Karen Dahn,
Athens, OH.
I went to Liberia as a Peace Corps Volunteer right out of college in the late 60’s, after having grown up in Montana and gone to school in Colorado with very little exposure to non white people. Being in Africa was a life changing experience. I did not intend to do more than teach, travel, and return to the States, but I fell in love with Liberia, with the Africa I saw in my travels, and ultimately, with a Liberian. Our marriage lasted 30 years. We experienced both overt and subtle racism but were fiercely determined to raise our son and daughter as African and American. Both are adults now with a strong sense of themselves as “golden” human beings, at ease with people of any hue, any ethnicity, any “difference.” I truly believe their blending of culture and color represents the future of America.
