Race Unity in America: an Oral History
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Bahai Community Building

A collection of 55 posts

Meeting Baha’is in action
Bahai Community

Meeting Baha’is in action

You can be pulled in many directions at college – my Baha’i friends showed me that faith and action go together.

  • Kim Wu
    Kim Wu
1 min read
Bridging communities of color through service
Bahai Community Building

Bridging communities of color through service

First Nations Baha’is offered community-building activities to their friends and neighbors – even the prayers were in Navajo.

  • Kim Wu
    Kim Wu
1 min read
The intersection of race, class and young people
Bahai Community Building

The intersection of race, class and young people

The Baha’i junior youth program helps develop powers of expression – so that young people become aware of injustice and how to address them.

  • Kim Wu
    Kim Wu
1 min read
Pushing forward as Baha’is
Bahai Community Building

Pushing forward as Baha’is

When Emmett Till was killed, many Baha’is said it was too bad, but we did not have the experience to address it.

  • Wilma Ellis Kazemzadeh
    Wilma Ellis Kazemzadeh
1 min read
Teaching math and spiritual empowerment
Bahai Community Building

Teaching math and spiritual empowerment

I met a student and his mom at their home, and as soon as I walked in I knew they couldn’t afford $25 an hour for tutorials.

  • Antonio Smith
    Antonio Smith
1 min read
Race and the twofold moral purpose
Bahai Community Building

Race and the twofold moral purpose

I didn’t feel racism growing up in Memphis. But at university I learnt why – the racism in Memphis is invisible racism.

  • Antonio Smith
    Antonio Smith
1 min read
Hungry for unity
Racial Unity

Hungry for unity

New relationships are being built – forcing people to see each other as equals.

  • Antonio Smith
    Antonio Smith
1 min read
From Christian to Baha’i – via Christ
Bahai Religion

From Christian to Baha’i – via Christ

In the Bible we’re told to watch and pray, that Christ will come again like a thief in the night.

  • Eric Dozier
    Eric Dozier
1 min read
Filling institutions with the spirit of oneness
Bahai Community

Filling institutions with the spirit of oneness

The Baha’i teachings say it’s mandatory for our spirits and hearts to eradicate racism.

  • Eric Dozier
    Eric Dozier
1 min read
A variety of races
Bahai Community

A variety of races

What attracted me was the Baha’i principle to actively work for the elimination of prejudice.

  • Carol Mansour
    Carol Mansour
1 min read
The opposite of love isn't hate - it's apathy
Bahai Community Building

The opposite of love isn't hate - it's apathy

If truthfulness is the foundation of all human virtues, what does it look like to apply that to eliminating racial prejudice?

  • Carol Mansour
    Carol Mansour
1 min read
Finding hope in a hopeless time
Bahai Community

Finding hope in a hopeless time

Growing up in a Baha’i family in the 1960s gave me hope – otherwise I wouldn’t believe there could be justice for people of color.

  • Karen Streets Anderson
    Karen Streets Anderson
1 min read
Living the integrated life
Bahai Community

Living the integrated life

The Baha’i community in Nashville was a third black, a third white and a third Iranian. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

  • Karen Streets Anderson
    Karen Streets Anderson
1 min read
How Baha’i institutions can address race
Bahai Community

How Baha’i institutions can address race

A high number of African-Americans get elected to our Local Spiritual Assembly – and the majority of voters are Iranians.

  • Karen Streets Anderson
    Karen Streets Anderson
1 min read
Being the change
Bahai Community Building

Being the change

We saw that more of our African-American brothers and sisters engaged as we educated ourselves about race in America.

  • Karen Streets Anderson
    Karen Streets Anderson
1 min read
Culture shock – in America
Racial Unity

Culture shock – in America

My mother-in-law held up her arms and said 'my daughter' and I just broke down in tears.

  • Sue St Clair
    Sue St Clair
1 min read
The challenge of learning unity in diversity
Bahai Community

The challenge of learning unity in diversity

Farzaneh Guillebeaux: Learning about unity in diversity is a challenge, not just for America, but for the Baha’i community as well.

  • Farnazeh & Jack Guillebeaux
    Farnazeh & Jack Guillebeaux
1 min read
Love is an action verb
Racial Unity

Love is an action verb

Far too often we have squandered so much human capital and potential because of racism.

  • Masud Olufani
    Masud Olufani
1 min read
‘Praise the Lord, here you are’
Bahai Religion

‘Praise the Lord, here you are’

It felt like Pentecost, when the disciples went out and they began to preach the word of Jesus after his crucifixion.

  • Louis Venters
    Louis Venters
1 min read
A handful, a roomful and then a great gathering
Bahai Community

A handful, a roomful and then a great gathering

In the 1920s and later, had black Southerners been given the chance they would have responded to the Baha’i Faith in large numbers.

  • Louis Venters
    Louis Venters
1 min read
Losing then finding his religion
Bahai Community

Losing then finding his religion

I noticed within the Baha'i community there were African-Americans, whites, Filipinos and others all working together.

  • Bob James
    Bob James
1 min read
Offering an African-American spirit to the Baha'i faith
Bahai Community

Offering an African-American spirit to the Baha'i faith

We would sing for hours and then deepen ourselves on our responsibilities as Baha’is.

  • Bob James
    Bob James
1 min read
Race unity from Texas to Tennessee
Racial Unity

Race unity from Texas to Tennessee

Barbara Talley: There was a perception that if you talk about race, it creates the issue. We’re just sharing our stories.

  • Barbara Talley
    Barbara Talley
1 min read
Spiritual reparations
Bahai Community Building

Spiritual reparations

Barbara Talley: The Bible said the last shall be the first, and the meek shall inherit the Earth. This is it.

  • Barbara Talley
    Barbara Talley
1 min read
Some people pretend to be asleep
Bahai Religion

Some people pretend to be asleep

Barbara Talley: Maybe we weren’t brought here. Maybe we were sent here.

  • Barbara Talley
    Barbara Talley
1 min read
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