Baltimore & Gbarnga: 50 Years of Sister Cities

Baltimore’s first sister city relationship was established 50 years ago in 1973 with Gbarnga in Liberia. In Baltimore, the relationship is managed by Baltimore-Gbarnga Sister City Committee (BGSSC); in Gbarnga is it managed by Gbarnga-Baltimore Sister City Committee (GBSC Liberia).

Baltimore is located in the state of Maryland, near Washington, DC (the capital of USA). Gbarnga is the capital of Bong County, northeast of Monrovia (the capital of Liberia). Maryland has historical connections to Liberia and has sister state relationships with two counties in Liberia: Bong County and Maryland County.

A year of celebration

2023 is the 50th year of the Baltimore-Gbarnga sister city relationship. There are several special events throughout the year:

December 2022 | B4 Youth Theatre: 200 Years of Returns

Baltimore-Gbarnga Sister City Committee (BGSSC) supported and collaborated with the Program in Racism, Immigration, and Citizenship (RIC) at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University (JHU) on a historic trip commemorating the 200th year since the arrival of the first repatriated families in Liberia. B4 Youth Theatre, a troupe of young Baltimore performers, performed in Liberia to build a cultural and societal bridge between the two countries and its peoples. The performance, 200 Years of Returns, commemorated the Liberia Bicentennial. A collaboration with the Angels of Praise dancers and the Just One Spirit dance ministry — the culmination of more than a year of rehearsing, research, and performances in Virginia and Maryland. B4 Youth Theatre visited Gbarnga and its community college during their trip. More information about this trip

About B4 Youth Theatre: www.b4youththeatre.org

About the Johns Hopkins University program: JHU’s RIC Supports Trip to Liberia for Baltimore Schoolchildren

B4 Youth Theatre, a troupe of young Baltimore performers, performed in Liberia in 2022 to build a cultural and societal bridge between the two countries and its peoples. The performance, called '200 Years of Returns,' commemorated the Liberia Bicentennial.

June 23, 2023 | Anniversary celebration in Gbarnga

The Gbarnga-Baltimore Sister City Committee (GBSC Liberia) held a special event in Gbarnga on June 23, 2023 with Gbarnga Mayor Herbert to celebrate the sister city relationship with Baltimore.

Special event held in Gbarnga on June 24, 2023 with Mayor Herbert to celebrate 50th year anniversary of the sister city relationship with Baltimore.

July 7, 2023 | Special event in Baltimore

The event recognizes and celebrates the December 2022 ‘200 Years of Returns’ trip to Liberia organized and sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Krieger School program in Racism, Immigration and Citizenship (‘RIC’) and the Baltimore-Gbarnga Sister City Committee. This event includes the presentation of the Baltimore Mayor’s ‘Certificates of Recognition’ to the 29 youth and adults who traveled to Liberia or supported the trip in other ways, a cultural troupe performance, premiere screening of ‘200 Years of Returns” as performed on UNESCO World Heritage site Providence Island in Liberia, Q&A with the actors and travelers, and a light reception.

Event information

Post-event press release and photos

Honorees at the July 7, 2023 celebration in Baltimore of '200 Years of Returns' (a Baltimore-Liberia program)

July 7 / Baltimore-Gbarnga: 50 Years of Sister Cities; 200 Years of Returns

Dance and music performance - '200 Years of Returns' trip to Liberia in 2022

Recognize and celebrate the ‘200 Years of Returns’ performances in Gbarnga, Liberia and Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Admission: By invitation only (not open to the public)

Recognize and celebrate the December 2022 ‘200 Years of Returns’ trip to Liberia organized and sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Krieger School program in Racism, Immigration and Citizenship (‘RIC’) and the Baltimore-Gbarnga Sister City Committee. This will include presentation of the Baltimore Mayor’s ‘Certificates of Recognition’ to the 29 youth and adults who traveled to Liberia or supported the trip in other ways. Enjoy a cultural troupe performance, premiere screening of ‘200 Years of Returns” as performed on UNESCO World Heritage site Providence Island in Liberia, Q&A with the actors and travelers, and a light reception. Liberia is the country where freemen and ex-slaves, many from Maryland and Virginia, were returned to Africa beginning in 1822 as a result of the American Colonization Society and the Abolitionists Movement to decrease the number of freemen and ex-slaves as one method of abolishing slavery. The Republic of Liberia was formed in 1847. The Baltimore-Gbarnga Sister City Committee was formed in 1973 and was the first of Baltimore’s nine sister city relationships.

200 Years of Returns is a collaboration between Maryland nonprofit B4 Youth Theatre and the Museum Theater Department of Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The 2022 performances marking the Liberian bicentennial featured Baltimore’s Just One Spirit Dance Company and Angels of Praise of Pleasant Hope Baptist Church.

Donations at this event will support the three central Maryland community organizations involved: Baltimore-Gbarnga Sister Cities, B4 Youth Theatre, and the Angels of Praise dance group out of Pleasant Hope Baptist Church on Belvedere.

More info about the 2022 trip to Liberia: RIC Supports Trip to Liberia for Baltimore Schoolchildren

B4 Youth Theatre Liberia – 200 Years of Returns

Performance on December 18

B4 Youth Theatre is excited to announce that we will be giving our closing Bicentennial performance of 200 Years of Returns on Sunday, December 18, 2022 at 6pm at Providence Island in Liberia. Doors open at 5pm. This performance will be historic as we approach the end the year of 2022 which marks the 200 years of diaspora-making in this land of Liberty. We invite you to celebrate this historic occasion with as we welcome international guest actors from the Museum Theatre.

This is a collaboration with Department of Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Virginia (US), dancers sponsored by the Inheritance Baltimore project, and graduate researcher assistants under the direction of the Program in Racism, Immigration, and Citizenship at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University. Since we began this collaboration in 2019, we have consulted with notable Liberian scholars, artists, and policymakers such as Dr. Carl Burrowes, Dr. Clarice Ford Kulah, and Hon. Rosana G.D.H. Schaack on the development of a production that includes many perspectives for a thoughtful reflection on the challenges and triumphs which brought us together in the past and with hope for how we might persevere together in the future.

Our senior company of theater artists, composed of actors from our national leadership team, many of whom began with our program as students in 2013, will join our international guests in this performance. Between June-August of this year, five of our Liberia national leaders and senior company members traveled to the US to perform an early version of the script and conduct theater workshops in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.

Opportunity for a performance on December 19

Students at our Gbarnga area program site are excited to see this performance for themselves, and as many cannot travel to Monrovia for the main performance on December 18, we would love the opportunity to bring them to the Bong County Technical College campus for a performance workshop. We envision a 30 to 40-minute combined performance with our Liberian actors and those from Colonial Williamsburg along with dancers from Baltimore, Maryland, US, and a panel discussion with all of our artists and distinguished educational professionals in Liberia. Aligned with our mission of empowering young people to become educated citizens through the arts, we believe this would be a valuable opportunity to cultivate knowledge with Bong County Technical College students, faculty, and staff, local youth artists, and our international guests. We could be available for this event the afternoon of Monday, December 19, 2022.

About B4 Youth Theatre

www.b4youththeatre.org

About the Johns Hopkins University program

JHU’s RIC Supports Trip to Liberia for Baltimore Schoolchildren