AFRICAN PANORAMA
WATCHING THROUGH THE BIRDS' EYES
William Karmah Reeves, the veteran catholic school teacher of southeastern Liberia, has written a remarkable book titled, The Native Boy. Published in 2004, the autobiographical book was launched in the summer of 2005 in Philadelphia. Serving as keynote speaker at its launching was the novelist K-Moses Nagbe. To a cross-section of well-wishers who gathered in the sacristy of a catholic church in down town Philadelphia, Nagbe gave a thought-provoking speech. In that memorable speech in which he calls on us all to be inspired by Prof Reeves's achievements, Nagbe first appraises the "institutional support" of the Catholic Church for "intellectual productivity”. He appreciates and lauds the 40 or so year-service rendered by Prof Reeves who in his retirement shares his experiences in a book to be read by future generations of Liberians. Prof Nagbe thereby underscores the importance of literature and the need to empower artists/writers in our society while hinting at the need for contemporary Liberian degree holders to be more productive. African Panorama is pleased to share the full text of Professor Nagbe’s speech with our readers.
IN PRAISE OF INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT FOR INTELLECTUAL PRODUCTIVITY
By Professor K-Moses Nagbe
"Fellow Liberians, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen:
History repeats itself. That is what many people say. I am tempted to add that when history repeats itself in a positive way, it creates a moment of heartwarming celebration. Today is one such moment. This program is one more remarkable example of what appears a Catholic Church tradition. That tradition is the honoring of intellectual productivity. It would seem to me that the Catholic Church has always delighted in such productivity. Of course, I know that the Church has remained cautious about the extent to which intellectual productivity may affect doctrinal issues. But that attitude of caution is another matter. Except that I may add that obviously it is a good idea for anyone to not rush to judgmental conclusions on matters of doctrine. The doctrine of any religion or church remains the soul of that church or religion. Matters about how the doctrine grows and how it changes are often delicate. And every interested person needs to understand such dynamics, if the church or religion must survive.
In any case, talking about the Catholic Church’s support of intellectual productivity brings in the sense of the critical role public and private institutions can play in empowering artists. And by artists I mean writers, poets, playwrights, musicians, filmmakers, painters, journalists, and researchers. It is the matter of historical truth that the Francis Bacons, the Ben Johnsons, the William Shakespeares, and many other great European and American artists we read about today benefited at one time or another from institutional support. Through the support of these individuals, the public and private institutions have elevated the glory of their societies. When someone hears a boy or girl in some remote African village quoting some English or French or German or Portuguese or Spanish or American President or king or prince, no other evidence seems to beat the truth of the correlation between an artist’s work and the stature to which it makes a society rise.
It is high time that both public and private institutions, even in developing countries built into their scheme of programs viable opportunities for artists. This would impact not just the quantity but also the quality of productivity. I would also increase the development and progress of their societies.
Artists continue to provide society tests, quizzes, and exams. The what-ifs, the how-sos, and the why-nots they sing, they say, they write, or they paint make society remain on its toes. Their work has put people on the moon. It has sent people down the depths of oceans. It has sent people into remote forests and deserts, all with the sole mission of discovery, invention, and redefinition of human living. It has advanced human civilization.
What you members and executives of the Association of the Knights and Ladies Auxiliary of St. John have done to provide a moment of celebration for the work of Senior Professor William Karmah Reeves remains commendable. As I speak, I am reminded of what the Catholic Church in Liberia continues to do. It is not only funding instruction in the classroom; it is also funding creative productivity. I know of a major writing project which continues to put culturally relevant reading materials in the hands of young children in Liberia .
That project is called Ordinary Yet Significant Story series, which sets out to impart to the young people values like self-esteem, honesty, sincerity, good neighborliness, tolerance, hard work, humane competition, and the celebration of genuine achievement. Some day, the OYSS series might become a source of strength for a nation like Liberia , which has been battered and dehumanized by numerous human vices.
Literature and National Development
That is what good literature can do. It can give form to chaos. It can give sanity to insanity. It can transform despair into hope. It can transform recession into recovery. It can shape a nation to confidently ride the turbulent tides of life. In America today, even if the rhinoceros of racism raises its horny face every now and then, it is not as mind-cringing and destructive as it was some hundred or so years ago. Good literature has in part been responsible. Good literature has provided the American society lessons in the art of living, lessons in the reality that all humans are humans plagued with the afflictions and pangs inherent in mortality. No color or creed or health or wealth exempts any human from the finiteness of mortality.
Of course, literature is either fact or fiction. It is either a reality or possibility. There are many who sometimes frown on the fictional aspect of literature. They say that a piece of literature that remains in the realm of imagination simply teases and tortures humanity. Why talk about things that are improbable or almost improbable? Really, why talk about things that seem to remain only in some dream world? It is important to keep humanity close to earth. However critical their observation, these people lose sight of the fact that fictional stories often provide important ideas. Ideas allowed to navigate their way through human living are capable, one day, of taking residence in the realm of reality. That is to the extent where any such idea reassures humanity that no grave harm can be caused in giving it a try. Human beings are often searching. Human beings are often yearning to refine the conditions of life in order to create comfort and convenience. Fictional literature provides multiple possibilities of ideas craving to be tried and tested for the creation of comfort and convenience.
