It is reasonably well known that the West African country of Liberia was for many years devastated by civil war in which child soldiers did unspeakable things to the country’s inhabitants in support of the political ambitions of various warlords. The lesser-known story of how Liberian exiles in New York fared during the civil war and its aftermath is the subject of Jonny Steinberg’s book Little Liberia: An African Odyssey in New York City.
The book tells the story of two men who came to dominate the Liberian community in New York. Rufus Arkoi was a soccer fanatic, and he had founded his own soccer club named Roza (using his own initials) in Liberia in 1981, at a time when the poorly educated but soccer-loving Samuel Doe had become president after a military coup. When Rufus arrived as a refugee in New York in 1988, his community-organising skills helped him to create a large charitable organisation serving the needs of Liberian refugees.
Jacob Massaquoi arrived some fourteen years later, having survived the civil war but fallen foul of President Charles Taylor. Jacob had survived a number of harrowing experiences during the war. He managed to create a non-profit volunteers organisation in Liberia, and his community organising skills came into conflict with those of Rufus when he arrived in New York. A very unfortunately battle developed, the outcome of which is described in the book.
It is always awkward to write a book about people who are still living, and it seems that by the end neither Jacob nor Rufus is particularly happy with the result. Along the way, the reader gets to find out quite a bit about the civil war in Liberia and its aftermath. Everyone seems to be tainted by the bitterness churned up through ethnic conflict and conflict between native Liberians and Americo-Liberians. It is a sad but well-narrated story.