Image and Influence: A Novel Based on the Life and Work of J. D. Kwee Baker

By Bertha Baker Azango

People of stature do not emerge in a vacuum but are influenced by cultural, environmental, psychosocial, economic, and other factors. Father J. D. K. Baker was one of these people of stature. Priest of the Episcopal Church in Liberia, he was a great religious and spiritual leader, a role model in Liberia.

In Image and Influence, author Bertha Baker Azango offers a biography of Bakers life to help appreciate his deep emotional commitment, his trials and difficulties, and the rationales behind his selfless benevolence and virtuous disposition. Marking the centennial anniversary of his birth, 1893 to 1993, this story about his lineage, life, and work is based on documentary evidence from his family Bible, a diary he kept for forty-five years, and personal experiences reported orally by his children, nephews, nieces, and others associated with his family.

Image and Influence documents Bakers five visions received throughout forty-seven years, beginning with his early vision at age eleven and later dreams that gave purpose to a boy who lived on the coast of West Africa when it was called dark. Bakers prophetic dreams predicted civil wars and migration of Liberians to become refugees.

A story of faith, determination, and love of God and family, Image and Influence is filled with historical events, discoveries, glamour, pain, sadness, and joy. It interweaves Bakers story with the real-life happenings of the Grebo people and others in Liberia. It shows how one mans love and abiding faith in God could, and did, move an entire country.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jun 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781491756096

Bertha Baker Azango

Bertha Baker Azango, a writer, author, and researcher, was a leading architect of the Liberian education system. She earned advanced degrees in the United States from colleges including Spellman College, Boston University, Rutgers University, and Columbia University. Azango received a doctor of science from Cuttington University, Liberia.

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IMAGE AND INFLUENCE

A NOVEL BASED ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF J. D. KWEE BAKER

Copyright © 2015 Bertha Baker Azango.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-5610-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-5609-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015903547

iUniverse rev. date: 6/08/2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Prologue      Social and Political Background

Chapter 1     The Call

Chapter 2     A Child Is Born

Chapter 3     The Death of Grandma Sophie

Chapter 4     Tipped for God’s Service

Chapter 5     Education Makes a Man

Chapter 6     Finding a New Home

Chapter 7     The Battle of Cavalla

Chapter 8     Welcome to Monrovia

Chapter 9     Choosing a Career

Chapter 10   A Life of Sacrifice and Service

Chapter 11   Finding His Brother Horatio

Chapter 12   Priest, Farmer, and Teacher

Chapter 13   Challenge, Courage, and Impact

Chapter 14   Earthly Reward and Last Days

Epilogue      Jimmie’s Children and Brothers

References

PREFACE

Based on the life and work of Father James David Kwee Baker, priest of the Episcopal Church in Liberia, this story is written to mark the centennial anniversary of his birth in 1893. The facts surrounding his lineage, life, and work are based on documentary evidence from his family Bible, his diary that he kept over a period of forty-five years—from October 3, 1913, to March 16, 1958—and a compilation of poems titled My Lakeside Rhymes, which he composed for various occasions: church, school, and public life. This account is also based on personal experiences reported orally by his children, nephews, nieces, and others closely associated with his family.

Because the author and other informants were not around during the birth and early life of J. D. Kwee Baker, most of the dialogue and incidents are a novelized mixture of personal knowledge of what is known to have taken place and what the documentary materials have led the author to believe took place.

Father Baker’s first five visions reported here were received over a period of forty-seven years, between the ages of eleven and fifty-eight, and recorded in his diary. Bishop A. T. Simmons of the Assemblies of God Church in Monrovia, Liberia, who was at Jimmie’s bedside, substantiated his last vision, which occurred on his deathbed.

I owe gratitude and appreciation to many persons for their invaluable contributions and support during the writing of this book. The initial impetus came from my cousin, William Tae Bruce Sr., who urged me in 1990 to put into writing the then recent happenings in Liberia, which could be used in the school system. Although a family history was not what he meant, I feel that starting with the inside will whet my ambition to venture into a broader horizon. Cousin William also provided some important links in the historical chain.

Nobody was more informative of past events than my oldest brother, Christian E. Baker Sr. Sometimes I wondered how he got to know so much about the historical accounts he provided. Oh well, that’s the advantage of seniority. He was also extremely helpful in editing the original manuscript. Unfortunately, he died in April 1996 and was not available to edit this revision.

My youngest sister, Yede B. Dennis; my daughter, Lovette A. Tucker; Dr. Hardy Murphy of South Fort Worth, Texas; and Dr. Gwendolyn Bishop, president of Gwenthyne Publishing, also played significant roles in editing the document and providing valuable suggestions for its improvement. As a result, I owe them a debt of gratitude. Without Lovette’s technical expertise, the production of this book would have been impossible.

