Racial IdentityGrowing up Chinese-American in QueensWe lived in a home with several generations under one roof – but outside everyone was from different backgrounds.
Baha'i CommunityMeeting Baha’is in actionYou can be pulled in many directions at college – my Baha’i friends showed me that faith and action go together.
Racial IdentityA family’s legacyMy eighth-grade teacher taught us as if the eighth grade was going to be our last year of education.
Civil Rights MovementCivil Rights was just lifeWhen I was 14, I got all dressed up to see the national NAACP leader speak at the YWCA.
Racial UnityWorking for racial harmonyI am a black woman so I felt my duty was to talk about race in a positive way, not dwelling on what we have been through.
Racial UnityShowing the way to surviveOnce you deal with people who are persecuted you never really stop.
Racial IdentityOn raising black childrenAs I get older, I find that my kids don’t need my opinion, they need my love.
Racism in AmericaLosing a voice, finding ChristI was hit by cars twice when I was growing up – the second time felt like the beginning of my spiritual journey.
Racial DiscriminationA society built for othersThe perceptions as that kids at my school wouldn’t amount to anything. But my peers had talents, abilities and intelligence that just weren’t being tapped by the system.
Baha'i Community BuildingTeaching math and spiritual empowermentI 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.
Baha'i Community BuildingRace and the twofold moral purposeI didn’t feel racism growing up in Memphis. But at university I learnt why – the racism in Memphis is invisible racism.
Racism in AmericaLearning from teaching about raceKids of color get suspended 5-6 times as often as white kids for the same infraction.
Racism in AmericaAccepting that racism is a systemLess than 10% of people on the planet control about 80% of the world’s wealth – and the majority are of European descent.
Racial IdentityHold on, just a little while longerI began to understand the oneness of religion after an old Czech woman told me she knew my grandmother in her heart.
Racial UnityTaking the medicineIf we had prejudice before, we’re going to have it as Baha’is. The difference is we’ve agreed to work it out.
Segregation in AmericaThe only way to get to heavenMy church and community were so segregated that I was in high school before realizing the world wasn't mostly black.
Racism in AmericaA lack of diversityThe national conversation on race wasn't on my radar when I was growing up.
Baha'i Community BuildingThe opposite of love isn't hate - it's apathyIf truthfulness is the foundation of all human virtues, what does it look like to apply that to eliminating racial prejudice?
Baha'i CommunityA choice for the agesMy grandparents could have passed for white – but they were proud of being African-Americans and were active in Civil Rights.
Racial IdentityCommitted to the truthMy fourth-grade teacher referred to First Nations people as “savages” – my mother then told him to get his facts straight.
Baha'i CommunityFinding hope in a hopeless timeGrowing 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.
Racial UnityWhat people think black people doI was an intellectual – my school didn't know how to handle somebody who wasn’t stereotypically black.
Racial DiscriminationTrading in white privilegeThe border official couldn’t believe my white fiancee and I were getting married. We had to show him the wedding dress.
Racism in AmericaMoving to the SouthLiving in Tallahassee was one of my most difficult experiences – I had never experienced racism in that way.
Baha'i CommunityHow Baha’i institutions can address raceA high number of African-Americans get elected to our Local Spiritual Assembly – and the majority of voters are Iranians.
Baha'i Community BuildingBeing the changeWe saw that more of our African-American brothers and sisters engaged as we educated ourselves about race in America.
Racial IdentityMothers of black sonsYou have to be a warrior to raise black children in America today.
Segregation in AmericaOne life with many namesGrowing up was not easy. There wasn’t anyone to nurture or love you or to make you feel special.
Racism in AmericaThe only black family in the neighborhoodWe were the outsiders. My mother was very concerned about how we were perceived.
Baha'i FaithPraying for a meaningful lifeI believed that if anybody could love me it would probably be Jesus Christ.
Racism in AmericaKennedy, Medgar Evers, Biafra, Vietnam, MLK and Kennedy againThe difficulty for me was believing someone could hate someone else because of the color of their skin.
Racial DiscriminationLike climbing Mount Everest, only harderI had to always fight against that feeling of I'm not good enough.
