A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

Little Liberias in the Diaspora
The waves of emigration of Liberians in the early and late 1990s have led to the creation of Liberian
settlements in the United States. Within the diaspora community, the most clustered of these
communities have been given names of Liberian towns and cities. The Park Hill neighborhood on
Staten Island, New York, is home to a large Liberian community. This neighborhood is often called
“Little Liberia,” 487 as are communities in Bridgeport, Connecticut, 488 and Albany, New York. 489 The
suburbs of Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, are home to one the largest Liberian
populations outside of West Africa. Liberians call these Midwestern neighborhoods “New Kru
Town.” 490
Liberians also refer to a
popular Liberian enclave
on Woodland Avenue in
northwest Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, as “Little
Monrovia,” whereas Liberian-
Americans have named
Providence, Rhode Island,
after an infamous business
district of Monrovia called
“Waterside.” 491 And finally,
although not as famous by
its name as the other U.S.based
Liberian areas, the
Washington, DC, metro area
is often referred to as “Oldest
Congo Town,” because of its status as the oldest place of residence for Liberian students, diplomats,
and other privileged visitors and immigrants. 492
Many Liberians in these communities enjoy meeting and socializing at Liberian-owned food stores,
restaurants, barber shops, and other Liberian owned and operated entities. 493 Liberians congregate
at these shops to not only buy familiar African food items, but also to engage in political and social
discussions pertaining to events back in Liberia. By doing so, they provide the necessary social
support to one another, as well as promote the business and financial interests of the owners of those
businesses or organizations to sustain them in the community.
Liberian communities in the United States are also engaged in nonprofit work. While there is a dearth
of data to accurately reflect the number of Liberian-operated nonprofit organizations (or, for that
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Chapter Thirteen