http://www.liberiaseabreeze.com An Electronic Publication of Liberian Arts and Letters Fri, 29 May 2009 01:33:18 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Meeting Wilton Sengbe Sankawulo: Literature, Dictators and Wars Wilton Sankawulo believed in traditions. He was respectful of leadership. He was passionate about people and stories. He was passionate about food.  We met at least a dozen times in very different settings, each filled with symbolism of some kind. We had ... http://www.liberiaseabreeze.com/archives/1705 Sankawulo, Ancestor: African Consciousness, Social Memory and Narratives of Self "For like blood, griots were expected to circulate throughout the social body, with power to heal or sicken it, according as they used their words and songs to diminish social conflicts or to exacerbate them." - Amadou Hampate Bậ, from, "The ... http://www.liberiaseabreeze.com/archives/1686 Word from the Editor "  . . . we have many inspired writers, young and old, of the diverse literary genre . . . If we continue neglecting the development of the intellectual resources of our country in preference for that of the physical infrastructure alone, we will break down tomorrow ... http://www.liberiaseabreeze.com/archives/1676 A Critical Review of Helene Cooper's The House at Sugar Beach The House at Sugar Beach is the engaging memoir of Helene Cooper, a celebrated journalist and New York Times correspondent who was born in Liberia. A descendant of freed American slaves who settled Liberia in the early 1800s, Cooper traces ... http://www.liberiaseabreeze.com/archives/1471 Deconstructing Helene Cooper's The House at Sugar Beach Helene Cooper's memoir, The House at Sugar Beach, is an account about dichotomies, race, class, and the African psyche in all its complexities. Cooper, a child of two "Congo" dynasties (descendants of repatriated American Blacks), dissects her unusual upbringing in Liberia, her exile ... http://www.liberiaseabreeze.com/archives/1464 May 2009 Poetry Contest Entry WRITE FOR HUMANITY (dedicated to all writers) The bombs had been falling for close to three days He didn’t dare leave the house; told his wife to stay He cursed all of those who had taken his sons Had taught them to rape and had given them guns He dejectedly hunched ... http://www.liberiaseabreeze.com/archives/1428 May 2009 Poetry Contest Entry Duality (For Sugar Baby Plum) In the privacy of my mind I give vent to rage, lies, envy, and vices of every kind. Taboos are enjoyed. No one sees, no one knows. I am safe inside, filled with empty joy. My fantasies I fulfill in the solitude of myself. I am another, this is what I ... http://www.liberiaseabreeze.com/archives/1433 To Broad Street Let's head to where we have been once Through this garbage filled town From side to side To the dark alleys To Carey Street Where pedestrians go down And up looking for income That was not there in the first place Let's go there to the teashops There we drink 'ataya' where Peasants envy power Laced with thoughts Their minds, ... http://www.liberiaseabreeze.com/archives/1437 SHARE It bothers you to share combs clothes food space lives, obviously you have never lived war. - 2007 CONCH You fit snugly in my palm. Smooth and coarse, you embody contradictions. Your time is one of many moons ago. Placing you to my ear, oceans breathe alive Sound Wandering in your hollowness. My soul wishes to snake in, explore your depths slip off your ridges marvel at your striations tan, white, coral, slate. Your ... http://www.liberiaseabreeze.com/archives/1441 May 2009 Poetry Contest Entry TRIBUTE TO A FALLEN DAUGHTER The cabbage that was all we had Most often than not Turned most children off; Little Alice was one. Then one night came And like she was possessed She tore at us . . . “Papa, I want my own, papa.” I woke up and combed Corners of our room No cabbage No ... http://www.liberiaseabreeze.com/archives/1443