Liberia, home of the native wayfarers

Liberia, home of the pioneers’ children.

Liberia, you glorious land of liberty.

Liberia, land of black panthers and valor warriors.

Beautiful Liberia, home of the resilient people;

A people called from age to age,

With one great destiny:

A destiny to bring freedom and light,

To an enslaved and benighted race.

O Liberia, home of my mothers’ mothers!

Along whose shores black freedom was borne.

Can you hear the voice resonating from atop,

Mount Nimba, the Wuteve, and the Putu?

Can you hear the call of the ancestors,

Urging you to rise and shine?

Glory to the heavens, a new dawn has arrived.

Liberia, it’s your time to rise and shine.

When the way seems to be dark, rise and shine.

When calamity dogs your steps, rise and shine.

In the midst of whatever storm, rise and shine.

In the prevalence of prejudice and injustice,

I say, rise and shine, for you are Liberia.

A land of resilience; a glorious land of liberty.

O people of this great nation,

Pick up your balafone and your saa-saa;

Play a merry tone and dance!

Yes, dance your hearts to the azure sky,

For a new era has arrived for our nation,

When corruption shall be an event of the past;

When prejudice and injustice shall be held,

Hostage by love and justice.

When the tears of the poor people,

Shall be wiped at justice’s temple;

When our sires shall lighten,

The burdens we bear around every day.

When mothers under the hot market kitchen,

Shall smile knowing that their children,

Are in school, learning the book that they couldn’t learn.

When our leaders shall restore the hopes

Of our hopeless girls and boys who are roving the high streets,

Of Monrovia in pursuit of their daily bread.

When Liberia shall be respected again,

On this great continent of Africa.

O Liberia, home of my mothers’ mothers!

O Liberia, this glorious land of liberty!

O Liberia, a land garmented in unparalleled beauty!

We pray our love for you shall never cease.

We vow to fight for you against whatever foe,

Though we may hail you from far-off places,

But you are the home of our mothers’ mothers.

A land more precious than rubies, diamonds, and gold;

You are our one and only home.

So let your glory shine before the world.

Let your sun never set.

Let your pasture forever be green.

O Liberia, we hail you high.

This was written by our contributing writer, Emmanuel Gleekia.