**Summary of the Book:**
Learn about Abraham Boi Watson's Perilous Journey, saving himself and his family during the bloody civil war in Liberia. This is the unlikely story of how a tribal boy grew up, became educated, worked at the Voice of America, survived the rebel checkpoints, and escaped to the Ivory Coast, Fargo/Moorhead, and the Twin Cities, for even more adventures.
Learn lots more from our press release feature article below:
Liberian Immigrant Shares His Life Story in New Biography
Wisdom Editions Releases “An African Son” in June 2022
(St. Paul) –Abraham Watson suspects most Americans know very little about the country of his birth, Liberia, or even the continent of Africa. “When they learn my family is part of an African tribe, they ask, “‘Did you live in a house?’ “They seem to think we all lived in grass huts,” he said, laughing.
Watson now lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, and hopes people will learn more about the Liberia he loved as a child, and the one that caused him to flee during a brutal civil war. In the new book about his life, written by Ronald E. Peterson, he especially wants young people to understand his strategies for survival and the importance of education.
An African Son: Abraham Boi Watson’s Perilous Journey was released in June 2022 by Calumet Editions of Edina, Minnesota. Watson and Peterson met at church 25 years ago and, despite their vast differences, became close friends. Peterson retired as Vice President of Technology at Honeywell in 2000. Watson recently retired as a journeyman electrician.
Early in the book, Watson shares his memories of June 17, 1990, the terrifying day when he and his Voice of America (VOA) colleagues thought they were going to die as their workplace was overrun by rebel forces. It then transitions to sharing memories of Watson’s childhood in one of the poorest countries in the world, how he ended up coming to America, and the life he has built here.
In the early chapters, Watson shares how different his upbringing was from what kids experience in America. “American children don’t know how good they have it; they take it for granted that there will be food on the table, that they will get an education, and have opportunities open to them. Life is a struggle for poor families in Africa.”
Though they were poor in terms of money, Watson’s parents instilled in him the need to learn. While most kids in Liberia only complete elementary school, Watson, through perseverance, hard work, and a little luck, continued on to high school, graduated, became a teacher, then continued his education, eventually becoming an electrician. While still in Liberia, he worked for the United States government as a technician for the Voice of America, sending news of the world to all of Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. He married, built a new house, had children, and was enjoying a happy, successful life.
Fast-forward to 1990 when a brutal civil war began. Everything Abraham Watson had worked for was suddenly gone and he knew he had to get his family to safety. The book highlights how Watson and his family navigated the horrors of war, and made their way first to the Ivory Coast, then to the Fargo-Moorhead area in the US, and finally to St. Paul, in 1997.
In addition to sharing Abraham Watson’s life story, the book also dives into Liberia’s history, beginning with the abduction of African people into what became a massive slave trade starting in the 1600s. The historical references also cover the actions of abolitionists, who in the 1800s decided to send free Blacks back to areas near current-day Monrovia where they initially faced brutal conditions but later, as they gradually gained power, built a slave-based society like the one they had left in the US, with the Americo- Liberians, as they were called, as the slave owners.
“I was amazed to learn how tribal people live and survive in Liberia,” says Peterson, “and the history about what happened when Americans sent former slaves back to Africa is fascinating.”
“One constant in Abraham’s life at every stage was the desire to contribute, to do better, to learn when he could. In Moorhead he decided to go to a tech college to continue his education. It’s impressive how at every stage he figured out how to get more education, and how to contribute,” says Peterson.
“It is also instructive how he managed bias and racism throughout his life. Even as a tribal boy, wearing inner- tube shoes, he was teased and put down at school. He was called “Country Boy,” meaning “Pagan” by his privileged classmates. Among the generally friendly people in America, he has repeatedly found overt racists and dealt with them.
Watson is hoping that young people, particularly those still in school, will read his life story and take away the message of the importance of education. “Abe is passionate about telling children to take advantage of what they are offered here. He wants kids to know that if a poor boy from Liberia can be successful, they can too.”
An African Son: Abraham Boi Watson’s Perilous Journey is available for order in both paperback and eBook formats from Amazon.com and from this website shop.