Rabbi Prince Joseph Tomoonh-Garlodeyh Gbaba, Sr., Ed. D. Liberian Playwright and Poet

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1 B.W. Harris Episcopal School Alumni Association Tri- State Chapter (NY, NJ, CT) to Honor Dr. Gbaba at Bishop George D. Browne Achievement Award on Saturday, April 28 th, 2012 at the Family Life Center, Staten Island, NY! Introduction Rabbi Prince Joseph Tomoonh-Garlodeyh Gbaba, Sr., Ed. D. Liberian Playwright and Poet One of Liberia s outstanding secondary schools, the B. W. Harris Episcopal High School Alumni Association Tri-State Chapter of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, will honor renowned Liberian educator, playwright and theatre director and actor, Rabbi Prince Joseph Tomoonh-Garlodeyh Gbaba, Sr., Ed. D. on Saturday, April 28 th, 2012 at the Family Life Center, 59 Wright Street, Staten Island, NY from 8:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. In a communication dated January 31 st, 2012, the Association informed the playwright that: The B. W. Harris Alumni Association Tri-State Chapter of (NY, NJ, CT) is honored to inform you that you have been unanimously selected to receive the 1

2 prestigious Bishop George D. Browne Achievement Award in Education You are selected because of your dynamic leadership and service rendered the community His Grace George Daniel Browne Archbishop of the Anglican Province of West Africa The Bishop George D. Browne Achievement Award memorializes one of Liberia s most outstanding and distinguished clergymen and church leaders and former Archbishop of the Anglican Province of West Africa. The program was instituted by the Tri-State Chapter to select professionals or institutions that are making a difference in the lives of Liberians or Liberia. The star-studded event will include a dinner and testimonials and it is designed to raise much needed funds to support the B.W. Harris Episcopal High School in Liberia. All are invited to attend and support this mind-blowing and culturally attractive and worthwhile celebration. The entrance fee is $35 per head and there will also be a raffle that will feature some beautiful gifts for a price. 2

3 About the Honoree Dr. Joe Gbaba is no stranger to the Liberian and international public when it comes to his prowess in the history and culture of Liberia. In fact, he is considered the present day Bai T. Moore of Liberia and is known as Liberia s Shakespeare, a pen name he received in 1974 from Mrs. Dolly McCritty-Massaquoi when the playwright wrote and staged his first play ( Kekula ) at the Open Door Theatre in Yekepa, Nimba County, Liberia. The play focused on the theme of national integration and unity. The Carroll High Days Liberia s Scholar/Artist Joe Shakespeare Gbaba I believe in and live the concept of national integration and unity! As a scholar Rabbi Gbaba is a 1974 graduate of the prestigious Carroll High School that was located at Grassfield, Yekepa, Nimba County from The late President William R. Tolbert, Jr. of Liberia spoke as the keynote speaker at the playwright s commencement exercise in Yekepa. It was here that the playwright s career as a writer began when he staged his first play Kekula in his senior year in high school. 3

4 The play was watched by an array of distinguished Liberians and the international public. Gbaba received so much encouragement from his audience that he was inspired to pursue a career in theatre and education. The University of Liberia Era Dr. Joe Gbaba acting in his Minstrel s Tales at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion in Monrovia in Dr. Gbaba enrolled at the University of Liberia in 1975 and he later served as President of the Silver Jubilee Freshman Class the following year in He organized a freshman dramatic club that performed his No More Hard Times at the University of Liberia Auditorium, E.J. Roye Building and toured Liberia, including Sanniquillie, Yekepa, Harper, Bong Mines, and Buchanan, respectively. Dr. Gbaba is also the author of the famous social poem called Watta Police. Devoted to the promotion of Liberian arts and culture, Dr. Gbaba and his colleagues organized his famous Dehkontee Artists Theatre in 1977 at the University of Liberia. The group was one of Liberia s leading college theatre troupes in the mid seventies and early 1980s. Dehkontee Artists performed such popular Gbaba plays as: Chains of Apartheid, Love for Mymah, Kekula, My Redeemer Liveth, The Disappointed God-ma, Zon Ninneh Taryee and The Resurrection, among others. 4

