Culture of Liberia
Bassa alphabet was popularized by Dr. Thomas Narvin Lewis in the early 20th century, after attending studies in the U.S at Syracuse University.
[4] Regardless of public statements of identification with Christianity, a "vast majority"[5] of Liberians believe a supernatural world of ancestral and bush spirits that impact daily life.
[6] "Liberian religious culture is characterised by a predisposition towards secrecy (encapsulated in the concept of ifa mo - "do not speak it") and an ingrained belief in the intervention of mysterious forces in human affairs".
[11] Numerous newspapers, radio stations and TV programs are broadcast and can be heard in the capital Monrovia, coastal cities and towns and countryside.
[12] Many radio stations are community-based, operated by joint United Nations and community councils, activists, youth groups, universities and neighborhood programs.
Radio also serves to promote peace, reconciliation and connect the country both rural and urban Liberians through community based apprenticeship programs for youths and young adults.
[13] According to The New York Times, the blackboard is "the most widely read report" in Monrovia, as many Monrovians lack the money or the electricity necessary for access to the conventional mass media.
[13] The most widely read newspapers include the Liberia Herald, The Analyst, Liberian Observer, The News, The Heritage, and The Inquirer, among others.
Next to drums, beaded gourd rattles called Saasaa are also used in mainstream music by many Liberian singers, musicians, and ensembles across the country.
Liberia is renowned for its detailed decorative and ornate masks, large and miniature wood carvings of realistic human faces, famous people, scenes of everyday life, and accessories particularly combs, spoons, and forks which are often enlarged sculptures.
Liberian wood curved sculptures are heavily influenced by ancient history predating modern Liberia, folklore, proverbs, spirituality, rural life and show the artist's strong observations for grand detail and their connections to the people and objects sculpted.
The American free people of color and former slaves who emigrated to Liberia brought with them their sewing and quilting skills and was originally done by Americo-Liberians beginning in the 19th century.
Queen Victoria invited Martha Ann Ricks, on behalf of Liberian Ambassador Edward Wilmot Blyden, to Windsor Castle on 16 July 1892.
Ricks shook hands with the Queen and presented her with a Coffee Tree quilt, which Victoria later sent to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition for display.
The first novel by an African published in English was written by a Liberian, Joseph Jeffrey Walters, a Vai convert to Christianity studying at Oberlin College in the United States.
The book titled Guanya Pau: A Story of an African Princess was published in 1891 by Lauer and Mattil of Cleveland, Ohio, and deals with the issue of child marriage and women's rights.
Several authors are renowned for their detailed and deep observation of Liberian life both in the country and abroad in the Diaspora in Europe or United States.
Authors Bai T. Moore, E. G. Bailey, Roland T. Dempster, Wilton G. S. Sankawulo, have all reflected on Liberian culture, tradition, modernization and the pain of exile, loneliness, loss and remembrance in fiction, and non-fiction works.
Other ingredients include cassava, fish, bananas, citrus fruit, plantains, coconut, okra and sweet potatoes.
