Returning Home: The Nuanced Joy of Coming Back to Liberia

William Tubman

Monrovia, Liberia - He has one of the most storied names in all of Liberia. The grandfather whose name he bears was a larger-than-life figure who was the president widely regarded as the father of modern Liberia. Though his grandfather is viewed as the quintessential Liberian, William V.S. Tubman III is now readjusting to life in the country he left nearly 20 years ago, the country whose very currency carries the Tubman name.

In many ways, Mr. Tubman is very much an example of a growing trend here. More and more educated, privileged Liberians who fled during the country’s lengthy civil war are now returning home from various parts of the world, some from other West African countries – but the overwhelming majority returning from the United States.

He has returned, Mr. Tubman said, because he never considered doing otherwise. When the country’s civil strife began, Mr. Tubman’s mother did what many Liberians did in the face of the brutal conflict: they moved with their children to the United States, in their case to the suburbs of Washington D.C. He went to college at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, majoring in marketing and anthropology. He worked in guest relations at the venerable Peabody Hotel in Memphis and, then, back to the Washington area to work in guest relations for a hospital.

While his life was typically American – he loved the television show “Heroes” and he was a regular at Wendy’s and Ruby Tuesdays – he explained that he never felt comfortable with the prospect of settling permanently in the United States. “I’m shaped by America, but I was raised in a Liberian home with a Liberian mother and grandmother,” Mr. Tubman said. “I was in Maryland but raised in my culture. I ate Liberian food every day at home; I listened to Liberian music every day. We never wanted to be Americans who said that their parents were Liberian. We were Liberian.”

When he was about to turn 30, roughly a year ago, he decided that it was time to return to Monrovia. Other family members had already returned here from the States as calm settled into the country, in the aftermath of the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as president of Liberia. Many came to reclaim property they had abandoned during the nearly 15 years of bloody civil war. Others came because they sought to take advantage of what they considered an exceptionally fertile opportunity for business in a country whose very foundation had been decimated. Some came because they simply longed for the home they had once known, the place to which they felt inextricably linked.

Mr. Tubman said his decision to come represented a combination of all three. When he got back, he worked in the restaurant of a cousin, training staff in all facets of hospitality. He now works as guest relations manager at RLJ Kendeja Resort and Villas, the high-end hotel property that was built here by the American businessman, Robert L. Johnson.

He said that he wanted to contribute something to Monrovia’s hospitality culture. In addition to his work at the hotel, he operates a hospitality consulting company, Star Service Solutions Inc. It is dedicated to “raising the bar in the service industry,” he said. “We screen, train and staff customer service and domestic workers. I felt I had had to come back and do something for my country.”

Liberians, like Mr. Tubman, are returning by the thousands. Their migration here effectively represents the second wave of Africans shaped by the United States returning to the shores of West Africa. Established by the American Colonization Society as a place for freed slaves in the United States to emigrate to in West Africa in 1822, Liberia was founded on the premise that these freed African-Americans would have greater freedom here. The county became an independent republic in 1847, modeled after the United States.

The descendents of the African-American immigrants formed an elite group in Liberian society that was far smaller in number than the vast population of 16 or more tribal groups here, most notably the Kru, Mende, Kissi, Gola and Bassa tribes.

Mr. Tubman’s grandfather was president of Liberia from 1944 until his death in 1971. His tenure in office was notable for the increase in foreign investments that poured into Liberia. He was also known for developing polices that were aimed at reducing the level of political friction between the population of the various tribal groups and the descendents of the freed black Americans. He was harshly criticized in the later years of his presidency for having an autocratic style that bordered on the dictatorial.

In 1980, during the administration of President William R. Tolbert Jr., a coup staged by Sgt. Samuel K. Doe overthrew the government, killing the president and plunging Liberia into a period of protracted instability (Mr. Doe was the first leader of Liberia who was not a member of the so-called “Americo-Liberian” elite. Mr. Doe was later killed and Charles Taylor took the reigns of power. Then, war broke out between rival factions within the country. Liberians left the country by thousands. Some 250,000 Liberians were killed in the war.

Their return has been greeted with a heavily nuanced welcome. Some view it as an assurance that country will regain its footing in brain power after years of war. Others here complain that their return leaves fewer resources – and pay checks – for others who remained. In a country with staggering unemployment and astounding poverty, the return of their countryman from a relatively comfortable life in the United States is not without its resentments.

But for those who have returned, being back in Liberia is not without its own pain and traumas. They are confronted every day not only by the devastation that continues to plague their beloved country, but also the memories and reminders of family members and friends who were killed in the war.

“When I first got here, I was astounded by the fact that it was a shell of what it used to be,” Mr. Tubman said. “And there is always a sense of loss. My cousin was killed in 1990 at the age of 13. Coming back really woke me up that I had lost people who were dear to me. I grieve for people who were killed and lost in the war. The reality of their death sinks into me.”

Still, he said, he had to return. “It’s where I knew I had to be. And, despite everything, I’m very, very glad to be back,” Mr. Tubman said. “It’s home.”

By Jonathan P. Hicks