This Is Your Brain On Poverty: Any Questions?

Financial Times of London had a piece about research that is right up my alley as they say. Check it out:

Poverty in early childhood poisons the brain, the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Boston heard on Friday.

Neuroscientists said many children growing up in very poor families with low social status experience unhealthy levels of stress hormones, which impair their neural development. That effect is on top of any damage caused by inadequate nutrition and exposure to environmental toxins.

Studies by several US universities have revealed the pervasive harm done to the brain, particularly between the ages of six months and three years, from low socio-economic status.

Martha Farah, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s centre for cognitive neuroscience, said: “The biggest effects are on language and memory. The finding about memory impairment – the ability to encounter a pattern and remember it – really surprised us.”

Jack Shonkoff, director of Harvard University’s centre on the developing child, said policymakers had to take note of the research because “the foundation of all social problems later in life takes place in the early years”.

“The earlier you intervene [to counteract the impact of poverty], the better the outcome in the end, because the brain loses its plasticity [adaptability] as the child becomes older,” he said. (Read the whole thing here)

Guess who were twice as likely to be living in poverty than whites in the United States. That's right, blacks and hispanics. (at least in 2006).

That's a lot of little brains being damaged out there. Wonder what the long term consequences will be for racial justice and equality in America. But American is post-racial now, right?

"If ye stay not the hand of the oppressor, if ye fail to safeguard the rights of the down-trodden, what right have ye then to vaunt yourselves among men? What is it of which ye can rightly boast? Is it on your food and your drink that ye pride yourselves, on the riches ye lay up in your treasuries, on the diversity and the cost of the ornaments with which ye deck yourselves?"
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 252)

In related news, the Baha'i International Community recently published a statement on the eradication of global poverty:

A new statement from the Baha'i International Community calls for a coherent, principle-based approach to the eradication of global poverty.

BIC representatives introduced the statement, "Eradicating Poverty: Moving Forward as One," yesterday at a luncheon held at their offices across from the United Nations. About 40 representatives from various non-governmental organizations and UN agencies gathered for the presentation.

Tahirih Naylor, a representative of the BIC to the United Nations, said the statement was released to coincide with the 46th Commission for Social Development at the United Nations, which runs 6-15 February 2008.

"This year, the Commission is focusing on the themes of promoting full employment and decent work for all," said Ms. Naylor. "These are important aspects of poverty eradication, but we wanted to advocate a more coherent approach, one that looks at the wide range of issues that must be addressed in an integrated way if global poverty is to be eliminated." (Read the whole article and also access the statement here)

The Peril of Being Considered Exceptional

Photo with no relationship to the topic of this post. It's nice though isn't it?

Call it another kind of double consciousness, but a nagging question sits like a thorn in the minds of many Americans regardless of their race: Is it possible to be both black and exceptional? Whether in the occasional white embarrassment of acting just a little too shocked that a black American is "articulate" or the black "A" student being accused by his or her peers of "acting white", this basic question shows its face now and again. For many folks the answer is simply "no". For whites if a black person is exceptional they are "not really black" and for blacks if a black person is exceptional they are "not really black". I know these are generalizations, but if you think about it you've probably seen examples of this in your own life. I'll offer a few.

When I was ten, my school took a field trip to New York City to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As usual I was the only black kid on the bus. It didn't seem to be a problem though, we were all talking and laughing at this and that. But when the bus went through Harlem, something odd happened. The white kids all started talking about how many black people they saw through the window. They started to count them and make all kinds of derogatory comments. Looking through the window at the folks just minding their own business, I had the distinct impression that they were somehow on display for these kids. I also had the impression that these kids saw me as "different" than the people outside the bus.

When I was a teenager something similar occurred. I was on my way with some friends to a concert in Hartford. Once again I was the only black person in this group. We got lost and ended up in a neighborhood with lots of black people. The guys in the car started to get hysterical about being in an "unsafe" neighborhood. One of them muttered under his breath "scum of the earth". He said this as if I wasn't sitting right next to him in the car. I volunteered to get out of the car and ask for directions which got people even more hysterical. I compromised and waited until we saw some cops walking around and went and got directions from them. I never forgot that "scum of the earth" comment.

One summer I had the hilarious job of working at a shoe store (everyone should do this once in their life). A young woman I was working with started complaining about the black guy that her sister was dating. She then went on to explain to me how this guy was a nigger and how much she didn't like niggers (this is in the mid-90's by the way). She was nice enough to let me know that she did not consider me a nigger and described in detail her anthropology of who is a nigger and who is "just black". I listened to this with a mixture of amusement and resentment but held my tongue. She then topped off her lecture by saying "And you know, my sister has that butt they like."

And then there is the more subtle form of this phenomenon. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a basically mellow dude. When it comes to issues of social injustice however, my indignation burns bright and hot. Once I was at a Baha'i event and a white lady was talking with me. She was just glowing with praise for how wonderful I (allegedly) was. This was embarrassing but I heard it as an expression of her love for me. And then, she said it, "You know, you used to be so angry but you're not so angry anymore." Translation: Oh Phillipe, you're so much more domesticated now, not like those other angry black men.

