Black Men's Gathering: America To Africa, Africa To Israel

I have returned from my epic journey to Africa and the Holy Land and as promised I'm going to tell my readers what happened. The following is a journal version of the story which of course cannot do justice to everything that I experienced, but will provide a thumbnail sketch. Enjoy!

Saturday, December 9th
The journey began at the Baha'i National Center in Evanston, Illinois. 32 African American men from across the country assembled to prepare for service in Ghana through prayer and study of important guidance given to the Baha'i World by the Universal House of Justice, the International Governing Council of the Baha'i Faith. We were then honored with an invitation to have tea with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of The United States who were meeting that weekend. The Assembly greeted us with a love which is not of this world. During this significant and joyful gathering, we receive the rare privilege of being able to pray with the National Spiritual Assembly in its counsel chambers. As we departed, the Assembly burst into a spontaneous singing of 'Allah'u'Abha (meaning God is Most Glorious) and we each received a hug and kiss from Secretary General, Dr. Robert Henderson as we left. It was a magnificent, soul-stirring send off for our trip to the Motherland.

Sunday, December 10th
The men of the Gathering visiting the Mother Temple of the West in Wilmette, Illinois to beg for divine assistance for our service in Ghana. It was a very cold day, but inside the Temple we felt the warmth of God's love and the power of prayer. We were so moved that we could scarcely leave that blessed spot and gathering beneath the entrance, gazing up into the Temple dome and sang out, 'Allah'u'Abha, 'Allah'u'Abha!

Monday, December 11th
We arrived in Ghana and were greeting by members of it National Assembly, as well as Counselor Agatha Nketsiah and members of the Auxiliary Board. We enjoyed our first experience of Ghanaian food and hospitality and were then divided up into teams and dispersed across the Capital, Accra.

Tuesday, December 12th
The highlight of the day was a visit to Cape Coast and a tour of the slave castle there, were many of our ancestors may very well have been kept before enduring the horrors of the Middle Passage. This inspired deep reflection about the suffering of these men, women, and children and it similarity to the sufferings of Baha'u'llah, Himself during His earthly Ministry. Our spirits were lifted through a visit to the energetic and good-humored Cape Coast Baha'i Community who taught us a popular song among African Baha'is called, "Everywhere You Go, Baha'is They There". This became our personal anthem for the rest of the trip.

Wednesday, December 13th
The team I was assigned to joined with one of the teams concentrating on Greater Accra and visited a neighborhood called Domi where there was an effort to introduce the Baha'i Faith. We visited with several receptive souls in that neighborhood. I visited three women who were interested in the Baha'i Faith and engaged in a lovely discussion about the progressive nature of revelation, the equality of women and men and the importance of providing moral education for children and youth. All three women expressed interest in becoming Baha'is. We then met with a new Baha'i in that neighborhood who had many questions and wished to have his faith strengthened. We deepened his knowledge of fundamental verities of the Baha'i Faith and shared prayers together that brought this precious man to tears.

Thursday, December 14th
My team of four African American men left Accra and began our adventures in earnest, traveling to the Eastern Region of Ghana. This first day we visited Gyankana, Katase and Aburi and were ably guided by a great teacher of the Faith and excellent interpreter named John who lived in that area. After first paying our respects to the chief who ruled the areas we would be traveling in, we visited several Baha'is who needed spiritual support and encouragement. We then had the delight of visiting a public school where the Baha'is have been providing moral education classes for children in that community. It was a huge, loud, vibrant celebration with 200 children dancing and singing. I was honored with an opportunity to address the children, teachers and parents, bringing a message of love from black people in America and emphasizing the Baha'i view that children were like a treasure of precious gems that could only be discovered and polished through education. This received an enthusiastic response and we shook hands and encouraged each child who was present. That evening we spent time at John's home, which not surprisingly, was a center of Baha'i activity in this village. Children, youth and adults all came over and our team provided them will spiritual education and training in skills of community service.

