The Network of Concerned Historians is calling for your signature on the open letter in support of Sierra Leonean historian and journalist Chernoh Alpha Bah, who is living in exile in the United States after receiving death threats.
You can sign the letter here.
Summary of the situation
Since April 2021, Chernoh Alpha Bah, then a PhD candidate in history and from 2023 a postdoctoral fellow specializing in medical, legal, and economic history at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., United States, was subjected to attacks and threats, including death threats, from members of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party and from supporters of President Julius Maada Bio. The attacks stemmed from articles written or co-authored by Bah for online newspaper Africanist Press, which exposed financial crimes and corruption in Sierra Leone. Bah’s PhD focused on the history of prison labor and public health in Sierra Leone from the time of British occupation through the end of the twentieth century. The attacks prevented Bah, living in exile in the United States, from returning to Sierra Leone to carry out additional archival and oral history research.
Sources:
“Letter of Support for Chernoh Alpha M. Bah, PhD” (no date [July 2024]);
Matthew Anderson & Mark Feldman, “Academics Condemn Attacks on Sierra Leone’s Endangered Historian and Journalist” (15 July 2024).