5 Dehkontee Artists also ran a television series called Kekula on the Liberia s only television network (ELTV). They held several Executive Mansion and State House command performances that featured Gbaba s Chains of Apartheid under the auspices of President William R. Tolbert, Jr. at the Executive Mansion Theatre in December of 1978 and April 1979 during the state visit of Ghanaian Head of State Fred Akkuffu. Dehkontee Artists also performed at the State House in Free Town, Sierra Leone, on July 26, 1978 in honor of First Vice President S.I. Koroma of Sierra Leone. Further, the group performed at the theatre-in-the round at Fourah Bay College and the Free Town City Hall, respectively and was warmly received by the people of Sierra Leone. A scene from Gbaba s The Resurrection staged in 1992 at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion in Monrovia. Ultimately in December 1980, Gbaba earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English and minored in French from the University of Liberia. He also attended the French Institute on Payne Avenue in preparation to serve as bilingual liaison during the 1979 Organization of African Unity (OAU but now African Union) Conference held in Monrovia with President Tolbert as Chairman of the OAU. Dr. Gbaba was assigned to the Algerian delegation as a bilingual liaison. 5

6 The UNC-G Connection A beautiful night time view of UNC-G I am a proud Spartan Prince Joe Gbaba of Liberia, Class of 1983 Dr. Gbaba continued his education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC-G) in the United States of America from August 1981-December He studied under renowned theatre artists from around the globe (directors, actors, and designers) and earned the Master of Fine Arts degree in Drama (with emphasis in Directing and Acting) in The Liberian playwright made his presence felt at UNC-G by featuring several of his plays in the UNC-G Studio Theatre and performed a main stage production of Chains of Apartheid at the Aycock Auditorium. Also, Gbaba organized the American version of Dehkontee Artists and the group performed at the Annual Greensboro City Stage Events, featuring Gbaba s Gee, the Mighty Warrior-King. I love B.W. Harris because they are Spartans. I am also a Spartan because I graduated from the prestigious UNC-G Communications and Theatre Department The playwright returned to Liberia in 1983 and was joyously married to Princess Ariminta H. Porte-Gbaba at the St. Peter s Episcopal Church in Gbarnga, Bong County, on November 19, The marriage is blessed with four sons (Julian, Jacques, Joe, Jr., 6

7 and Jose) and one daughter (Jolynn Dehkontee) and three grandchildren: Jaeden, Journee, and McKenzy. The Episcopal/Cuttington Experience The Epiphany Chapel at Cuttington University in Suacoco, Bong County, Liberia. Here, we assembled to worship the Lord and to sing praises to his name. A beautiful and serene academic setting, and very conducive for research. Dr. Gbaba worked briefly at the National Bureau of Culture and Tourism in Monrovia from and then he was employed by Cuttington University College in Suacoco, Bong County as a full time faculty in the Humanities Division from He taught Advanced Composition, Shakespeare, World Literature, and served as Director of the Cuttington Dramatic Club. He staged and directed Chains of Apartheid and Minstrel s Tales and took the Cuttington Dramatic Club on the road to Monrovia and Yekepa, respectively. During this time frame the honoree came in personal contact with the late Right- Reverend George D. Browne of the Episcopal Province of West Africa. Personally, I feel inspired and honored by the kind gesture of the B.W. Harris Alumni Association to award me a prestigious award in honor of a man whom I consider a mentor up to today s date. Archbishop George Daniel Browne was an eloquent speaker and a charismatic church leader. He was very wise and he knew how to deliver fiery sermons that were well balanced and effectively conveyed to this audience. Also, part of my success in life was because the Episcopal Church of Liberia gave me an opportunity to grow, to rediscover myself as a scholar and an artist; it gave me the opportunity to teach at its prestigious institution of higher learning when the Government of Liberia at that time did not recognize my worth as a scholar and artist. The Church helped me to grow as I interacted with members of the Cuttington community of scholars and made headway toward achieving my academic and artistic 7

