Tuesday, September 16, 2008 Wesley serves as panelist on Liberian diaspora forum

Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, a Liberian native and assistant professor of English at Penn State Altoona, was one of six invited panelists to the Liberian government's "Diaspora Engagement Stakeholders' Consultative Forum," in Monrovia, Liberia, in August. She was invited by the Executive Mansion to consult with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sierleaf, Liberia's Foreign Minister, and others. The forum provided strategies on how Sirleaf and her government could engage Liberians abroad to aid in the reconstruction of Liberia after its civil war.

Wesley called for a strengthening of linkages between Diaspora Liberians and Liberians in-country. She explained that the tensions that exist between the “two Liberias” needed to be reconciled in order for the country to move forward. Her speech included a brief poetry reading and a presentation of her newest book to Sierleaf.