Africana Homestead Legacy Publishers

C. William Allen is director general of the Civil Service Agency of the Republic of Liberia and was also minister of Information, Culture and Tourism in the Transitional Government of the Republic of Liberia (October 2003 to January 2006). He completed his graduate studies in the United States and earned a Ph.D. in mass communications from the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University. As an associate professor at Virginia State University in Petersburg, Dr. Allen taught journalism and mass communications (2001-2003). He also taught at the University of South Carolina Spartanburg, Xavier University in New Orleans, and the University of Liberia. While working as a journalist and editor in Liberia, Dr. Allen served as president of the Press Union of Liberia, Inc., (1986-1987) and was founding Editor-in-Chief of the independent daily, Footprints Today. He was editor of the Liberian Studies Journal (1995-1998), a scholarly journal dedicated to publication of original research on social, political, economic, scientific, and other issues about Liberia or with implications for Liberia. In the United States he also held several journalist-in-residence fellowships at major newspapers, including the Times-Picayune (New Orleans), Star-Telegram (Fort Worth) and The Tennessean (Nashville).C. William Allen has four children—Chuke, Camelot, Chika' and Monja' Joy who is like a daughter to him.

Xiongpao Lee, illustrator

Xiongpao Lee is a prominent writer-poet, visual and performance artist, and activist in the Hmong community of Minnesota. He is also the Upward Bound coordinator at University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Xiongpao graduated from the University of South Carolina Spartanburg (USCS, on June 30, 2004, USCS changed its name to the University of South Carolina Upstate). In 2001 when the Art 303 Illustration class at USCS took on a class project of illustrating The African Interior Mission, Xiongpao emerged as the illustrator of record for the book.