Gbessie Kiazolu
Robtel Neajai Pailey, Sea Breeze Editor, sat down with the venerable dramaturge/dancer-choreographer and Sande Zoe, Gbessie Kiazolu. Sea Breeze Journal presents some of that historic conversation . . .
“William Lewis and masef . . . in the culture bizness . . .” |
“Culture center open half-year, then I went deh . . .” |
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“I from all over . . . da long story . . .” |
“I speak Bassa, I speak Kpelle, I speak Dey . . .” |
“I stay 41 years at Kendeja . . . “ |
“Village of So-So Women . . .” |
| “I train Fatu Gayflor, I train Nimba Burr, I train Zaye Tete . . .” | “I went to Addis Ababa, I went to Nigeria, New York, Zaire . . .” |
“I just hear one day they nah sell Cultural Center . . .” |
“In Liberia when dey say you old, you old . . . dey fini wi you . . .” |
“Culture ain’ mean only dancin’ . . .’ |
“All de Presidents [give us support] hmm . . .” |
| “We stayin’ there to be dancin’ for the government . . .” |
“I old but mah brain ain’ go yit . . .” |
“Yeh de house I buildin’ . . .”
Ma Gbessie’s home remains unfinished. She lives in a cardboard shack after serving Liberia as a cultural doyenne for almost 50 years. She needs funds to finish her house. All December and January donations to Sea Breeze Journal go towards the completion of Ma Gbessie’s house.
November 28th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
What a treasure in Gbessie Kiazolu. I listen to the clip on culture a couple of time before I really understood and agreed with what she was saying. Culture truly is much more than dancing. All the entire interview was wonderful. This is the thought inspired by it. I pray a home is completed for her that is worthy of all the years she has served as representative and guardian of culture.
Culture
Culture is more than the dance or the mask or the drum
or the time or the place from which kindred blood comes.
Validation of its possession does not lie in the click of the tongue
or the rhythmic cadence of tribal anthems sung.
Though our sculptures and tapestries and parables abound
they fail to insure that our conscience will be found
embedded in the psyche of dispersed generations
beguiled by the allure of modern civilization.
When the fragile paradigms inevitably perish,
the indelible remnants of our essence left to cherish
are those which reveal who we intrinsically are,
not by the things, but by the way of culture.
It is the way we respect and esteem the old ones
and give name to first daughter and first son.
It is the way we settle palaver before the sun goes down
and the way we live to abide on common ground.
MHKnuckles
November 30th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Hi Robtel, wonderful to see you again after all this time (18 months or so). I found it very difficult to follow Madam Gbessie Kiazolu but I still appreciate her contribution - (She) I old but (her) mah brain ain’ go yit…
December 3rd, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Gbessie Kiazolu is Liberia’s Mata Hari, Josephine Baker, Mariam Makeba, and Euzhan Palcy all rolled into one. THIS IS SO SHAMEFUL THAT SHE WAS KICKED OUT OF HER HOME OF MORE THAN 40 YEARS TO GO LIVE IN A CARDBOARD SHACK. Her interview is a masterpiece of oral history; a first person account from the mouth of a major actor in the script of our cultural history. Hopefully, the donations flow so that she feels the love and recognition she deserves at last from the public while she is alive. All of those people she trained not helping her sef? This is big shame!
December 5th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
After years of reading British Literature at American Universities, these clips are refreshing. The organic nature of Ma Gbessie is exquisite, especially when juxtapose to the multitude of phonies I see everyday. This is not your mundane stuff, for Liberians like me living aboard, this is a masterpiece.
December 15th, 2008 at 2:39 am
I also interviewed Ma Gbessie this past summer (June 2008) in Kenema for my dissertation research. She is an amazing lady. She is also a living national treasure. What has not been mentioned yet in these postings is that she is also a huge supporter of female circumcision, which is a taboo topic in Liberia. Do Liberian intellectuals have the courage to broach this topic? The practice is still shrouded in secrecy. Even today, in the aftermath of the civil war, does anyone know how many young girls are going through this circumcision operation? I refuse to call it “FGM” Female genital mutilation because the intent is to circumcise, not to mutilate. Unfortunately, mutilation does occur, and there are severe health risks associated with this practice including complications during childbirth. As long as there is a loud silence surrounding this issue in Liberia, it will be hard to address it, and hopefully begin to substitute other rituals in the place of female circumcision. Remember, tradition evolves, it is not static. It changes with the times. That doesn’t mean that there wouldn’t be resistance. In the Gambia, President Jammeh threatened the very lives of women who were educating other women about the perils of female circumcision. In Liberia this conversation desperately needs to take place on a national level (including the Liberian diaspora).
December 15th, 2008 at 4:19 am
Tim, because you don’t know does not mean it ain’t so. Not to mention, another huge taboo topic in Liberia is your country’s orchestration of the war and brutal, vicious exploitation of Liberia’s resources since its creation as a nation. How come no American intellectual is tackling that?
Yes, Liberia has a lot of taboos. Please see what one Liberian woman with a global platform is doing against FGM: http://www.celebrateclitoris.com/insearch.html
Sia Amma: “We refrain from condemning those who practicing female circumcision. For those women seeking to end their roles in circumcising others, GWI offer educational and economic opportunities which respect their cultural heritage. We offer these women education and employment enabling them to lead fulfilling lives in their communities.”
Don’t think that others are not also addressing this painful plight that girls and women suffer. I have read writing by Stephanie Horton against this practice on the Africa Online and Concerned Liberian websites for years.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Nearly a decade ago,when Ma Gbessie was visiting Boston as a member of a Liberian troupe, I was fortunate to this amazing artist as a guest in our home.The time was winter cold and dark so she did what humans have long done when the season dictated they not wander; she told us stories. Majical, marvelous, enchanting stories that carried us well into the night. Another visitor, staying at the same time, taught Ma Gbessie to knit and as she told her stories the two guests knitted hats and scarves. We were 4, or 5 women ranging in age from fifteen to well over seventy, transported to the warmth and breeze of Liberia on cold winter nights.
Should anyone encounter her, please tell her Marsha sends her regards, and I still have the lovely doll she sent.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:47 am
I am so grateful to have seen these clips.Our culture is always on my mind.
I cherish it always. Thanks to Ma Gbessie we can still keep it alive in our hearts. We look forward to the new Kendeja.
April 24th, 2009 at 6:04 am
These are perfectible beginnings of reconstruction of Liberia. Hope it be in continuance to finish, because old ones are more vulnerable any infection that could be deadly. So, it’s important that we keep them in a well protected areas.
May 11th, 2009 at 8:21 am
Thanks robtel that you are here to receive our comments.I must admit that Liberia has a “National Herritage”.I’m very proud of our writers,though I am one but not yet out of the dungeon.