Coloradans Gather for Sierra Leone’s Independence Day Celebration

Africa Agen­da

Ben­jamin Kama­ra wel­comes guests to the 62nd Sier­ra Leone Inde­pen­dence Day cel­e­bra­tion in Auro­ra, Col­orado. Sat­ur­day, April 29, 2023

April 27 marked 62 years since the African nation of Sier­ra Leone attained its inde­pen­dence from Great Britain. 

The local com­mu­ni­ty of Sier­ra Leoneans in Col­orado did not want this impor­tant his­tor­i­cal event to pass by silent­ly. So, they sent out invi­ta­tions, pre­pared dish­es, ordered a vari­ety of drinks, and gath­ered in the halls of Christ Vision Min­istries Inter­na­tion­al in Auro­ra to mark the day.

The event kicked off at 9:30 p.m., with prayer, led by James Ahmad Sesay, who spoke in Eng­lish, Ara­bic, and Cre­ole, lan­guages that reflect the his­to­ry, cul­ture, and inher­i­tance from Sier­ra Leone’s colo­nial past. Free­town, the coun­try’s cap­i­tal, is known as a tourist des­ti­na­tion in West Africa, as well as a port city dur­ing the transat­lantic slave trade. 

Building Community Support

“The rea­son we are here is for the cel­e­bra­tion of our 62^nd anniver­sary,” Sama Sesay, who was born in Sier­ra Leone, but now lives in Auro­ra, told the audi­ence made up of chil­dren and adults. Sesay said her team of orga­niz­ers is try­ing to use the fes­tiv­i­ties to “come out as a group and move their com­mu­ni­ty forward.” 

In Col­orado, the Sier­ra Leone Sup­port Group exist­ed many years ago and helped shape the com­mu­ni­ty’s direc­tion and activ­i­ties. But a new task force led by Sesay and oth­er Sier­ra Leoneans in Col­orado wants to see their com­mu­ni­ty con­tin­ue with the cul­ture and tra­di­tions they admire about their past. 

Africans and Americans United By History

The com­mu­ni­ty in Col­orado includes peo­ple from Sier­ra Leone, and the neigh­bor­ing nation of Liberia, with whom they share not just a com­mon his­to­ry, but also long­stand­ing fam­i­ly ties and friend­ships. In their cel­e­bra­tion, they took time to pay homage to one of their own and a pil­lar of the com­mu­ni­ty, Michael Sher­iff, who passed away recently. 

Speak­ers includ­ed Col­oradans— Dr.Tejan Kanu, a retiree from US Bank Corp., Samuel Effange, an IT engi­neer and Cameroon­ian native, and Ebenez­er Nor­man, a human­i­tar­i­an and the founder of a New Dimen­sion of Hope. 

In a keynote address, Kanu paint­ed a stark his­to­ry of Sier­ra Leone, recount­ing a time of insta­bil­i­ty and uncer­tain­ty it faced “Sier­ra Leone is unique because of its con­nec­tion to the Unit­ed States and to the eman­ci­pa­tion move­ment,” he said. 

Effange urged the com­mu­ni­ty of Sier­ra Leoneans and Liberi­ans, to con­tin­ue to reach out to oth­ers that would help them build a strong and unit­ed African com­mu­ni­ty in Colorado.

The cel­e­bra­tions were marked with music, and a time of danc­ing that con­tin­ued late into the night.