Sixty Years of Independence in Conversation with "Mr. Sierra Leone"

You don’t have to live in Sierra Leone to make an impact on Sierra Leonean lives.

Up until very recently, I was a proponent for moving back home. I encouraged and inspired many to leave the diaspora to settle in SL because I believed it was the only way we could rebuild in the aftermath of the war.

I no longer believe this is so. My own personal experience (living in Ghana since 2013) and that of Ade Daramy shows it is possible (perhaps an act of self-preservation) to rebuild SL from without.

When Ade left to go to secondary school in the UK in the 70s, he and many like him believed they would return to live in SL in the future—that dream has not come to pass.

For most of his adult life, Ade lived in the UK, where he was born to Sierra Leonean parents 65 years ago.

Although he has been away all this while, Ade has been a steward, historian, culture curator, lighthouse, and leader in the Sierra Leone community in the UK.

So devoted was he to the SL community that he earned the moniker, Mr. Sierra Leone.

I got to talk to Ade about his relationship with Sierra Leone; not being able to fulfill that old-time dream of returning from the diaspora, and serving his UK community through times of crises.

In this episode of the Make Sierra Leone Famous podcast, Ade is candid and optimistic about Sierra Leone because of the impact of Sierra Leonean creatives.

Listen.

Make Sierra Leone Famous Podcast, Episode 12

Join me for Part II of a conversation with one of my favorite writers and culture historians, Ade Daramy.

We’re talking about Ade’s life and work, building community for and with Sierra Leoneans in the UK diaspora. I first talked to Ade on our October 29th episode about April 27 1961, and the early years after Independence when under the leadership of Sir Milton Margai, Sierra Leoneans believed excellence and greatness was within reach.

This time we talk about corruption and state decay in the 80s , and their impact on a generation who had dreamt of returning home from the diaspora.

We also talk about Ade’s life as a British civil servant and the things he learned being within earshot of retired British colonial officers on how they stole diamonds from Sierra Leone. We talk about neocolonialism and Sierra Leone’s continued courtship with foreign powers that exert influence over the nation’s leaders.

We talk about the war years, identity, national pride, and what makes us optimistic about the future of Sierra Leone

To listen to 'Sweet Salone' by Lady Felicia: https://bit.ly/3gD6l3l