Racism in AmericaOverqualified for ApartheidIn Liberia my sons saw black men who were black men without the weight of of racism pulling them down.
Racism in AmericaDark forces in AmericaWhen someone does a terrible thing like harming black people, that's a spiritual sickness.
Racism in AmericaThe kind of man that can live in this worldI thought, oh my God, I’m going to have a black child. There was so much fear that filled my heart.
Racial UnityTeaching a mixed-race child how to be blackGod loves laughter – and I had to laugh because my first two children were easy compared to this one.
Racism in AmericaDiscovering prejudice at a young ageJack Guillebeaux: They burned a cross within a block of our house when I was five or six years old.
Racial IdentityDeciding it’s good to be blackJack Guillebeaux: I thought I would try out hating white folk. And that felt like a lot of work.
Baha'i CommunityThe liberation of meeting the Baha’isJack Guillebeaux: The separation was entrenched and it was violent.
Interracial RelationshipsLife as an interracial couple in 1960s North CarolinaJack Guillebeaux: The worst thing that could happen is for Fafar or I to show fear.
Racism in AmericaLaughing at the insanity of racismJack Guillebeaux: We have constructed a society that pretends to believe there is a religious, moral, social and ethical foundation to racism.
Interracial RelationshipsChanging hearts through grocery shoppingFarzaneh Guillebeaux: We were looking for somewhere to live and I told landlords, I’m white, my husband is African-American, is that a problem? They would bang down the phone.
Racial IdentityFrom Michael to MasudI changed my name after discovering my father's surname was derived from an English slave captain’s name.
Racism in AmericaThe n-word and other lessons in prejudiceI remember being baffled by it and my parents telling me that's just the way of the world.
Racism in AmericaThe many forms of racismWe refuse to deal with the systemic nature of racism in this country — to face honestly who we have been.
Baha'i CommunityChoosing the Baha’i Faith over angerThere was something in me that pushed me to search out answers for myself.
Racism in AmericaThe trauma of racism across generationsInstitutionalized lying has been used to justify evil behaviour. But Baha’u’llah said that “truthfulness is the foundation of all human virtues”.
Segregation in AmericaGrowing up at a golden momentDesegregation of school districts was remarkably successfully – especially in the South.
Racial UnityA mother’s eyes on the prizeMy first black teacher was in second-grade – and both my grandmothers tried to get me transferred out of that class. My mother told them to go to hell.
Civil Rights MovementAn act of GodBlack people in the South never forgot the promise of Reconstruction. The Baha’i Faith arrived in the US just as it was being stamped out.
Baha'i Faith HistoryThe sad story of Alonzo TwineSouth Carolina’s hospital for the insane was the kind of place where, if you weren’t insane already, it would do you in.
Racism in AmericaThe hard face of Jim CrowSegregation removed African-Americans from political power and kept them at the bottom of society.
Baha'i CommunityAbdu’l-Baha and Louis GregoryLouis Gregory, an African-American lawyer, tried to slip out the back door as a gathering of white guests arrived to see Abdu’l-Baha.
Racism in AmericaLosing a friend because of raceSegregation was evident across the South but it was a taboo subject.
Racial DiscriminationBuses, trains and unconscious biasesI sat by the African-American all the rest of the way to Washington D.C. because I didn't want to be put off the bus.
Racism in AmericaDeath threats and cross-burningsAfrican-American visitors would have to go through this gauntlet of angry white people all the way to our house.
Racism in AmericaStaring racism in the faceThis tall, raw-boned mountaineer came in, sat on my couch, and just looked at me with his hand in his pocket.
Racism in AmericaPlease don’t leave a tipWe walked through the all-white restaurant as an integrated group. Silence fell, and I thought, what have I done?
Racism in AmericaDreams of the future, flashes of the pastMy great-grandfather was born into slavery – and the slave owner was his father.
Racism in AmericaExperiencing racism for the first timeSome white students told my white roommate to never be seen around African-Americans – or they’d harm him.
Racism in America"I don't have a racist bone in my body"If you don’t smoke but you go where everybody is smoking, that stench will be in your hair and your clothes and on your skin.
