Ken Bowers currently serves as a member of the national governing body of the Baha'is of the United States. He was born into a Baha'i family in Harrisonburg, VA, in the years just before the Civil Rights Movement.
1.Integration came to the South years after it became law
My grandmother’s grandfather was a veteran of the American Civil War.
2.Transcending social pressure to segregate
It was a time of extreme apartheid between the black and the white races.
3.Taking a stand against racism – and violence
My mother saw people getting into a pickup truck carrying shotguns and dynamite.
4.Growing up as a white Baha'i in a segregated world
Growing up, everybody in our Baha’i community, black and white, was my family.
5.Learning how all races can come together
There are multitudes in this country who wish for America to realize the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.
6.Sharing the burden of racism
America really is the story of struggle, horrific in many ways, and it needs to be acknowledged.
7.Building community to achieve race unity
We're challenged to think consciously about the implications of justice and of building a united community.