Friday, December 15th
We continued our journey further into the mountainous eastern region which shares a border with Togo. We visited the capital of that region, Koforidiua as well as the villages of Perche and Obowule. We were once again ably guided by a young member of the Regional Baha'i Council of the Eastern Region named Emmanuel who acted as our interpreter. Given his name means "God With Us", I was confident that we were in good hands! We were initially greeted by members of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Koforidiua and shared fellowship and prayers with them. We then paid our respects to the local chief who explained that many of his subjects were Baha'is and he knew a bit about it. After visiting this chief, we visited the truly awesome Baha'i community of Perche who are having a class at their Baha'i Center. This was a joyful group of excellent singers who taught us songs in their native language as well as English. We next traveled to a village where there were no Baha'is, called Obowule. A radiant Baha'i woman and two beautiful Baha'i girls joined us on this trip. A large portion of the village assembled on benches outside, about 20 people, men, women and children and we taught them the Baha'i Faith for about an hour. This was a highly intelligent and thoughtful group who challenged us with many questions about the Baha'i Faith, Christianity and the Bible. By the end of the hour, there was much smiling, laughter and the Holy Spirit was clearly present. The villages requested that more Baha'i teachers come so that they could learn more about this new Faith.

Saturday, December 16th
We had the opportunity to teach the Baha'i Faith to students at the University in Koforidiua. We divided into small groups on the porch outside their dormitory and did rapid fire presentations about the Faith. The receptivity was very high and one of the youth decided to become a Baha'i right on the spot! We next visited with the LSA of Koforidiua and other members of the surrounding community for prayers and consultation about the what we were learning about the growth of the Baha'i community in the United States. We were fortunate to have members of our team from Baha'i communities at different stages in the growth process. We shared both our challenges and victories and offered encouragement. This meeting was both joyous and informative. We posed for a group photo and shared laughter and tears. It was hard to say goodbye to that community.
We next returned to Accra where we acted as assistant teachers at the home of Professor Ben Asare and Beatrice Asare. Their daughter Christine was also a teacher. We were joined by one of the teaching teams that had concentrated on the Accra area. Thirty bright eyed children enjoyed stories, songs and games and capped it off with spontaneous drumming and dancing. That evening we went to a dinner at the home of Agatha Nketsiah, the new Counselor where several men of the Gatherings shared their artistic talents in collaboration with local Baha'is and their friends. It was a beautiful exchange of cultures among people of African descent. The highlight of this day of victories was that our driver Noah was moved by the Holy Spirit to also embrace the Baha'i Faith.

Sunday, December 17th
On this final day of our trip we joined Bahá'ís and others for a lunch at the home of an African American Baha'i woman from Memphis who had lived in Ghana for many years. As usual the children stole the show, singing a song based on Baha'i Scripture about the midnight sighing of the poor. This song was a poignant reminder of the need for global transformation which is the mission of our Faith as well as the Black Men’s Gathering. We ended the day with a celebration at the Bahá'í National Center, featuring a drum and dance group from the Volta region, as well as another artistic exchange with brothers from the Gathering. It was an evening full of emotions as we embraced the Ghanaian Baha'is and said our farewells. Many of us made vows to return to Ghana and continue advancing the Cause in that beautiful country.

Wednesday, December 20th
After a day and a half of travel we arrived victorious at the Bahá'í World Center where we would visit the Holy Shrines and ask that our services be accepted at the Sacred Threshold. We were honored with a meeting with Universal House of Justice members Mr. Glenford Mitchell and Mr. Kiser Barnes. Both emphasized the spiritual significance of our teaching work in Africa and contrasted our victories in Ghana with the crises facing the noble, long-suffering Bahá'í community in Egypt.
We then had the inestimable blessing of praying at the Shrine of Baha'u'llah for the first time of our three day visit. To share in laying my head on the Sacred Threshold with my distinguished brothers of the Gathering was very special to me and surpassed even my experience of Pilgrimage two years ago. The sheer beauty and power of that place and these people will long linger in my memory. An already amazing day ended with evening of presenting our experiences to staff at the Bahá'í World Center (some 700 people) in the seat of the International Teaching Center. All 32 members of the Gathering shared their stories of teaching the Faith in Ghana. The love and true respect shown to these black men by Bahá'ís from all other the planet was truly impressive and offered me a glimpse of what the world will be like when all humanity recognizes the station of African people as the "pupil of the eye". There was also a great deal of laughter to complement all the love in the room, a room filled with spiritual energy.