Slavery in AmericaFrom Harriet Tubman to the fieldsBarbara Talley: I experienced a lot of what slavery could have been like in my own childhood.
Baha'i FaithBy any means necessaryBarbara Talley: I always had this question: why are there so many religions?
Racism in AmericaA few white men on the other sideBarbara Talley: The second time I ran into the Ku Klux Klan was at a wedding outside a firehouse.
Baha'i Community BuildingSpiritual reparationsBarbara Talley: The Bible said the last shall be the first, and the meek shall inherit the Earth. This is it.
Baha'i FaithSome people pretend to be asleepBarbara Talley: Maybe we weren’t brought here. Maybe we were sent here.
Racial UnityLove and hate: a poemBarbara Talley: On my way to heaven we stopped, and took a detour through hell.
Racism in AmericaTeaming up with Santana, Ricky Martin, Common, Sarah McLachlan and B.B. KingA lot of people in Los Angeles said – do we really still have racism in America?
Baha'i Community BuildingLove and Faith Community CafeA white woman complained to me about the African-American kids we’d invited to have free ice cream.
Racism in AmericaFighting oppression with loveThe president of AT&T’s best friend was an African-American doctor – his heart broke when he heard how he was treated.
Racism in AmericaGrowing up during white flightAnthony Vance: Suddenly the managers of our housing project didn't care about it anymore.
Baha'i CommunityFinding a new religion through white Baha’isAnthony Vance: My father was impressed by how he was treated by white Baha’is.
Slavery in AmericaSacrificing differences to commit to unityAnthony Vance: The legacy of slavery in the US had a parallel with imperialism in Africa.
Baha'i CommunityEmbracing diversity to overcome residential segregationAnthony Vance: 7 out of 10 white Americans have no close black friends, and 4 out of 10 African-Americans have no close white friends.
Racism in AmericaA punch to the soulMichael Penn: A group of locals surrounded me, seven young white boys, and everything went blank.
Racism in AmericaThinking ourselves freeMichael Penn: My wife is a white American – it’s startling to see how comfortable people are with her.
Racism in AmericaAddressing racism through constructive resilienceMichael Penn: In addition to dismantling destructive processes, we have to build what we think is right.
Baha'i Community BuildingCreating the world – or destroying itMichael Penn: Embodying spiritual qualities is part of the process of creating racial unity.
Racial IdentitySuper minorityMy school was whittling our classes down to math, reading and gym – so my mom switched me to a rich white school.
Baha'i Community BuildingBelieving in race unity demands workToday’s world influences our thinking in terms of race and class – even if we already believe in unity in diversity.
Racial DiscriminationIncarceration, race & class as a careerLabelling young people as irredeemable doesn’t help them to come out of prison and to contribute to society.
Racism in AmericaThe spiritual roots of racismHopelessness comes from not knowing how to change root problems – the Baha’i writings have the power to transform our hearts.
Baha'i Community BuildingMeaningful conversations that address racismBaha’i activities in gentrifying Brooklyn help us to build friendships with people from different backgrounds.
Racial UnityFinding and eliminating prejudicesI had no idea of the reality of what it meant to be black in the United States of America.
Racial IdentityPutting African-Americans in the centerWe had a race unity workshop where white people surrounded African-Americans and listened to their truth.
Racial UnityJust undo itWe got a grant from the Mayor’s Stop the Violence fund to run race unity discussions.
Racism in AmericaPrejudice in Iran, prejudice in AmericaHussein Ahdieh: Race is a most challenging issue that the American community is facing.
Baha'is in IranFrom mobs in Iran to the Ku Klux KlanHussein Ahdieh: Our dog was stoned outside our front door in Iran because we were Baha’is.
Baha'i CommunityTalking to Malcolm X about the Baha'i faithHussein Ahdieh: I met Malcolm X at a Baha’i event where he talked about horrible white people.
Racial IdentityGrowing up with changeTavoria Kellam: I don’t identify in terms of race, but because this is America, I don’t have a choice.
Racism in AmericaSigning up to fix racismTavoria Kellam: Racism is a toxin in the air, it’s in the water, we all grew up with it.
