DyuòƐ̀kadyù: Legend of the Bassa

This book is about the once powerful but now little-known Bassa Kingdom in Liberia, one of Africa's oldest ethnic groups with a rich history, tradition, and culture that has survived the span of colonization and wars. The Bassa people's cosmological beliefs and the creation of Toɖo-kpà, Toɖo-kpà, the earth or cosmic palace are sacred. The question of humanity's origins has been debated for time immemorial. Most humans, regardless of culture, have held to a creation story. Even atheists have their own. The Bassa people of Liberia attribute humanity's creation to Gèɖèpɔ́ɔ̀, a deity who lived in a spiritual place called dyɔún, sitting on Her zèè [throne] with the Bassa and all creatures who shared the same mother tongue. From the Bassa's viewpoint, the indigenous cultures that are trapped in this manner know that to control a group of people, you must position yourself as the authority of a language [cut off their mother's tongue], religion [give them a new belief system], use their culture against them. If you simply banish or discredit your rivals, you become the ultimate source of truth for that group of people. You can mentally enslave them and provide the best explanation for who they are. This is the "liberating education" or a new mindset that Dyuòɛ̀kadyù aspires to when retelling the legend of the Bassa because most of what has been written by non-Bassa people is false and smearing. Does it startle you to think of a female Gèɖèpɔ́ɔ̀, or deity of creation? Well, let Dyuòɛ̀kadyù take you on a mystical, mysterious journey into the Bassa cosmology.