Thursday, December 21st
We continued our much too brief visit to the holiest places in the world with visits to the Bahá'í Cemetery, the Shrine of the Báb, and receiving a tour of the Ark on Mt. Carmel. The highlight of that blessed day was a visit by Universal House of Justice member Mr. Hooper Dunbar who took the time to come to the hotel and visit with a few brothers and share in the excitement that the Gathering had generated at the Bahá'í World Center. Eyes filled with love that was not of this world, he embraced each of us as he departed.

Friday, December 22nd
We ended our stay at the Bahá'í World Center with visits to the magnificent terraces and the monumental gardens where we prayed at the resting places of members of Baha'u'llah's family and we were able to visit His Holy Shrine one last time. I spent a full hour circumambulating the Shrine of the Blessed Perfection, my prayers enhanced by the sound of my feet on the gravel path, the singing of the birds, the breath of a warm breeze and the heat of the midday sun. I focused much of my prayers on the advancement of the Cause in Ghana, throughout Africa and in the Boston Area. That evening we had the further blessing of being invited to dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Barnes. Mr. Barnes addressed us for a second time telling several hilarious African stories and emphasizing the spiritual and historical significance of people of African descent travel teaching in Africa and in Ghana especially because of its historical significance to the Cause of freedom in Africa and the United States. We then hastened to the Shrine of the Báb one last time to lay our heads at the Sacred Threshold and beg for confirmations from the Abhá Kingdom. Just then it seemed that we would burst from all the blessings we received, we were given the special gift of rose petals from the Shrine of the Blessed Báb and bookmarks with photos of the Shrine that were made by one of our greatest "fans", Brigita Aiff, a beautiful German lady who was raised in Namibia and who has long served at the Bahá'í World Center. We surrounded her with love and singing of an old African American spiritual “Hush, Somebody’s Callin’ My Name.” We then loaded up our gear and began the journey back the United States.

Greatest Hits, 2006

(Photo of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, used for the post, The Touchstone of Black Leadership)

I will be traveling in Ghana and Israel over the next two weeks so will not be able to blog for a bit. I decided that as a gift to my readers I'd compile a Greatest Hits, 2006 list of past posts all into one big post so that you would have plenty to read while I am away. I'm thinking of maybe doing this every year but we will see how it goes. Enjoy and do comment as much as you wish! Also take advantage of being able to subscribe to Baha'i Thought now.



Race: Is It Pride Or Prejudice?

Booker T. Washington and Baha'i Thought

Why I Am African American

Duke University: It's Not About The Rape

Segregation Forever?

Pursuit of a Pain Free America

Race And American Insecurity

Contradiction, Crisis, And The American Mind

The Touchstone of Black Leadership

Gospel Musicians, Emcees, and Prayer Warriors

Holy Spirit Rain Down On Me

White Rage: A Few Baha'i Thoughts

Baha'u'llah and Black Theology

The Baha'i Faith is 'Prophetic' Religion

The Baha'i Faith Is 'Prophetic' Religion

(Photo of Professor Cornel West, courtesy of the College of Charleston)

