Bahai Community Anthony Vance Anthony Vance is a lawyer and currently serves as Director of Public Affairs for the Baha’is of the United States.
Bahai Community Finding a new religion through white Baha’is Anthony Vance: My father was impressed by how he was treated by white Baha’is.
Bahai Community Embracing diversity to overcome residential segregation Anthony Vance: 7 out of 10 white Americans have no close black friends, and 4 out of 10 African-Americans have no close white friends.
Bahai Community Michael Penn Michael Penn became a Baha'i as a student at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Psychology at Franklin & Marshall College.
Bahai Community Ye shall know them by their fruits Michael Penn: I started to cry, but I wasn’t sure why I was crying.
Racism in America Thinking ourselves free Michael Penn: My wife is a white American – it’s startling to see how comfortable people are with her.
Racism in America Addressing racism through constructive resilience Michael Penn: In addition to dismantling destructive processes, we have to build what we think is right.
Bahai Community A spiritual assembly Michael Penn: I was moved by the sweetness, the humility, the frankness and the love that they had for me.
Bahai Community Makeena Rivers Makeena Rivers was born in St. Paul, MN, and today lives in New York City. She recently graduated from Columbia University's School of Social Work, where she focused on race, incarceration, education, and class. She currently works on community activities that use creativity for justice and healing.
Bahai Community Standing up for the wellbeing of all Baha’is are supposed to be champions of justice – to stand up for humanitarian issues.
Bahai Community A devotional culture African-Americans know how to come together to pray – they can offer this to Baha’i communities.
Bahai Community Jan Mauras Jan Mauras was born in Tulsa, OK, in 1943 and grew up around few people of color. Her world changed when she became a Baha'i in 1972 and later moved to Harlem, New York City, where she has lived for several decades. Today she is involved in race unity and community-building activities in New York.
Bahai Community Discovering diversity and spiritual solutions My downstairs neighbors were Baha’is. We talked for three days and then I was one too.
Bahai Community Learning to pray from African-Americans The Harlem Baha’i teaching institute didn’t do anything until they had properly prayed up the room.
Bahai Community A new Harlem generation I was horrified that so many Baha’is in Harlem were white – but then I saw they were reaching out to their neighborhoods of color.
Bahai Community Hussein Ahdieh Hussein Ahdieh was born and raised in Iran but emigrated to the US as a young man. He is a sixth-generation Baha’i and his family were persecuted in Iran because of their beliefs.
Racism in America Prejudice in Iran, prejudice in America Hussein Ahdieh: Race is a most challenging issue that the American community is facing.
Bahais in Iran Coming to America Hussein Ahdieh: I always thought “aliens” came from another planet, I didn’t know it applied also to human beings.
Bahai Community Reforming education in 1960s Harlem Hussein Ahdieh: Harlem Prep was the most rewarding and colorful period in our lives.
Bahai Community More stories from Harlem Prep Hussein Ahdieh: There was a kid at our school walking around with a gun in his hand.
Bahai Community Talking to Malcolm X about the Baha'i faith Hussein Ahdieh: I met Malcolm X at a Baha’i event where he talked about horrible white people.
Bahai Community Tavoria Kellam Tavoria Kellam, originally from Baltimore, Maryland, became a Baha'i in the Washington DC area. She later moved to New York, where she became an interpreter, and where she lives today.
Bahai Community Finding the Baha’is through 1970s soft rock Tavoria Kellam: A man I didn’t know walked up to me and said, I bet you’re thinking about the Baha’i faith. And I was.
Bahai Community Black, white, Persian and everything else Tavoria Kellam: The Baha’i community was very diverse – it was miles ahead of anything I’d been exposed to.
Segregation in America How race and class intersect Tavoria Kellam: Our Baha’i Center is in a neighborhood of a certain class, it doesn’t always attract people from uptown.
