Bai T. Moore
Encyclopedia
Bai Tamia Johnson Moore commonly known by his pen-name, Bai T. Moore, was a Liberia
n poet, novelist, folklorist and essayist. He also held various cultural, educational and tourism posts both for the Liberian government and for UNESCO
, and was the founder of Liberia's National Cultural Center. He is best-known for his novella Murder in the Cassava Patch
(1968), the tale of a crime passionel in a traditional Liberian setting.
village on the Monrovia-Tubmanburg highway. He trained overseas as an agriculturist at Virginia Union University
before returning to Liberia in 1941 to take up a post in the civil service.
After co-editing, alongside Roland T. Dempster and T. H. Carey, the Liberian poetry collection, Echoes from the Valley: Being Odes and Other Poems (1947), he was seconded to work for UNESCO
on its Liberia desk. In 1957, he headed the government's Fundamental Education project designed to bring education and information to rural Liberia., when President William Tubman
appointed him Under-Secretary of State for Cultural Affairs.
In 1962, Moore was one of a team of Vai
scholars who took part in a conference at the University of Liberia
to standardise the Vai
script for modern usage.
The publication of Murder in the Cassava Patch
secured Moore's reputation as Liberia's best-known writer, and its popularity ensured that he was able to maintain his public position through some of the most turbulent years of Liberia's history. Under the government of President Samuel Doe
, Moore was appointed Minister for Cultural Affairs and Tourism, a position that he held at the time of his sudden death at the age of seventy-one.
After a state funeral at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion, attended by cultural troupes from the Dey
, Gola
, Vai
, Kpelle
, Gbandi
, and Gio
tribes, Bai T. Moore was finally laid to rest in his native Dimeh. Wilton Sankawulo wrote: " The best tribute we can pay to the memory of Bai Tee is making our culture part of our daily life, for culturally we are dressed in borrowed robes. Unless we replace these alien garments with ones of our own making, we will continue failing in all our attempts to build a society that can meet our needs and aspirations."
(1968), which has been called "a Liberian literary classic". This short novel - which deals with the murder of a young Liberian girl by her jealous lover - has been part of Liberian school curricula every year since its publication. It deals unromantically with traditional Liberian life - there are references to human sacrifice and to indigenous slavery - and the meretricious attractions of the modern world, where freedom for young people seems to involve a more conspicuous consumption of palm wine and cane juice, and a yearning for material possessions over loyalty and love.
It was followed by The Money Doubler (1976), about a trickster who convinces people to part with their cash on the promise that he will be able to use "African science" to double it. Like its predecessor, The Money Doubler presents a picture of Liberian life that is realistic, but by no means idealised; and it makes a more sustained effort to represent an accurate version of Liberian English in all the dialogue throughout the novel.
Moore contributed one of the Four Stories by Liberian Writers, edited by Sankawulo in 1980, and together with Jangaba Johnson he compiled a collection of Liberian folk tales entitled Chips from the African Story Tree.
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
n poet, novelist, folklorist and essayist. He also held various cultural, educational and tourism posts both for the Liberian government and for UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
, and was the founder of Liberia's National Cultural Center. He is best-known for his novella Murder in the Cassava Patch
Murder in the Cassava Patch
Based on a true story, Bai T. Moore's Murder in the Cassava Patch is Liberia's best-known novel. Published by Ducor Publishing House in 1968, it remains required reading for every Liberian high school student, and is widely regarded as the one real Liberian literary classic in a very small...
(1968), the tale of a crime passionel in a traditional Liberian setting.
Life
Moore was born in Dimeh, a traditional GolaGola (ethnic group)
The Gola or Gula are a tribal people living in western Liberia. The Gola language is part of the Southern branch of the West Atlantic language family; , it is spoken by approximately 107,000 people....
village on the Monrovia-Tubmanburg highway. He trained overseas as an agriculturist at Virginia Union University
Virginia Union University
Virginia Union University is a historically black university located in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It took its present name in 1899 upon the merger of two older schools, Richmond Theological Institute and Wayland Seminary, each founded after the end of American Civil War by the American...
before returning to Liberia in 1941 to take up a post in the civil service.
After co-editing, alongside Roland T. Dempster and T. H. Carey, the Liberian poetry collection, Echoes from the Valley: Being Odes and Other Poems (1947), he was seconded to work for UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
on its Liberia desk. In 1957, he headed the government's Fundamental Education project designed to bring education and information to rural Liberia., when President William Tubman
William Tubman
William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman was a Liberian politician. He was the 19th President of Liberia from 1944 until his death in 1971....
appointed him Under-Secretary of State for Cultural Affairs.
In 1962, Moore was one of a team of Vai
Vai (ethnic group)
The Vai are a Manden ethnic group that live mostly in Liberia and small minority live in south-eastern Sierra Leone. The Vai are known for their indigenous syllabic writing system, developed in the 1820s by Duala Bukele and other tribal elders. Over the course of the 19th century, literacy in the...
scholars who took part in a conference at the University of Liberia
University of Liberia
The University of Liberia is a publicly funded institution of higher learning located in Monrovia, Liberia. Authorized by the national government in 1851, the school opened in 1863 as Liberia College and became a university in 1951. The school is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning...
to standardise the Vai
Vai language
The Vai language, alternately called Vy or Gallinas, is a Mande language, spoken by roughly 104,000 in Liberia and by smaller populations, some 15,500, in Sierra Leone. It is noteworthy for being one of the few sub-Saharan African languages to have a writing system that is not based on the Latin...
script for modern usage.
