RICHMOND, Va. — Ida Mamusu Ansumana has accomplished a lot in her 40 years living in the United States. Chief among those successes would be her Liberian restaurant, Africanne on Main.
“I’ve been in business since 1995,” Ansumana said. “Now my restaurant is about 30 years old. I did everything to survive in order to get to a restaurant.”
Behind Ansumana’s demeanor is a story that may be familiar to other immigrants. She was the only member of her family to escape her country in the 1980s to the U.S.
“I was born, raised and educated in Liberia,” Ansumana said. “I was 26 years old coming from a war-torn country and I had literally nothing. I just had the clothes on my back. I would say I was thrown into the United States.”
But she always kept with her a desire to cook and run her own restaurant, and she soon made that a part of her American dream.
She says through many years of hard work, nearly 15 years after immigrating to the US she was finally able to open the doors to Africanne, one of the first African restaurants in Richmond which has been a staple ever since.
“When you have a goal and you know what you really want in life, you just really go after it,” Ansumana said. “In pushing the American experience forward, everyone has a job to do, and my job is to make sure that everyone who walks though my door is eating healthy.”
In that time, Ansumana maintained a legal residency in the United States. But through all of her accomplishments she still hungered for more.
“I was able to buy homes, build my business, educate my children, pay my taxes,” Ansumana said. “When I hit 70, I had a bucket list and one of the items on that list was becoming naturalized."
But Ansumana said it took her many years of soul searching before to finally go through with the naturalization process because it would require that she relinquish her Liberian citizenship.
"It took me years and years to let my heart get there,” Ansumana said.
Ansumana eventually went through the process and was naturalized in 2022.
“And once I did that, I was excited about voting,” Ansumana said.
Just a week before Election Day, Ansumana cast her very first ballot in a presidential election.
“When I came out I felt grown up,” Ansumana laughed. “I was like, yes, It felt really good because I had arrived. I had gotten to the place in my life where I was comfortable. I didn’t just vote, I voted for what I wanted to vote for and who I wanted to vote for.”
Anusmana said although she is comfortable she is far from complete. And that becoming a U.S. citizen and voting for the first time are just the beginning of what she has yet to achieve.
“I haven’t made it yet. there is always room to grow, there is always places to go, and I haven’t even reached my goal yet," Ansumana said. “One of my goals is to have my own cooking show on the television so that’s where my direction is going and I’m excited about it too."
Until that time, the restaurant owner is encouraging anyone who hasn’t already done so to vote early or make plans to vote on Election Day.
“So I’m asking everyone who hasn’t, 'Hey, Chef Mamusu voted!' So please come out and vote,” Ansumana said.
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