Be that as it may, the aspect of literature which projects reality will always have its solid place in human affairs. It has been able to prepare people for the realistic issues of life. Through the realistic depiction of life, such literature has been able to teach humanity that life is not all success, that life is not all joy; that life is not all failure, that life is not all sorrow. Indeed, the reality aspect of literature has been able to fashion a song of success and joy, failure and sorrow to which humanity is called to dance. The reality aspect of literature emphasizes that pains can be endured by real people, and that challenges can be taken head on, even if they are not totally wiped out. If they are not wiped out, people do not instantly die. They live to fight for another day.
That is where biographical, including autobiographical writings have come to serve a useful purpose. In America , the life of Frederick Douglass or the life of Thurgood Marshall, the life of Abraham Lincoln or the life of Benjamin Franklin can become inspiring. In Africa , the life of Edward Wilmot Blyden, the life of Nnamde Azikwe, or the life of Kwame Nkrumah can become inspiring. These people lived in genuine flesh and blood. They confronted and basically overcame political, economic and social adversities. Their individual human failings notwithstanding, they rose from obscurity to recognition. Their lives, well interpreted, shed light on what human tenacity, human ingenuity, human strength, and human weaknesses, each in its own place has been able to contribute to human progress.
A society that must make enormous progress needs to look too many of its citizens who have lived life in all its myriad dimensions to write about what they have seen of life, what they felt about life, what they tasted of life. In so doing, succeeding generations will begin to observe several truths. They will begin to see that success does not come with sunrise ease. They will begin to see that experience has its place. They will begin to see that one who must serve public good must have been cut, burned, and refined by the fire of life. Understanding that fact of life, succeeding generations will become supportive more of merit system, which gives people every reason to work diligently knowing that with hard work they will obtain the comforting things of life. They will strive to discourage wholesale patronage system with its untold vices of sycophancy and unbridled corruption, which eventually degenerate into bitterness and war. Truly, if succeeding generations understand the correlation of duty, experience, and achievement, they will pay honor to those who have worked well in life and have achieved and are therefore worthy of greater public responsibilities.
The Place of the Native Boy
Here lies the place of the Native Boy, an odyssey of cultural resocialization. No one reading the work of William Karmah Reeves, with all the focus and respect it deserves, will turn away without feeling a dam breaking inside. The Native Boy is the story of how a child of unlettered parentage stumbled on the scene of some motivating missionary and took the challenge of leaving home to ride rough waves in the pursuit of Western education. It is the story of inspirational and laudable triumph. It is a story which ought to make its own rounds.
In helping to guide an appreciation of the book, and I don't mean to be presumptuous, let me offer a suggestion of key areas of interest. I just out of curiosity any one wants to know what the acquiring of Western education was like in rural and urban Liberia in the 1930s, the 1940s, and the 1960s, The Native Boy is a book to read. If anyone wants to reflect on how solid education elevates a person form obscurity to recognition, The Native Boy is a book to read. If anyone wants to reassess attitudes towards the correlation between work and credentials, The Native Boy is a book to read. Even so, the William Karmah Reeves book testifies to the fact that each human person, there is a travel map whose points are plotted and guided by some Unseen Force-It may be God, it may be Nyeswa; it may be Glepo, it may be Ghewlo. It may be Kamba.
In an unabashed and unreserved way, The Native Boy speaks, even if basically, to social, religious, educational, and economic issues that must remain a minefield for our times. This work must stimulate interest in and support for biographical and all types of positive literature. We all need to understand the correlation between challenge and achievement. In that process we will understand the beauty of duty and honor. We all need to understand the correlation between worth and work. We also need to understand that academic degrees are good but what we do with those degrees in life is better. Someone who rarely does anything with a master's or doctorate degree may be congratulated, at least for having attained those degrees. But, as I see it, someone who does tremendous work with a bachelor's degree must be more honored. Human progress thrives not simply on the existence of a population of degree holders. It thrives even more importantly on what the degree holders produce for the common good of humanity.
The Native Boy must also stimulate interest in and support for home-grown capacities and competencies. Senior Professor William Karmah Reeves is an example of home-grown education. He studied in the former Eastern Province in Liberia . His kindergarten school education, his elementary school education, his junior high school education, his high school education, and college education were all acquired in the Republic of Liberia . Through his teaching, he positively impacted the lives of many who became educators, lawyers, economists, bankers, and many more. People who have the benefit of home-grown education understand themselves better. Until people understand themselves, how can they genuinely understand others in faraway lands?
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I do believe that The Native Boy will continue to hold its ground. And perhaps in another round of appearance it will become a classic of great magnitude. It will appeal to most people, breaking boundaries. It will become timeless.
Finally, reading the Reeves book is history in itself. History has a way of humbling us all. History has a way of helping us reflect on the dynamics of human living. History has a way of forcing us to moments of reflection, moments which every individual asks: "What is my mortal mission? What is my purpose on earth? What should I accomplish before I leave this world?" History challenges us to face up to civic duty.
Fellow Liberians, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, Senior Professor William Karmah Reeves seeks to evoke the foregoing in us. Let us be inspired."
IN PRAISE OF INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT FOR INTELLECTUAL PRODUCTIVITY...
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