8 goals in life. Hence, this occasion has double meanings for me Dr. Gbaba commented. The Zwedru Multilateral Experience An aerial view of Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County. Home of the Krahns of Liberia. Zwedru was built by the great ancestor of the Gbaba family, Yarlee-Gbanh. The city is situated on a plateau off the sacred Zweh Creek and is centralized. Dr. Gbaba was appointed Principal of the Zwedru Multilateral High School in 1988 by Minister of Education, E. Othello Gongar. In this post he revamped the already dilapidated high school facility and revived most of its vocational, technical, and academic programs. He also organized the Zwedru Multilateral High School Dramatic Club and wrote and directed his Yah ( Vision ) at the Relda Theatre in Monrovia in He was transferred the following year to the Ministry of Education (MOE) as Arts and Cultural Specialist in the Curriculum Division of the MOE. He held this position prior to the outbreak of the Liberian Civil War on December 24, Dr. Gbaba also concomitantly taught at his Alma Mater, the University of Liberia as an adjunct lecturer in the English Department. He taught English and writing courses on the Capitol Hill campus of the University of Liberia before the outbreak of hostilities in Monrovia. The Role of Dr. Gbaba during the Civil War in Liberia Dr. Gbaba and his Dehkontee Artists Theatre, Inc. played a pivotal role in promoting and educating for peace during hostilities in Liberia. Also, he worked as a 8

9 local consultant to the United Nations Children s Educational and Scientific Fund (UNICEF) during the cessation of hostilities from July 1992-August Dehkontee Artists collaborated with Liberian Women Initiative, the Christian Health Association of Liberia (CHAL) in order to organize a national peace agenda under the sponsorship of UNICEF. It was called the Kukatonon Conflict Resolution and Peace Education Program. It included peace education workshops for teachers around the country and a children s peace theatre that did live theatrical performances around Liberia, in villages, towns, and school campuses, preaching disarmament, justice and peace in post-war Liberia. The project also consisted of the Kukatonon Conflict Resolution and Peace Education Manual co-authored by Barry Hart and Joe Gbaba. Also, Dr. Gbaba wrote and directed other live theatrical and radio productions under the sponsorship of UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) including: Mardea, a women s empowerment radio drama series and Wheh-gba an HIV/AIDS live production that was performed in communities and schools around Liberia. Returning to the United States Professor Gbaba returned to the United States in August 1998 and was later joined by his wife and five children. The Gbaba enrolled their children in private schools (St. Francis de Sales and West Philadelphia Catholic High School, respectively) in order to better prepare them for the future. In addition, Dr. Gbaba set the pace for learning in his family and enrolled at St. Joseph s University to urge his entire family to delight in learning. In this light, Dr. Gbaba majored in and obtained his Master of Science degree in Elementary and Special Education. Subsequently, the learned scholar obtained his Doctor of Education degree in Educational Leadership from St. Joe s. Mrs. Ariminta Gbaba also enrolled at St. Joseph s University and earned a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice and Behavior Management and two of the Gbaba children Jolynn and Jacques received their bachelor s degrees and are pursuing graduate studies. Hence, the Gbaba family is an academic warehouse and the choice to honor Dr. Gbaba by the B.W. Harris Chapter is based on merits and not favoritism. I view this unique occasion and honoring program as a sign that Liberians need to strengthen their institutions so that they may serve as the fulcrum of our society and our individual lives. Against this backdrop, I commend the officers and members of the B.W. Harris Alumni Association for inviting me and members of my family. The ceremony organized by this B. W. Harris Chapter reflects that you come from a great Alma Mater whose graduates cherish her for the discipline and education it provided for them. Conclusion Consequently, Members of the Gbaba family extend their sincere thanks and appreciation to the B.W. Harris Alumni Association of the Tri-State Chapter of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. May God Almighty bless you and keep you and 9

10 make his light to shine on the lives of all illustrious graduates of B. W. Harris High School. We look forward to seeing all of you by God s grace on Saturday, April 28 th, 2012 from 8:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thank you again for the honor and recognition of the talents of a great Liberian artist and scholar, Joe Shakespeare Gbaba! 10