Writing about nineteenth-century Liberia in the absence of readily available research materials would have been a serious problem for me if not for the friendly intervention of Patrick Carl Burrowes. He lent me most of the secondary sources mentioned in the references list at the end of this book, for which I am indeed grateful to him.

Finally, I am most appreciative for the contribution of my dear husband, Robert G. W. Azango Sr. Besides serving as my testing ground at each step in the writing process, because of his experience as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia he was extremely helpful in sharing with me courtroom procedure, legal phraseology, and the inner workings of the Liberian court system. He, too, passed away in May 1995, before this revision was made.

PROLOGUE

Social and Political Background

People of stature do not emerge in a vacuum but rather are influenced by cultural, environmental, psychosocial, economic, and other factors. These impact and mold their attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, outlooks, and outcomes.

Father J. D. K. Baker was a great religious and spiritual leader, a role model in Liberia. In order to appreciate his deep emotional commitment, his trials and difficulties, and the rationales behind his selfless benevolence and virtuous disposition, it is important to understand the times, mood, and ambience in which he lived.

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1950: L-R: The Rt. Rev. BW Harris, Fr. Miller, Fr. JDK Baker, Rev. JG Coleman, Rev. Edgar Robertson

Unlike other African countries, which were politically colonized by European powers mainly for the economic benefit of the colonizers, the Republic of Liberia was not subordinated in this sense. It was founded by free and liberated blacks from the American hemisphere—the United States and the West Indies—in the 1820s. Although the overt reason for repatriation of the ex-slaves was said to be humanitarian on the part of the United States and various colonization agencies, the underlying motives were threefold: (1) to rid the United States of the rapidly growing black population and thus avert impending racial conflicts; (2) to create a focal point for Christianizing and civilizing Africa, using white missionaries and westernized blacks; and (3) to provide a new market for American exports.

The first repatriates landed on African soil in 1821, but the Republic of Liberia was not declared until 1847. It is estimated that by the emergence of the twentieth century, the total repatriated population numbered about 20,000. On the other hand, the original inhabitants of the area constituted sixteen tribal groups with an estimated population of 2.4 million. Most of these ethnic groups had organized societies. In some cases, like the Dey-Gola confederation (known as the Kondo Federation), had formed political, economic, and military alliances in order to consolidate their powers and establish a common defense against outside aggression. They had organized religions based on ancestral worship. Obeisance to physical objects, such as stones, rivers, or trees—regarded as symbolic of the ancestral spirit—was believed to be intercessory to a Supreme Being, known as Nyesoa by the Greboes and Krus, Glapor by the Bassas, Kamba by the Vais and Lormas, and so on. This Supreme Being, they believed, was responsible for all creation.

The government of repatriates gradually absorbed all the tribal communities by either signing peace treaties with them or by force of arms. However, the indigenes were not politically, socially, or legally absorbed. There were interior regulations said to be based on tribal customs, which governed the non-Westernized, indigenous populations. These regulations or customary laws, however, overlooked the diversity of tribal customs and traditions. They embodied judicial, legislative, and executive functions administered by the president of Liberia through his secretary of the interior and appointed district commissioners. These new laws were enforced by the Liberian Frontier Force, the nation’s professional army organized in 1908. On the other hand, these new statutes regulated behavior of members of the repatriated community and laws passed by the national legislature were foreign to the indigenes. Until the 1970s, political and economic power was centered in the hands of the repatriated oligarchy.

Although intermarriage and other social contacts were not officially prohibited between the indigenes and the repatriates, the negative stigma attached to such affiliations was stronger than any law. This justified the allegation of critics that there was a caste system in Liberia. Such social prejudices, coupled with excessive taxation, economic and political barriers, and external problems, provoked a series of tribal rebellions against the government.

Most educated indigenes were taught by foreigners in missionary schools. Because of the poor state of its economy, the government could not provide quality public schools even for the children of repatriates. Consequently, many of these children were also educated in the mission schools. As in many cases, the church-run schools provided superior education.

As the indigenes became educated, they found limited career opportunities open to them. The location of Cuttington Collegiate and Divinity School (an Episcopal missionary institution) in Maryland County, about three hundred miles from Monrovia, therefore provided an opportunity for many young men of tribal background to pursue the ministry as a profession. Although the minority settler government was willing at times to make a few gestures of job offers to the indigenes, these gestures were often intended to dull international criticism and attract external investment into its impoverished economy. The repatriates were perhaps fearful of absorption by the numerically greater indigenous sector. Consequently, they continued to monopolize political power by blocking constitutionally qualified indigenes who seriously aspired to political positions.

A clear example of this is the case of Henry Too Wesley. In order to gain indigenous votes during his first election as president in 1924, C. D. B. King carried the political stooge, H. Too Wesley, of Grebo descent, as his vice president. Having served the purpose of a winning ticket, Wesley was unceremoniously dropped from the ticket in 1928 when King sought a second term. Allen Yancy, an émigré, was carried instead. Later Yancy, with others, was reportedly implicated in