I recently reread my favorite chapter from Cornel West's newest book, Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism. I love it when a writer uses the word imperialism. When I was in college I had this bumper sticker on my satchel that read "I'd Rather Be Smashing Imperialism!". Those were the days. Anyway, the chapter I read is called The Crisis of Christian Identity In America. As a fellow believer in Christ, I do a lot of reading of Christian writers, especially African American philosophers and theologians. There are frequent references to 'prophetic Christianity' and its importance in addressing the need for social justice in America and around the globe. West makes this comment on page 158, regarding the African American expression of 'prophetic Christianity':

"Black prophetic Christians-from Frederick Douglass to Martin Luther King Jr.-have eloquently reminded us of the radical fissure between prophetic and Constantinian Christianity, and King's stirring Christian conviction and prophetic rhetoric fueled the democratizing movement that at last confronted the insidious intransigence of the color line. In fact, much of prophetic Christianity in America stems from the prophetic black church tradition. The Socratic questioning of the dogma of white supremacy, the prophetic witness of love and justice, and the hard-earned hope that sustains long term commitment to the freedom struggle are the rich legacy of the prophetic black church."

The Baha'i Writings explain that, "The Cause of Bahá'u'lláh is the same as the Cause of Christ. It is the same Temple and the same Foundation". Not surprisingly, an investigation of the Baha'i Writings reveals that the Baha'i Faith is also 'prophetic' in its orientation. Commenting on the exalted station of a true believer, Baha'u'llah states that:

The station which he who hath truly recognized this Revelation will attain is the same as the one ordained for such prophets of the house of Israel as are not regarded as Manifestations 'endowed with constancy.' (Quoted in, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 111)

This verse is referring in Baha'i terminology to prophets such as Isaiah, Micah, or Elijah, who did not have the same station theologically as Abraham, Moses, or Jesus. What West and others, such as Jim Wallis, describe as 'prophetic Christians' is captured in Baha'i terminology by the description of a "true Baha'i":

Let your actions cry aloud to the world that you are indeed Bahá'ís, for it is actions that speak to the world and are the cause of the progress of humanity...Therefore strive that your actions day by day may be beautiful prayers. Turn towards God, and seek always to do that which is right and noble. Enrich the poor, raise the fallen, comfort the sorrowful, bring healing to the sick, reassure the fearful, rescue the oppressed, bring hope to the hopeless, shelter the destitute! This is the work of a true Bahá'í, and this is what is expected of him. If we strive to do all this, then are we true Bahá'ís, but if we neglect it, we are not followers of the Light, and we have no right to the name. (Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 80)

Thus, just as the Baha'i Faith is 'Holy Spirit Religion', it would be accurate say that it is an expression of 'prophetic religion'.

Race Conscious Policies: Are They The Will of God?

(Photo of U.S. Supreme Court Justices courtesy of CBS News)

On the strange journey of race relations in America, race conscious remedies to racism are being hotly debated. The Supreme Court is once again weighing in on the "most vital and challenging issue" as detailed in this USA Today article:

The school districts in Louisville and Seattle are at the heart of a pair of legal disputes, now before the U.S. Supreme Court, that test whether public schools can use race as a factor in determining where students go to school. The cases, to be heard by the court Dec. 4, have drawn national attention because they could affect policies in districts across the country.

The key legal question in the Louisville and Seattle lawsuits — which were filed by parents of white students who weren't allowed to attend the schools of their choice — is whether school-assignment plans that use students' race as a factor violate the Constitution's guarantee of equality.(Read the whole piece here)

An activist group with the colorful name, By Any Means Necessary, has organized a march on Washington today that will begin at the Supreme Court and end at the Lincoln Memorial. Their description of the march includes this passionate statement:

The right wing is taking the Seattle and Louisville school desegregation cases to the US Supreme Court because they want to kill Brown v. Board of Education. They want to outlaw any measure that can achieve integration in American life. They want segregation forced on local school districts by the weight of federal law. They want black and Latina/o youth permanently relegated to separate, inferior schools. They are about to learn a lesson they should have learned a long time ago: you don't always get what you want.(Read the complete statement here)
National Public Radio had several stories this morning about the arguments surrounding the Seattle and Louisville cases. You can listen to some of it here.

