Monrovia – As part of his 75th Birth Anniversary Celebrations, called The Diamond in Tipoteh, two books written by Prof. Dr. Togba-Nah Tipoteh are now published. The first book, titled Bite and Blow, is about Growing Up in Poverty and Growing Up out of Poverty.
From the reading of this book, it is possible to know the sources of poverty and how to end mass poverty through non-violent means. The title of the book comes out of Tipoteh’s experience, as a barefoot boy, with rats.
After taking bath outdoors at night and walking into the house without footwear to go to bed, the rats went to work on what they smelled on Tipoteh’s feet. The rats were very skillful, biting and blowing in ways that could not be felt, only to wake up in the morning seeing blood on the feet with artistic rat-designed marks.
In deciding upon what to write for the birth anniversary, Tipoteh realized that his Bite and Blow rat-oriented experience helped him to understand how the “powers that be” in society, in the governance of the Liberian State, do bite with repressive measures and then blow with flattering rhetoric, policies, strategies and agenda to give the impression that something better is about to happen, only to find the “same old thing” happening, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
This book is dedicated to the Parents of Tipoteh, Rev. Korwreh Duwree Togba, also known as Rev. Samuel Togba Roberts and Mrs. Geena Wreh Kai, also known as Mrs, Victoria Kai Roberts. Tipoteh dedicated this book to the memory of his parents because, according to him, they played the central role in working within the mode of “not for self but for others”.
This is the mode that provided the motivation for Tipoteh to work with others to establish Susukuu, the 45 year old poverty alleviation organization and the Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA). Both of these organizations are figured prominently in the book.
The second book, Pepperbird Bound for Freedom, is a book of poems. This book has 75 poems, representing Tipoteh’s 75 years of age. The sound of the Pepperbird woke Tipoteh up in the mornings, reminding him that the poor masses were still smelling but not tasting, as they longed for the freedom to escape from the state of promised liberty to the state of realized liberty, by God’s Command. This book is dedicated to Madiba Nelson Rohlihlahla Mandela of South Africa, Africa and the World.
When Tipoteh first met Madiba Mandela in 1990 on his mission to give support to the CODESA Talks for a Free South Africa, Tipoteh noticed the straightness of Madiba Mandela’s back and he said to himself immediately that Mandela’s back is the back that broke the back of apartheid because after the apartheid regime made Mandela to break rocks daily for 27 years in prison and his back is still unbroken, not to mention his will-power, his struggle for a Free South Africa.
The two books are available as soft copies through the Internet on the website called Publish Wiz. The hardback published copies of the books will be available within the next two months.
