The History of The Liberian Community Association -DFW

 By E. Henry Harmon, II

What brought the group together was the death of a Liberian  (name withheld) in the Dallas / Fort Worth Metroplex in 1977. This Liberian having no insurance and two young boys to care for, with no job and because falling ill for several months before his demise left him flat broke. The problem now was to bury our falling comrade. With all of us in school and making Minimum Wages ($2.30 at best) and part time workers; this was a serious problem. Where to turn as strangers in this strange land? An appeal was made to the City of Dallas and a little assistant was given, $250.00. With the little we collected, and the help of the funeral home’s assistance after hearing our cry, surprisingly our fellow Liberian was buried. It was then when we desired to come together and start something that would bring us leverage in hoping never to be in a situation like this ever again. This pledge has been kept as you see how our community rallies together when death hits the community. Our major achievement was and still is, helping one another. Immigration was another issue of which many here can attest to, apart from staying in school. We made it, oh yes we did. We graduated, got married, started businesses and of course families too. From whence we came, the founding members and I consider nothing a failure because we made great progress with the litter we came here with. Majority of u s Liberians came as visitors, and a few came as students. Yes we have many successes can’t you see that? Look at our children, businesses, homes and surroundings (LCA –DFW Community). Don’t you see success?