Several years ago, I heard a Baha'i state that "Affirmative Action is Divine" when referencing the spiritual and administrative practice of encouraging minority representation in service and leadership positions in the Baha'i community. While support for such a practice is at least implicit in Biblical and Quranic teaching regarding the importance of social justice, the Baha'i writings make race consciousness explicit in the administration of the community:

To discriminate against any race, on the ground of its being socially backward, politically immature, and numerically in a minority, is a flagrant violation of the spirit that animates the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh...If any discrimination is at all to be tolerated, it should be a discrimination not against, but rather in favor of the minority, be it racial or otherwise. Unlike the nations and peoples of the earth, be they of the East or of the West, democratic or authoritarian, communist or capitalist, whether belonging to the Old World or the New, who either ignore, trample upon, or extirpate, the racial, religious, or political minorities within the sphere of their jurisdiction, every organized community enlisted under the banner of Bahá'u'lláh should feel it to be its first and inescapable obligation to nurture, encourage, and safeguard every minority belonging to any faith, race, class, or nation within it. So great and vital is this principle that in such circumstances, as when an equal number of ballots have been cast in an election, or where the qualifications for any office are balanced as between the various races, faiths or nationalities within the community, priority should unhesitatingly be accorded the party representing the minority, and this for no other reason except to stimulate and encourage it, and afford it an opportunity to further the interests of the community. In the light of this principle, and bearing in mind the extreme desirability of having the minority elements participate and share responsibility in the conduct of Bahá'í activity, it should be the duty of every Bahá'í community so to arrange its affairs that in cases where individuals belonging to the divers minority elements within it are already qualified and fulfill the necessary requirements, Bahá'í representative institutions, be they Assemblies, conventions, conferences, or committees, may have represented on them as many of these divers elements, racial or otherwise, as possible. The adoption of such a course, and faithful adherence to it, would not only be a source of inspiration and encouragement to those elements that are numerically small and inadequately represented, but would demonstrate to the world at large the universality and representative character of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, and the freedom of His followers from the taint of those prejudices which have already wrought such havoc in the domestic affairs, as well as the foreign relationships, of the nations.
(Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 34)

The above statement makes four points which are relevant to the contemporary debate in America regarding race conscious policy approaches to remedying the effects of racism:

1. To discriminate against minorities is immoral, but to discriminate in favor of minorities is not.
Much of the attack on Affirmative Action or school desegregation efforts is based on the belief that all discrimination is wrong and any policy that involves race is discriminatory so should not be allowed. This somewhat simplistic view of what equality means appears to not fit the Baha'i view in which discrimination on behalf of minorities is not only acceptable, but constitutes a moral obligation.

2. To "nurture, encourage, and safeguard" minorities is a moral obligation.
Many Americans do not view themselves as morally obligated to care about minorities, much less "nurture, encourage, and safeguard" them. This form of moral anemia springs in part from a lack of consciousness that the well being of minorities is of vital importance to our democracy and is not simply an issue of charity or goodwill. I addressed the relationship between race and the security of America in this previous post.

3. The purpose of discrimination in favor of minorities is to "stimulate and encourage" them and "afford it the opportunity to further the interests of the community."
An enlightened majority would recognize that it is in their own interest to "stimulate and encourage" minorities because both minorities and majorities stand to benefit from it. Much progress has been made relative to achieving such an enlightened majority in America but we still have a long way to go.

4. It is expected that the minorities in question "are already qualified and fulfill the necessary requirements".
This point is often missed on both sides of the debate about race conscious policies. First, minorities that are being discriminated in favor of need to have the qualifications necessary for effective service to the community. Thus aiming for minority representation is not an exercise in tokenism or paternalism. Second, communities must ensure that minorities attain the qualifications necessary for service. Such an investment in minority development is a neccesary element of nurturing, encouraging and safeguarding them.