The Liberian Swedish Association, LSA, hosted its Annual Black & Red, Pre-Christmas event on Saturday, November 26th, in Stockholm, the Swedish capital.
For almost a decade, the LSA leadership has hosted an end-of-year event to bring together members and well-wishers of LSA to celebrate, reconnect, create memories, and kick-start the Christmas holidays. This event usually follows the theme "Black & Red," where attendees are encouraged to dress in black and red attire to create a sense of unity and uniqueness.
This year's event went beyond its usual festivities. It also served as the platform to launch LSA's revamped constitution. For the first time in fifteen years, the LSA leadership under Mr. David Ford (President) and his team initiated a process to overhaul the outdated constitution to address current issues within the LSA community. To achieve this, a special constitution committee was formed and presented to LSA members on Saturday, June 27th, 2021.
The committee comprised prominent Liberians from various LSA communities and chapters. Their task was to review, analyze, and revamp the old constitution to align with current-day realities in terms of operations and membership.
Over the course of three months, the committee engaged in discussions selected qualified individuals, and worked diligently on the constitution. Committee members included: Mr. Francis Mensah - Chairman, Mrs. Bridget R. Forssén - Vice-Chairperson, Mr. Barry Karmoh - member, Mr. Beyan Kessely - member, Mr. Boakai Sandy - member, Mr. Sylvester Jarlee - member, Mrs. Courage B. Sundberg - member, and Mr. Saye P. Gbargbay - member.
After months of hard work, the committee chairman, Mr. Mensah, presented the revamped constitution to Mr. Ford at the Black & Red event. Mr. Mensah expressed gratitude to Mr. Ford and his leadership for entrusting them with this task and thanked fellow committee members for their dedication.
Mr. Ford, on behalf of the LSA community, thanked Mr. Mensah and the committee for their commitment. He encouraged LSA members to familiarize themselves with the new constitution to understand their rights and responsibilities. Mr. Ford also assured members that a digital version of the Constitution would be made available for easy access.
Despite challenges, this year's Black & Red event was a success. The leadership expressed gratitude to all LSA members and well-wishers for their support. The revamped constitution will be presented to the LSA community at the next monthly general meeting scheduled for Saturday, December 31st, 2022, providing members with an opportunity to review and discuss its contents.