Baha'i FaithPurifying character to uproot racismTavoria Kellam: I’m done with reading about the Central Park Five, or Tamir Rice, because I know already.
Racism in AmericaSupport on one side, dismissal on the otherMy 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.
Baha'i CommunityRacism and constructive resilienceAfrican-Americans have always understood that it’s very hard to simply become racist in response to acts of hatred.
Baha'i CommunityA hotbed of political activityMy sense of how to be a person and a Baha’i moved me to leave a legacy behind.
Baha'i CommunityThe behaviors needed for changeThe Baha’i writings defined “implicit bias” 70 years before Harvard came up with the idea.
Racial IdentityBorn in the Midwest – and in the Far EastMy parents were sometimes told to go back where they came from – I would always try to defend my parents.
Slavery in AmericaFacing up to a legacy of entitlementI was impressed when Baha'i friends from European backgrounds weren’t afraid to acknowledge their own slave-owner ancestors.
Racism in AmericaEducation instead of warWe had no role models and I became a high school dropout – but I wanted to avoid Vietnam.
Racial UnityLearning then sharing the good newsBlack people were the most downtrodden in the world – I was all for anything that encouraged us.
Racial IdentityHome and school – two different worldsI lived in an African-American community and went to a white school – you lose your sense of identity.
Baha'i Community BuildingMaywood, near ChicagoFour young people recently took their lives in our community – these are spiritual problems that need spiritual solutions.
Racism in AmericaRacism and how to overcome itI’ve gone through hardships but I wouldn’t do it any other way – people like to feel that you’re passionate.
Racial IdentityWhere are African-Americans going?The Baha’i writings compare us to the “pupil of the eye” – I find it amazing to share that with young people who are in despair.
Racial IdentityNashville via Iran, Palestine and Black Wall StreetMaya Mansour: They built a highway straight through my mom’s thriving black neighbourhood in the Midwest.
Racial DiscriminationLearning from incarcerated African-AmericansMaya Mansour: There's not a lot to do in prison. You're left with a lot of time for reflection.
Baha'i CommunityAfrican-Americans and Iranian Baha'is are both treated unjustlyMaya Mansour: Tahirih was the first woman to be incarcerated in Persia.
Segregation in AmericaTranscending social pressure to segregateKen Bowers: It was a time of extreme apartheid between the black and the white races.
Racism in AmericaTaking a stand against racism – and violenceKen Bowers: My mother saw people getting into a pickup truck carrying shotguns and dynamite.
Racism in AmericaLearning how all races can come togetherKen Bowers: There are multitudes in this country who wish for America to realize the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.
Racism in AmericaSharing the burden of racismKen Bowers: America really is the story of struggle, horrific in many ways, and it needs to be acknowledged.
Racism in AmericaHow to talk about race in AmericaVan Gilmer: There were five of us, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Baha’i, who walked through a museum to see the history of slaves in America.
Racism in AmericaThe only way to eliminate racismVan Gilmer: My granddaughter went outside and saw a white noose hanging from a tree in her yard.
Baha'i FaithFrom South Carolina to MichiganMy church was filled with Civil Rights protestors – one of them said I should explore the Baha’i faith.
Civil Rights MovementThree years of harassment and ostracismI was part of the vanguard of black students who integrated my high school – I rode in a police car to go to class.
Racism in AmericaThe Orangeburg massacreIt was so close – if I’d been standing on the front steps of my church at that moment I would’ve seen everything.
Baha'i CommunityGrowing up as a Civil Rights warriorThe Baha’i community taught racial unity and they also lived it – which was the goal of the Civil Rights movement.
Racial IdentityHollow options in the 1960sWe had friends who were Black Panthers – there was a lot of fronting with bullets and guns.
Baha'i CommunityAbdu’l-Baha in AmericaThe head of the Baha’i faith visited the United States in 1912 and described blacks and whites as sapphires and pearls.
Baha'i FaithApplying Baha’i ideas to scholarship & academiaWhite students felt guilty and didn’t know what to do, and students of color would feel extremely angry.
Racism in AmericaUrban redevelopment and raceMy field, urban planning, has destroyed many African-American communities. I saw it as my charge to address that.