The greatest peril of being considered exceptional in the way I've been describing is that you might actually start to believe it. You might actually start to believe the hype that you are somehow intrinsically superior to other black people. This is just as spiritually unhealthy as believing that you are inferior to white people.

"And among the realms of unity is the unity of rank and station. It redoundeth to the exaltation of the Cause, glorifying it among all peoples. Ever since the seeking of preference and distinction came into play, the world hath been laid waste. It hath become desolate. Those who have quaffed from the ocean of divine utterance and fixed their gaze upon the Realm of Glory should regard themselves as being on the same level as the others and in the same station. Were this matter to be definitely established and conclusively demonstrated through the power and might of God, the world would become as the Abha Paradise. Indeed, man is noble, inasmuch as each one is a repository of the sign of God. Nevertheless, to regard oneself as superior in knowledge, learning or virtue, or to exalt oneself or seek preference, is a grievous transgression. Great is the blessedness of those who are adorned with the ornament of this unity and have been graciously confirmed by God." (Baha'u'llah)

What Did We Find?: The DayFinders Conference

The weekend conference for Baha'is of African Descent with the mysterious name "DayFinders" has come and gone. On Friday evening a large number of the participants arrived from far and near even as far away as Mexico. We kept it simple and prayed it up for about an hour or so and the Holy Spirit was definitely in the house. On Saturday morning we prayed some more and then started with introductions, people saying who they were, where they were from and why they came to the conference. The simple exercise quickly took on a testimonial tone as people shared their hearts desires in space of safety, the kind of space so rare in our lives as black Americans. After the introductions we participated in an experiential session where the participants wrote down the challenges they faced in their lives relative to their race on strips of paper that were linked together in chains that the participants had to wear. The prospect of putting on those chains evoked strong feelings especially once they were told that they would have to wear the chains to lunch! Gladly every one demonstrated great courage and did it anyway. Seeing all these black people walking around in chains was enough to make you have to sit and think a bit. After lunch several of the group were linked together with larger chains and then made to march in a circle as one of the women chanted a prayer. Talk about cryin' me a river. There was not a dry eye in the joint. When you thought it couldn't get any deeper, everyone then took off their chains and placed them around a portrait of 'Abdu'l-Baha, symbolically offering their burdens to him. Folks, you had to see this with your own eyes to grasp what went down. The next part of the day was a presentation on key portions of a Letter from the Universal House of Justice commenting on the destiny of black Americans. If you haven't read this letter, you need to do so immediately whatever your race and whether you are a Baha'i or not. The presenter helped us to focus our attention on the specific things that we were being called to do in the world as black folk. It reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from the Universal House of Justice:

"At this exact time in history when the peoples of the world are weighed down with soul-crushing difficulties and the shadow of despair threatens to eclipse the light of hope, there must be revived among the individual believers a sense of mission, a feeling of empowerment to minister to the urgent need of humanity for guidance and thus to win victories for the Faith in their own sphere of life."
(The Universal House of Justice, 1994 May 19, response to US NSA)

After the presentation we broke the participants into small groups whose task was to use the letter as a way of "acting out" some of the challenges that they face in their local communities. The idea was to act out a scenario as if they had not yet read the letter and then act it out again with the letter as a guide to what they should do in such situations. Participants studied the letter in their small groups and engaged in deep reflections about its contents before putting together their skits. On Saturday night all six groups presented. The things that they came up with were totally brilliant and painfully hilarious. After the heavy nature of the chain exercise, to hear so much laughter was healing for the soul. The skits prompted some vigorous consultation about promoting the maturation of our Baha'i communities regarding racial unity and justice while effectively reaching larger numbers of black Americans who may be receptive to the Baha'i teachings. Finally on Sunday we welcomed a few guests to pray with us and pretty much prayed the roof right off the place! People, the joint was jumpin'. As we moved toward the end of the weekend we continued consulting about the importance of a systematic, collective effort to make our faith accessible to people of African descent who are seeking a spiritual home for themselves and their families. We talked about the need to overcome the geographical and spiritual isolation that many of us feel in our local communities. Most of all we reminded each other of the need to balance a pragmatic view of the challenges we face with reliance on the Divine Assistance promised to us by Baha'u'llah. As one of the crew who helped organize the weekend the biggest lesson for me was the importance of creating these kinds of forums for black Baha'is everywhere. I urge any Baha'i of African descent reading this to get other black Baha'is together even if only for an evening. Study the June 3rd letter, pray, consult and love each other up! Don't wait for someone else to come and do it for you. As Bob Marley would put it "Get Up, Stand Up!". It's time to CLAIM. YOUR. DESTINY.