The publication of Murder in the Cassava Patch
Murder in the Cassava Patch
Based on a true story, Bai T. Moore's Murder in the Cassava Patch is Liberia's best-known novel. Published by Ducor Publishing House in 1968, it remains required reading for every Liberian high school student, and is widely regarded as the one real Liberian literary classic in a very small...
secured Moore's reputation as Liberia's best-known writer, and its popularity ensured that he was able to maintain his public position through some of the most turbulent years of Liberia's history. Under the government of President Samuel Doe
Samuel Doe
Samuel Kanyon Doe was the 21st President of Liberia, serving from 1986 until his assassination in 1990. He had previously served as Chairman of the People's Redemption Council from 1980 to 1986. He was the first indigenous head of state in Liberian history.Doe was a part of a rural tribe in inland...
, Moore was appointed Minister for Cultural Affairs and Tourism, a position that he held at the time of his sudden death at the age of seventy-one.
After a state funeral at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion, attended by cultural troupes from the Dey
Dey
Dey was the title given to the rulers of the Regency of Algiers and Tripoli under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 onwards...
, Gola
Gola
Gola may refer to:Groups and tribes:*Gola , in Balochistan, Pakistan*Gola people, a tribal people and language in Liberia*Gola , native to south-east Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Western Uttar Pradesh regions of IndiaPlace names:...
, Vai
Vai
Vai has several possible meanings:* Vaï, Moroccan-French Canadian rapper* Vai people** Vai language** Vai syllabary* Vai * Văi, a village in Lupşa Commune, Alba County, Romania* Steve Vai, guitarist* Steve Vai's band Vai - see Steve Vai...
, Kpelle
Kpelle
The Kpelle people are located primarily in an area of central Liberia extending into Guinea. They speak the Kpelle language, which belongs to the Mande language family....
, Gbandi
Gbandi
Gbandi is an ethnic group of Liberia. It is also the language traditionally spoken by these people.-People:Population is estimated at 107,000 people; of which many have fled to Guinea during the Liberian Civil War. Traditional religions are Muslim and Christian.-Language:Gbandi is a Southwestern...
, and Gio
Gio Tribe
The Gio or Dan people is an ethnic group in north-eastern Liberia and in Côte d'Ivoire. The Dan are an ethnic group located in the West African countries of Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. There are approximately 350,000 members of the group, united by the Dan language, a Mande language...
tribes, Bai T. Moore was finally laid to rest in his native Dimeh. Wilton Sankawulo wrote: " The best tribute we can pay to the memory of Bai Tee is making our culture part of our daily life, for culturally we are dressed in borrowed robes. Unless we replace these alien garments with ones of our own making, we will continue failing in all our attempts to build a society that can meet our needs and aspirations."
Works
Moore's earliest published poems appeared as part of the anthology Echoes from the Valley (1947). Ebony Dust (1962, reprinted 2001), a collection of Moore's poetry, was followed in 1968 by Murder in the Cassava PatchMurder in the Cassava Patch
Based on a true story, Bai T. Moore's Murder in the Cassava Patch is Liberia's best-known novel. Published by Ducor Publishing House in 1968, it remains required reading for every Liberian high school student, and is widely regarded as the one real Liberian literary classic in a very small...
(1968), which has been called "a Liberian literary classic". This short novel - which deals with the murder of a young Liberian girl by her jealous lover - has been part of Liberian school curricula every year since its publication. It deals unromantically with traditional Liberian life - there are references to human sacrifice and to indigenous slavery - and the meretricious attractions of the modern world, where freedom for young people seems to involve a more conspicuous consumption of palm wine and cane juice, and a yearning for material possessions over loyalty and love.
It was followed by The Money Doubler (1976), about a trickster who convinces people to part with their cash on the promise that he will be able to use "African science" to double it. Like its predecessor, The Money Doubler presents a picture of Liberian life that is realistic, but by no means idealised; and it makes a more sustained effort to represent an accurate version of Liberian English in all the dialogue throughout the novel.
Moore contributed one of the Four Stories by Liberian Writers, edited by Sankawulo in 1980, and together with Jangaba Johnson he compiled a collection of Liberian folk tales entitled Chips from the African Story Tree.
External links
- Documentary video about Liberia, featuring Moore's hometown of Dimeh
- I dressed in green, a tribute to Bai T. Moore by Wilton Sankawulo, in Sea Breeze Journal of Contemporary Liberian WritingsSea Breeze Journal of Contemporary Liberian WritingsSea Breeze Journal of Contemporary Liberian Writings is a biannual peer-reviewed electronic journal that publishes creative non-fiction and original short fiction narratives, critical essays, novel excerpts, poetry, interviews, book reviews, and social and political commentary by Liberian writers...
- Ebony Dust at Africa Book Centre
- The Money Doubler at Amazon.co.uk.
- Online text (also downloadable) of Murder in the Cassava Patch at The Analyst
- Celebrating Bai T. Moore, the late Liberian poet, writer, culturalist and statesman by Patricia Jabbeh Wesley