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 Building Creating the world – or destroying it Michael Penn: Embodying spiritual qualities is part of the process of creating racial unity.
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.
Bahai Community Building Believing in race unity demands work Today’s world influences our thinking in terms of race and class – even if we already believe in unity in diversity.
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.
Racism in America The spiritual roots of racism Hopelessness comes from not knowing how to change root problems – the Baha’i writings have the power to transform our hearts.
Bahai Community Building Meaningful conversations that address racism Baha’i activities in gentrifying Brooklyn help us to build friendships with people from different backgrounds.
Racial Unity Finding and eliminating prejudices I had no idea of the reality of what it meant to be black in the United States of America.
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.
Racial Unity Just undo it We got a grant from the Mayor’s Stop the Violence fund to run race unity discussions.
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 From mobs in Iran to the Ku Klux Klan Hussein Ahdieh: Our dog was stoned outside our front door in Iran because we were Baha’is.
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.
Racism in America Signing up to fix racism Tavoria Kellam: Racism is a toxin in the air, it’s in the water, we all grew up with it.
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.
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.
Bahai Community Racism and constructive resilience African-Americans have always understood that it’s very hard to simply become racist in response to acts of hatred.
Bahai Community A hotbed of political activity My sense of how to be a person and a Baha’i moved me to leave a legacy behind.
Bahai Community The behaviors needed for change The Baha’i writings defined “implicit bias” 70 years before Harvard came up with the idea.
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.
Slavery in America Facing up to a legacy of entitlement I was impressed when Bahai friends from European backgrounds weren’t afraid to acknowledge their own slave-owner ancestors.
Racism in America Education instead of war We had no role models and I became a high school dropout – but I wanted to avoid Vietnam.
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.
