Mama Hannah E. Clarke: Matriarch of Our Community


Growing up in Freetown, Sierra Leone, there was always a title that preceded an adults name. Other than parents, grandparents and other family members, adults were called aunty or uncle, mister, misses, or miss, pa and mammy. Even siblings with more than just a couple of years difference would use sister Eku or brother Tokunbo for example, rather than just first names.

I use this as just one example of the reverence we have as Sierra Leoneans, and as Krio’s for age and seniority. The elder child is expected to graduate first, marry first, have children first. The youngest or chuneh or lastina can expect a life of always having the smallest beef in the pot, the last share of the soft drink, and the longest stint as gofer. The aged in our community have precedence and authority. Becoming a senior work colleague for someone older than you, particularly a contemporary of your parents, is an awkward situation that has confronted many of us in our time. Does your professional authority trump their community seniority? “Imagine little Adeline telling me, uncle Alaba, to make sure the accounts are not late this month! I sat in school with her father and in fact helped him with his homework. My youngest son is older than her. Fityai!”

Why do we accord age and the elderly such respect? What benefit do we derive from that? How do we translate that to our disaporic existence where youth is valued above all else? I ask because our Mrs. Hannah Elizabeth Clarke, a pillar in our community here in the DFW metro area, turned 95 years of age recently. Are we benefitting from her wisdom and experience? Is she feeling the love and respect she deserves according to our tradition? A point for us to ponder.

Mama Clarke was born on May 8, 1914 in Freetown, Sierra Leone, 7 weeks before the start of world War l, and grew up in Freetown during the colonial era. She recalls: “Everything was cheap. My school fees at the Cathedral Girls School were six pence a month. There were very few cars on the roads. The main means of transportation was by government buses and trains – and they ran on time too. Back then you had to be rich to have a clock or watch. Most people depended on the sounding of sirens to tell the time of day.”


Recently Mama Clarke was asked to reflect on what changes she had observed as positive, and negative. One drastic change for her was the loss of sacredness for Sunday. “In my day one would dare not think of shopping or even cooking on a Sunday. In fact all the stores and markets were closed. It was regarded as a Holy day and we were only allowed to participate in church activities. Church Service in the morning, Sunday School in the afternoon, and Night Service in the evening. We ate the best food on Sunday and all the shopping and cooking for it had to be done the day before. This made Saturday a very busy day for most families as we looked forward to Sunday as a day of rest. Now Sunday is no different from other market days. In fact it might even be the biggest market day of the week.”

Mama Clarke also laments the loss of regard for the dead and their resting place in our culture. She remembers that cemeteries were well-kept and strictly regarded, and exclusively for the dead in those days. “I have been told that in Freetown today people even build houses inside cemeteries. They have become a place where the living and the dead actually cohabit. Inconceivable in my day!”
As for her own legacy, Mama Clarke was married in Freetown in 1938 to the Late Samuel Reginald Clarke of 132 Circular Road. They had six children together but raised twelve, the eldest of whom, Isaac, still resides in Freetown. The rest live in various parts of the world achieving such status in their work and social lives as to bring honor to the parents that raised them.

I ask you all to join together and congratulate Mama Hannah Elizabeth Clarke for surviving so much (if you consider what has happened in Sierra Leone between her birth date and now) and achieving this magnificent venerability.

If you were able to speak with Mama Clarke, what would you wish to ask her about? What milestones in our history, that she would have witnessed, are of interest to you? How would you draw on her wisdom and experience? Leave your thoughts and comments please.