"Now is the time to serve, now is the time to be on fire. Know ye the value of this chance, this favourable juncture that is limitless grace, ere it slip from your hands. Soon will our handful of days, our vanishing life, be gone, and we shall pass, empty-handed, into the hollow that is dug for those who speak no more; wherefore must we bind our hearts to the manifest Beauty, and cling to the lifeline that faileth never. We must gird ourselves for service, kindle love's flame, and burn away in its heat. We must loose our tongues till we set the wide world's heart afire, and with bright rays of guidance blot out the armies of the night, and then, for His sake, on the field of sacrifice, fling down our lives. Thus let us scatter over every people the treasured gems of the recognition of God, and with the decisive blade of the tongue, and the sure arrows of knowledge, let us defeat the hosts of self and passion, and hasten onward to the site of martyrdom, to the place where we die for the Lord. And then, with flying flags, and to the beat of drums, let us pass into the realm of the All-Glorious, and join the Company on high. Well is it with the doers of great deeds."
(Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 266)

It's About Power, Not Picnics

Photo of some long time spiritual warriors I admire.

Any religion that wants to be taken seriously must deal squarely with the issue of power, who has it, who doesn't, and how to change that within a given social order. In the words of the immortal Howard Thurman, religion must speak to those "with their backs against the wall". Religion that fails to do so is an opiate of little value to anyone other than those who practice it. One of the issues in our nation and the world where the question of power comes into sharp relief is that of racial unity and justice. We are living in a time when symbolic gestures, publicity stunts, political theatrics, "diversity training" and fabricated photo ops are viewed as serious engagement with America's "most vital and challenging issue". If the inevitable consequences of the color-line were not edging closer to us each day, it would actually be kind of funny. This Baha'i blogger is not laughing. Of course I don't want to bring anyone down. There is nothing inherently wrong with sharing a hot dog at your Race Unity Day picnic, some bacon and eggs at the MLK breakfast or beans and rice at this or that cultural event on your campus or in your community. The problem is what happens afterwards, which too often is nothing of substance, nothing that fundamentally changes a defective social order, an order that continues to benefit the few at the expense of the many, that continues to promote grossly concentrated privilege and massive spiritual emptiness. Of course maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I should just grab another burger, turn up "Don't Worry Be Happy" on the radio and join the party in the new "post-racial" America. Or I could get on with serious business of building a new civilization:

"Throughout history, the masses of humanity have been, at best, spectators at the advance of civilization. Their role has been to serve the designs of whatever elite had temporarily assumed control of the process. Even the successive Revelations of the Divine, whose objective was the liberation of the human spirit, were, in time, taken captive by "the insistent self", were frozen into man-made dogma, ritual, clerical privilege and sectarian quarrels, and reached their end with their ultimate purpose frustrated. Bahá'u'lláh has come to free humanity from this long bondage, and the closing decades of the twentieth century were devoted by the community of His followers to creative experimentation with the means by which His objective can be realized. The prosecution of the Divine Plan entails no less than the involvement of the entire body of humankind in the work of its own spiritual, social and intellectual development."
(Commissioned by The Universal House of Justice, Century of Light, p. 113)

Black Boy

My favorite photo of myself ever. I'm about 2 years old I think. Probably taken in Nashville, Tennessee, 1977.

Today I am 33 years old. I'm wondering why God saw fit to bring me into this world as a black male in America. God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise could have chosen any number of physical vehicles for this soul's development but chose one with which America has had a long hate/love relationship. God knew better than I ever could the implications of my being born a black boy.

29. O SON OF BOUNTY! Out of the wastes of nothingness, with the clay of My command I made thee to appear, and have ordained for thy training every atom in existence and the essence of all created things. Thus, ere thou didst issue from thy mother's womb, I destined for thee two founts of gleaming milk, eyes to watch over thee, and hearts to love thee. Out of My loving-kindness, 'neath the shade of My mercy I nurtured thee, and guarded thee by the essence of My grace and favor. And My purpose in all this was that thou mightest attain My everlasting dominion and become worthy of My invisible bestowals.
(Baha'u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words)

Though the full ontological significance of the racial dimension of my creation is beyond my grasp in this world, the Baha'i Faith has offered me at least a framework in which to make sense of the strange trip I have been on since February 1, 1975:

"Yet it is clear, too, from the Teachings that every people, through its own inherent potentialities and particular range of experience, will make its own distinct contribution to the creation of a new civilization. To the extent that African-Americans who embrace the new Revelation arise to do their part by adhering to the Teachings will the gifts that are uniquely theirs be realized in the splendors of the Golden Age. The "pupil of the eye", Baha'u'llah's metaphoric reference to Black people, will no doubt acquire clear meaning as they conscientiously strive over time to fulfill the divine purpose for which the Blessed Beauty came. There can be no doubt that Americans of African descent can find in themselves the capacity, so well developed as a result of their long encounter with injustice, to recognize and respond to the vision of love and justice brought by the Promised One of all ages. Imbued with that vision, past and present sufferings are transformed into measures of patience, wisdom and compassion-qualities so essential to the effort to moderate the discordant ways of a confused world and aid the healing of its spiritual ills. What better than the transformed character of a bruised people to smooth the course, to offer perspectives for new beginnings toward world order!"
(Response to an individual on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, June 3, 2007)