Century
By Joe Bartuah
Liberian journalists from various parts of the U.S. under the aegis of the Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA), are expected to converge in the city of Greenbelt, in the great state of Maryland from October 16-19, 2025, for the Association’s annual convention. According to Mr. Joey Kennedy, the current President of the organization, this year’s annual pilgrimage of the Inky Fraternity is being held on the theme: PRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENT: A Key to Sustainable Economic Growth and Development in Liberia—The Role of the Media.
As per ALJA tradition, in which I was initially immersed in May 2002, in Washington, DC, participants are expected to engage in a hectic brainstorming session that will feature eminent guest speakers and distinguished panelists from varied professional backgrounds and persuasions, in addition to sightseeing and other convention pleasantries. In fact, this year’s keynote speaker at the main gala event on October 18th is Liberia’s Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, II, himself a prolific writer and a well-known poet.
Upon reflection, one can safely say that ALJA belongs to the digitally-savvy “Gen-Z” generation, because its chronologists say the Association was organized in 1998, just about two years to the ushering in of the 21st century. As I see it, the establishment of ALJA was in a way, a call to action by Liberian journalists who had been flushed out of their country by the untold savageries of a senseless war at the time. Even though they might not have been as numerous as we are today, yet they realized that in unity, there is strength, hence their desire and enthusiasm to forge a united front at the time. And so, like its precursor in Liberia—the Press Union of Liberia, ALJA came into being out of a crisis or an adversarial situation. In the case of the PUL, historians note that the arbitrary detention of the venerable Stanton Peabody in 1964 by the Tubman autocracy had triggered the imperatives to unite and advocate for press freedom.
And so 34 years after the PUL was hastily organized in Liberia, former PUL officials and members residing in the U.S. midwifed the birth of the Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA). Personally, I consider ALJA as a sort of upgrading of the PUL, or an Americanization of the PUL. From my perspective, three words are very crucial in the nomenclature of the organization and they are as follows: “Liberian”, “Journalists” and “Americas.” For me, “LIBERIAN” is the foundational word, the bedrock or anchor of the entire designation, and “Journalists” is, of course, the next in line, indicating our collective professional identity, followed by the word “Americas.” Each of those three key words has a functional utility and a resultant potential to arouse our individual as well as collective inspiration. Yes, ALJA is an association, but what type of association? Once the word “Liberian” comes into the picture, our collective, ethnic, national identity or unique brand is revealed, thus reinforcing our collective sense of self-esteem.
Moreover, our professional DNA is displayed by the word “Journalists” and then comes the most aspirational of the three key words—“Americas.” Remember that the organizers of the group didn’t name it the Association of Liberian Journalists in the United States, or Liberian journalists association in North America. Instead, they designated the group as a Liberian journalists association “in the Americas”, thus embracing the two vast American continents; even though the organizers were sufficiently aware that they were all residents of the United States, yet they essentially broadened the social horizon for any future Liberian journalist who might be residing in any part of “the Americas”; whether in Canada, Mexico, Brazil or Argentina. Put another way, the pioneers of ALJA either consciously or subconsciously created a psychological space for the growth, evolution and development of the Association, by giving it an aspirational nomenclature which starkly transcends the territorial confines of the United States.
I have reasons to believe that many of my colleagues will agree with me that the word “America” has a sort of magical, or a mythical connotation in Liberia. Many people tend to associate the United States with unlimited “enjoyment”, or a place where one can easily enjoy life to the fullest. In fact, one of the street corner names for the U.S. in Liberia is “second heaven”, which connotes the fantasy of enormous enjoyment in which many of our compatriots back home imagine that we’re engaged in this country. Even though the reality here may not correlate with their utopian imagination, but comparatively, some of them have a valid point, in terms of the frequency or regularity of wage-based compensation here in the U.S. and how efficiently one is paid for work done, as compared to the situation in LIB.
Such a comparative reality vis-à-vis the economic quagmire of our colleagues back home brings us to what the sages had since told us that to whom more is given, much is expected. Individually, let us reflect on our lives. Just think of how many of our colleagues in Liberia who had desired coming to this country and their dream was not realized until the very end. For those of us who currently enjoy the privilege of residing in this great country, I presume many of you guys have made some individual achievements, have undertaken some dream projects back home. Of course, such personal endeavors are highly commendable; kudos to all those involved in such undertakings. Nevertheless, together let us give back to our noble profession and our society. We owe it to ourselves and our colleagues, as well as the future of ALJA, to undertake a dignified project in Liberia that our grandchildren and great-grandchildren can be proud of.
Even though 1998 might sound like yesterday for some of us, but the reality is that 27 long years have elapsed since ALJA came into being. And so as we all converge in Greenbelt, Maryland from October 16-19, 2025, let us all bear in mind that it’s almost three decades since this organization was founded. In fact, the Greenbelt convention is taking place less than three months to the end of the first quarter of the 21st century. Since ALJA is a professional creature of the 20th century and we’re already on the threshold of bidding farewell to the first quarter of the 21st century, it behooves everyone of us to reimagine the future of our beloved Association in the remaining part of the 21st century. Individually, collectively, where do we imagine ALJA to be in the next 27 years or so? We must all search our souls, retrospect and introspect so as to collectively carve out a viable roadmap for organizational growth and development.
I strongly believe that one of the reasons this Association was founded was the realization by Liberian journalists residing here in the 1990s, amid the continued devastation back home at the time, that in unity there is strength. Because of such conviction, they came together, formed a united front in order to have an influential voice in the Liberian society; in order to help shape political, socioeconomic development in the Motherland. If the potency of unity was one of the cardinal motivations in the formation of ALJA 27 years ago, such principle of strength in unity remains valid to this day. It’s against this backdrop that I’m humbly making this appeal to ALL my esteemed members of the Inky Fraternity for us to continuously harness our meager resources and galvanize our goodwill in ensuring that this Association evolves and blossoms in this 21st century.
Today, I’m boldly PROPOSING to all my eminent colleagues—the titans of the microphone and pen—that ALJA should set up a steering committee to explore the possibility of constructing an ALJA HALL OF FAME in Liberia. For the sake of brevity, I don’t think it’s necessary to spell out details of my proposal at this point in time. Suffice it to say that as members of ALJA, it’s imperative that we collectively pay a befitting, an enduring homage to the profession that brought many of us to the limelight; a craft that initially became our primary source of connectivity to the higher echelon of society. Together, we must all strive for our collective legacy; 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now, when the future members of ALJA shall have reflected on the history of this noble organization, let’s give them reasons to say, “Our forebears tried.” To get the ball rolling, if this proposal is favorably considered by the General Assembly, I’m initially committing my “widow’s might” of $1,000 to the ALJA Hall of Fame project.
It’s worth noting that a little over two years ago on September 14, 2023, on day one of the Minnesota convention, I floated another version of this proposal—in short, medium and long-term formats–through the leadership corridor, via email at the time for possible brainstorming. But apparently due to the hectic organizational logistics of the convention, my email was not noticed. At the time, I suggested a different, U.S.-based location for the proposed Hall of Fame. However, after deeply thinking over my initial suggestion, I have evolved, because in the final analysis, LIBERIA is our common denominator and so, I strongly believe that establishing our collective legacy in Liberia is not only prudent, but also one of the most patriotic things to do.
As I see it now, a Liberian organization attempting to erect a hall of fame in the U.S. is like carrying sand to the beach; it won’t have the intended impact. Today’s generation of ALJA must exert every effort to inspire and invigorate current and future generations of the organization.
