ALJA To Eulogize Rev J. Edwin Lloyd, Sr At Weekend’s Funeral Service

Brooklyn Center, Minnesota: The Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA) will this weekend join scores of mourners to pay tribute to the Rev, J. Edwin Lloyd, Sr, former President of the Liberia National Red Cross Society and the first Director General of the National Bureau of Veteran Affairs, Republic of Liberia.

The late Rev. J. Edwin Lloyd, Sr

The veteran Liberian clergyman, statesman, and humanitarian who was a staunch advocate for press freedom in Liberia, joined a group of Liberian journalists who gathered in Washington DC in the late 1990s to organize the Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA). According to former ALJA National Secretary General Gabriel Williams, Rev Lloyd delivered the opening and closing prayers during that gathering and provided unvarnished counsel to the leadership during ALJA’s formative years.

In an ALJA press release issued on Friday, June 9, 2023, the Association says in addition to his role in the organization, it intends to celebrate the fallen stateman for his lifetime of advocacy for social justice in Liberia. The late clergyman’s fearless criticism of the People’s Redemption Council government in the immediate aftermath of the 1980 military coup for human rights abuses led to his arrest and imprisonment at the infamous Belleh Yallah Prison in Lofa County for two years.

A decade later, when the civil crisis erupted, Rev. Lloyd, who was former Chaplain General of the Armed Forces of Liberia, was threatened and forced to flee the country after his demand for peace talks to be held between the government of President Samuel Doe and the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) to avoid a prolonged and devastating crisis, was rejected by the government.

ALJA National Vice President Dr. Samuel Wai Johnson

The ALJA release said its tribute will be delivered by Vice President Dr. Samuel Wai Johnson on behalf of National President Joe Mason. The organization’s National Secretary General, Akai Awuletey Glidden, DMV chapter coordinator, Kadiatu Conteh Brohiri, ALJA elections Commission Chairman, Rev. Suah Deddeh, among others, will attend the funeral scheduled for 9:30 am at the Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Rev. Lloyd, Sr, who died on Saturday, May 6 in Olney, Maryland leaves to mourn his loss, Mrs. Emma Mitchell Lloyd, his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and a host of other relatives and loved ones.