Sweet Liberia, Lessons from the Coal Pot

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Susan Peters, aka, Ahnydah (pronounced ah-NIE-dah) Rahm, brings a treasure trove of experience gained from 1979 through 1990 in West Africa, to her memoir, Sweet Liberia, Lessons from the Coal Pot. She worked tirelessly for the Liberian National Red Cross Society leaving in January 1989 when she and a Liberian friend opened a school, First Steps, Child Development Center, only to close its doors in May due to the encroaching war. Stubbornly remaining after America evacuated its citizens from Liberia in June, she and her children were stranded as the conflict described by The British Broadcasting System as, The bloodiest war in West Africa since the Biafran War, raged.

Finally, on August 8, her family made a harrowing escape to the United States Embassy. The book is a delightful, painfully honest memoir that chronicles the thick slice of humanity sandwiched between Liberias April 12, 1980 coup and the Civil War in 1989. Like many others who embraced Black Pride, Afros, African clothing and names in the 70s, Susan and thousands more took it one step further and immigrated to Mother Africa. This touching memoir is set against the authors personal growth, her cultural struggles, and her triumphs, and is an informative, personally revealing, and often-comical account of her familys eleven-year journey immersed in the rich culture of Liberia, West Africa.

Now, as Liberia stands on the threshold of rising under the leadership of Africas first elected female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Susan writes about the wisdom, beauty, and resilience she witnessed during her sojourn.

Susan Peters was the keynote speaker for the 163rd Liberian Independence Day Celebration held on July 25, 2010 and hosted by the Liberian Community of Illinois and was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation for Devoted and Invaluable Services Rendered to Liberia from the Consul General of Liberia, Mr. Alexander P Gbayee, Consul General of Liberia and the Liberian Community of Illinois.

She is also the recipient of the Black Excellence Award 2009-2010 from the African American Alliance of the Arts in Chicago Illinois, awarded on November 1st at the DuSable Museum of African American History for Outstanding Achievement in Literature (Non-Fiction Category.) For more about Peters, visit http://ahnydah-sweetliberia.blogspot.com/ or her website: www.sweetliberia.com.

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