26-year-old Liberian activist Kimmie Weeks vowed to help his country at a very young age.

When the First Liberian Civil War began in 1989, the country was thrown into utter chaos, and [Weeks] was caught in the thick of it.

 

He witnessed boys his own age carrying AK-47s, young girls selling their bodies for sex, and corpses stacked up in the middle of the road.

 

In 1991, Weeks became sick with cholera, with no access to medicine or help. For days, he lay in bed, unable to move. When a neighbor tried in vain to find a pulse in his chest, he thought that the child was dead, and sent some of the other villagers to dig a shallow grave for his body.

Weeks' mother didn't believe that he was gone. She screamed at his lifeless body, hitting him with her fists. Just when things seemed hopeless, her son's eyes fluttered open.

 

That very night, as Weeks slowly began to recover from the disease that had nearly taken his life, he made a promise to himself: Now that he'd been given a second chance, he would dedicate the rest of his life to helping other children whose lives had been ripped apart by war

 

 

Kimmie Weeks To Lobby US Government On Liberian Issues, Receives Major Civil Rights Award

March 03, 2008/ Culled From FrontPageAfrica

 

 

Selma, Alabama (USA): World Renowned Liberian child rights activist Kimmie Weeks has been named recipient of the 2008 Freedom Flame Award.

 

The award, which is granted by the National voting Rights Museum, the 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference honors individuals who continue the legacy of the civil rights movement and the fight for human rights around the world.

 

Six Freedom Flame Awards are given out each here and other honorees this year include Sean "P" Diddy,
Kimmie with Liberia's President Ellen Sirleaf

Russell Simmons, and Al Sharpton, among others.  The awards are given out at a gala reception and dinner attended by many celebrities and heroes of the civil rights movement, on the eve of the annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee, March 9.  

 

Other past Freedom's Flame award winners include Dr. Martin Luther King and Corretta Scott King, Harry Belafonte, Andrew Young, John Lewis, and Chuck D.

 

This year's ceremony is being held to commemorate the 43rd Anniversary of "Bloody Sunday." Bloody Sunday occurred in Alabama in 1965 when 600 civil rights marchers were attacked by state and local Police with clubs and tear gas. The protesters were demanding that African-Americans be granted the right to vote. The Freedom Flame Award honors this legacy and highlights individuals working to fight against injustice.

 

This year, the award ceremony will be attended by a host of prominent individuals including Democratic presidential candidates Barak Obama and Hilary Clinton. Hon Al Sharpton will serve as keynote speaker during the award ceremony, which is scheduled to take place at the Selma Convention Center on March 8, 2008.

 

Kimmie Weeks says he is honored to receive the award. "This is another opportunity to promote a positive image for Liberia in the international media." Weeks says he will also begin to use his growing influence in the United States to influence the US Congress to do more for Liberia.

 

Kimmie Weeks and his ground breaking work across Africa continue to receive critical acclaim at home and abroad.
  

 

  
   

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