Racial Identity Say it loud: I’m black and I’m proud Barbara Talley: I hated Black History Week – they didn’t show us with any dignity.
Bahai Religion Girl, you ain’t no Baha’i Barbara Talley: I had read others saying that black people are cursed, and here was a religion calling us noble.
Bahai Community Love isn’t something to be scheduled Barbara Talley: I dealt with lots of racism – but I met these Baha’is that didn’t treat me like a color.
Bahai Religion The pupil of the eye Anthony Vance: The Baha’i writings say that black people are “like the pupil of the eye” through which the light of the spirit shines.
Racial Identity From North Carolina to the University of Pennsylvania Michael Penn: Like so many of the African-Americans, we moved from the South to the North and we became New Yorkers.
Bahai Community Ye shall know them by their fruits Michael Penn: I started to cry, but I wasn’t sure why I was crying.
Racial Identity Super minority My school was whittling our classes down to math, reading and gym – so my mom switched me to a rich white school.
Racial Identity Feeling like an outsider I just wanted a sense of belonging – so I thought I’d become a Christian. But then I went to Baha’i youth groups.
Racial Discrimination Incarceration, race & class as a career Labelling young people as irredeemable doesn’t help them to come out of prison and to contribute to society.
Racial Identity Putting African-Americans in the center We had a race unity workshop where white people surrounded African-Americans and listened to their truth.
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.
Racial Identity Growing up with change Tavoria Kellam: I don’t identify in terms of race, but because this is America, I don’t have a choice.
Racial Identity Debunking color-blindness Tavoria Kellam: In the real world, the most salient thing about me is that I am black.
Bahai Religion Purifying character to uproot racism Tavoria Kellam: I’m done with reading about the Central Park Five, or Tamir Rice, because I know already.
Racial Discrimination A loving community surrounded by danger Growing up in Boston, you didn’t go into Irish or Italian neighbourhoods. You’d be taking your life into your hands.
Racism in America Support on one side, dismissal on the other My teachers put me into a box – I had an aptitude for language but they said I couldn’t take Latin and that I wasn’t college material.
Racial Identity Homelands of the ancestors People of African descent were asked to be a source of encouragement to Baha’i communities in Africa – so we went.
Racial Identity No easy boxes to check If you lined my family up we’d look like a little United Nations.
Racial Identity Racism at home and abroad South African Baha’is of different races would meet and be visited by the police.
Racial Identity Born in the Midwest – and in the Far East My parents were sometimes told to go back where they came from – I would always try to defend my parents.
Bahai Community Unity in diversity Nature understands it – there’s so much diversity just in plant life but it all works together.
Bahai Community Building A realization at Wounded Knee Race unity dances weren’t enough – I saw that we have to help communities deal with the problems they’re facing.
Racial Identity Unapologetically black James Brown, Civil Rights, the assassinations of JFK, MLK and RFK, the Black Panthers, were all ingrained in my personality.
Racial Unity Learning then sharing the good news Black people were the most downtrodden in the world – I was all for anything that encouraged us.
Racial Identity Home and school – two different worlds I lived in an African-American community and went to a white school – you lose your sense of identity.
