a pot of water on his head walking from the creek and looking aimlessly at the stretch of shrubs along his path. You take a walk in the neighborhood and the air is choked with aroma of hot palm butter hovering over the town and young baby mothers nursing their defiant babies, adding their crying voices to the chorus of market women yelling, selling, cooking and babysitting, all at once, on the shores of the wall street of Africa-the marketplace. Liberian culture is almost completely unique- no brand of Africans on the continent speaks with such distinctive pidgin like Liberians. The tiny West African nation is a mixture of 16 local tribes that settled from across the corners of the continent along with repatriated freed American slaves that settled in the 1800s. This is the melting pot of civilization, western life, Afro American culture, Afro Caribbean lifestyle and was once a home for almost every man of color. Liberia, meaning ‘land of the free’, is the place to go for every man wanting total freedom, from the scars of racism to the bondage of cultural cage, Liberia with its liberal tendencies accommodates every culture from every planet. With a small population of less than 5 million, it’s a home to mangrove swamps, beautiful beaches, exotic landscapes and a very hospitable people. Its second largest city, Buchanan, named after former US President Thomas Buchanan is locally referred to as the ‘home of the nation’s hospitality’ Liberia has been a home for everyone from every corner of Africa, the Caribbean, America and Europe.
Liberian cuisine is one of the most exotic dishes across the continent, from her dense Torborgee from northern Lofa County, to pounded cassava known as Gehba (GB) from Nimba Country or pounded softer cassava known as dumboy from Grand Bassa and Rivecess Counties or red palm oil soup with rice and okra known as Kpelleh soup from Bong County. Jolofrice is a Monrovia based dish that has sustained an intense rivalry between Nigerians and Ghanaians. But, a festival with Liberian Jollofrice would put the rivalry to bed. The Liberian jollofrice is mixed with just everything from the market, pigfeet, chicken, spareribs, meat, mixed vegetables, and an aroma that seals the deal. Liberia is a mixture of Cosmopolitan and Provisional lifestyles with lappa- tying women with babies on their backs walking to a local market or to attend to farming chores or a woman dressed in a Gucci jeans and blazer, sun glasses, top hats hopping from an elevator. Next time you’re lost on the continent and need a place to keep your sanity in check, drop in the bosom of the land of the free. Enjoy your stay and thank me later!
Lekpele M. Nyamalon is a poet and writer from Monrovia. He can be reached at nyamalon23@gmail.com
