The West African Republic of Liberia was founded in 1847 by freed American slaves, who named their capital Monrovia, after the fifth U.S. president. Constituting an elite class, their descendants ruled the country until a coup in 1980 threw the country into chaos. After a period of repression and civil war, in which an estimated 200,000 were killed, relative calm ensued in 2003, led by a group called Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace.
Civil wars will be the furthest thing from your mind, though, as you journey down Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, a minor commercial thoroughfare in Jamaica that—with its non-franchise frame storefronts—retains the sort of small-town feel that reminds us that Queens was once a collection of autonomous villages. This pleasant neighborhood north of Baisley Pond has become home to a burgeoning African population, with a Nigerian, a Senegalese, and a Liberian restaurant recently appearing. Located near the intersection of 107th Avenue and Guy Brewer, Maima's is the Liberian place, the only one in town. The sparsely decorated dining room is small and bright, and three steps in the rear lead up to the kitchen where Maima, the cook and matriarch of the establishment, presides.
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