Liberian human rights activist, former refugee and prisoner identified as Vandalark Patricks has graduated from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, bagging a master’s degree in Public Administration from the institution.
Sharing the goodnews on LinkedIn where he expressed gratitude for his journey.
According to him, he said that he was “Born and raised in poverty,” with his “late father earning less than $100 a month as a career rubber tapper at Firestone-Liberia.
He also recalls how he survived “bullets as a child to flee through the thick bushes into Guinea during the bloody crisis in Liberia”.
In his struggle against oppression in Liberia, Patrick was reportedly arrested on February 23, 2016, by armed police officers and detained on charges of criminal libel and sedition.
He was held at Monrovia Central Prison until March 1, 2016.
He was allegedly injected with an unknown substance, which impacted his health.
He was however released on June 1, 2016, with charges of criminal libel and sedition against him dismissed.
Patrick said “only price we pay as activists for speaking out against injustice and protecting the rights of the most vulnerable in the society is severe torture, judicial harrasment, and wrongful imprisonment by anti-democratic elements to keep us silent.”
He went further to acknowledging and thanking the Harvard Kennedy School of Government for offering him the scholarship he needed to change the narratives of his complicated last.
CONGRATULATIONS MAN!
Credit: Skabash
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