Naquetta Ricks and Nathan Biah have been elected to office in the states of Colorado and Rhode Island respectively.
The two Liberians escaped civil war in the 1990s alongside their families and sought refuge in the US.
Naquetta Ricks won a seat in Colorado’s House of Representatives. As a graduate from Aurora Central, She earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Business Administration from Metro and CU respectively. Naquetta Ricks is a proud mother of a 24-year-old daughter and have worked hard to provide for her and operate a successful small mortgage brokerage business.
“I’ve dedicated my life to working to improve my community, by helping build economic knowledge, capacity and attainability for immigrant and low income communities. I serve on various community boards, and find joy in helping people reach their goal of home ownership as a mortgage broker.” She said during the campaign period. Adding that;
“As a young girl, I fled a Civil War in my native country, Liberia, and resettled in Aurora. Since then, I have had the opportunity to live what now seems like an impossible American Dream.”
On his part, high school Principal, Nathan Biah, won a state seat in Rhode Island.
Mr Biah spent his childhood in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, when the civil war broke out. He walked to the border with neighboring Ivory Coast before reuniting with his family in Rhode Island.
According to his campaign website, Biah’s journey to America started in Monrovia, Liberia where his plans to attend college were disrupted by the Liberian Civil War.
Reports say he walked 90 miles from Monrovia to Bong Mines to escape the violence and eventually landing in a refugee camp in the Ivory Coast. Biah eventually reunited with family in Rhode Island.”
Their respective success is a plus to their home country and the African continent in general. Many of such talents still exist in the continent and just need to be fished out and promoted
