COMING TOGETHER: The Ins and Outs of Liberia’s Ups and Downs

About the Book

This book presents poetry, which the author believes is another suitable medium of scholarship for expressing his views on Liberia's development. He says that studying poetry, evaluating its messages, and embracing them within relevant contexts can be helpful to Liberians to empathize with and support each other rather than engaging in acts of violence and destruction. The poems cover some of the salient issues of Liberia’s developmental process, highlighting the conditions of progress, stagnation, and regression. The lyrics, figuratively in some poems and literally in others, express the author’s sentiments and hopes for positive change now and in the future for Liberia. . It also includes lyrics with philosophical and social overtones regarding family and friends.

About the Author

Anthony Barclay is a development specialist and poet. He holds a B. A. in Economics, Cuttington College and Divinity School (currently Cuttington University), Liberia; M. A. in Public Policy and Administration, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA; and a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning (with a minor in Economics), University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. Among other positions he served as Adjunct Lecturer, Cuttington University Graduate School and Professional Studies, Liberia; Senior Advisor to the Executive Director for Africa (Group 1); World Bank, Washington DC, USA; Human Development and Poverty Alleviation Advisor, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Abuja, Nigeria; Program Officer, African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF); Harare, Zimbabwe; Executive Director for Research, Policy and Planning, Central Bank of Liberia, Economic Specialist, UNDP, Liberia; Director, of the Office of Planning and Institutional Development and Assistant Professor, University of Liberia; Development Specialist, Liberian Institute of Public Administration. His publications include: Consolidating Peace through Governance and Regional Cooperation: The Liberian Experience; The Political Economy of Brain Drain at Institutions of Higher Learning in Conflict Countries: Case of the University of Liberia; The Political Economy of Sustainable Development: The Governance Perspective; Regional Economic Commissions and Intra-Regional Migration Potential in Africa: Taking Stock. Liberia: Historical Reflections Through Selected Independence Day Orations, 1855 – 2000. [Ed] Liberia in Thoughts and Plans and other Poems; Personal Human Decency: the PHD from the University of Life; and The Evolution of Central Banking in Liberia (forthcoming).