The blacker the berry....

I missed this program, which aired tonight. I read about it on Twitter, and by the time I saw the conversation, the show had already aired. But I don't think I can get TVOne through Comcast anyway.

The comment that Michael Eric Dyson's brother made was profound: "It takes a keen eye to look beneath the rocky soil and rough exterior of a person to see the beauty of the person within." And this man is serving life in prison! Breaks my heart that some of the best minds have been locked up. I'm not saying that some shouldn't have gone to jail, or they should be let free "because the man did them wrong." I have no details about this particular brother's case. But I do know that he obviously has a sharp mind, and he can articulate his thoughts with such succinct brilliance that it is a shame of our society will not be able to benefit from his capabilities. But who knows--if it is His Will, God will use him to contribute in whatever way emerges from his prison cell.

One can only imagine what could have happened to Michael Eric Dyson's brother had been given the opportunity to advance according to his inherent talents, instead of being judged by both blacks and whites. Would he have attended an Ivy League college, earned a doctorate degree and gone on to teach in his field of expertise like his brother? Of course, we will never know. If this country had fully embraced the feelings, thoughts and behavior that Abdul-Baha' demonstrated during to His visit to New York City's infamous Bowery District during the early 1900s, how different would his life be now? Of course, this is nothing more than idle speculation, and everything happens in this material plane according to God's plan, not our self-centered needs and desires.

Howard Colby Ives, a Unitarian minister who met and accompanied 'Abdul-Baha' during his travels in the New York City in 1912, wrote the following account of 'Abdul-Baha's encounter with a group of boys from the Bowery in his book, Portals to Freedom. It bears mentioning that the United States, and indeed, New York City, was a quite different as far as race relations were concerned. The Ku Klux Klan had captured the attention of the country, and many whites joined their ranks. Most cities and towns were legally segregated, and even in the places that had no such laws, the social caste system and entrenched negative racial beliefs kept black and whites at a distance from each other. The idea of a black person being thought of as "beautiful" was considerably novel. The excerpt, in my opinion, illustrates the beautiful potential of all people to accept and love everyone regardless of how dark or light a person's skin color is:

It seemed that a few days before'Abdu'l-Bahá had gone to the Bowery Mission to speak to several hundred of New York's wretched poor. As usual, with Him went a large group of the Persian and American friends, and it made a unique spectacle as this party of Orientals in
flowing robes and strange head-gear made its way through the East Side. Not unnaturally, a number of boys gathered in their train and soon they became a little too vocal in their expression. As I remember, even some venturesome ones called names and threw sticks. As my Hostess told the story, she said: "I could not bear to hear 'Abdu'l-Bahá so treated and dropped behind the others for a moment to speak to them. In a few words, I told them Who He was; that He was a very Holy Man who had spent many years in exile and prison because of His love for Truth and for men, and that now He was on His way to speak to the poor men at the Bowery Mission."
"Can't we go too?" one who seemed to be the leader asked. I think that would be impossible, she told them, but if you come to my home next Sunday, and she gave them the address, I will arrange for you to see Him.

So here they were. We followed them up the stairs and into 'Abdu'l-Bahá's own room. I was just in time to see the last half dozen of the group entering the room. 'Abdu'l-Bahá was standing at the door and He greeted each boy as he came in; sometimes with a handclasp, sometimes with an arm around a shoulder, but always
with such smiles and laughter it almost seemed that He was a boy with them. Certainly there was no suggestion of stiffness on their part, or awkwardness in their unaccustomed surroundings. Among the last to enter the room was a colored lad of about thirteen years. He was quite dark and, being the only boy of his race among them, he evidently feared that he might not be welcome. When'Abdu'l-Bahá saw him His face lighted up with a heavenly smile. He raised His hand with a gesture of princely welcome and exclaimed in a loud voice so that none could fail to hear; that here was a black rose. The room fell into instant silence. The black face became illumined with a happiness and love hardly of this world. The other boys looked at him with new eyes. I venture to say that he had been called a black-many things, but never before a black rose.

This significant incident had given to the whole occasion a new complexion. The atmosphere of the room seemed now charged with subtle vibrations felt by every
soul. The boys, while losing nothing of their ease and simplicity, were graver and more intent upon 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and I caught them glancing again and again at the
colored boy with very thoughtful eyes. To the few of the friends in the room the scene brought visions of a new world in which every soul would be recognized and

treated as a child of God. I thought: What would happen to New York if these boys could carry away such a keen remembrance of this experience that throughout their lives, whenever they encountered any representatives of the many races and colors to be found in that great city,they would think of them and treat them as "different
colored flowers in the Garden of God." The freedom from just this one prejudice in the minds and hearts of this score or more of souls would unquestionably bring happiness and freedom from rancor to thousands of hearts. How simple and easy to be kind, I thought, and how hardly we learn.

When His visitors had arrived, 'Abdu'l-Bahá had sent out for some candy and now it appeared, a great five-pound box of expensive mixed chocolates. It was unwrapped
and 'Abdu'l-Bahá walked with it around the circle of boys, dipping His hand into the box and placing a large handful in the hands of each, with a word and
smile for everyone. He then returned to the table at which He had been sitting, and laying down the box, which now had only a few pieces in it, He picked from it a long chocolate nougat; it was very black. He looked at it a moment and then around at the group of boys who were watching Him intently and expectantly. Without a word He walked across the room to where the colored boy was sitting, and, still without speaking, but with a humorously piercing glance that swept the group, laid
the chocolate against the black cheek. His face was radiant as He laid His arm around the shoulder of the boy and that radiance seemed to fill the room.

No words were necessary to convey His meaning, and there could
be no doubt that all the boys caught it. You see, He seemed to say, that he is not only a black flower, but also a black sweet. You eat black chocolates
and find them good: perhaps you would find this black brother of yours good also if you once taste his sweetness. Again that awed hush fell upon the room. Again the
boys all looked with real wonder at the colored boy as if they had never seen him before, which indeed was true. And as for the boy himself, upon whom all eyes were now fixed, he seemed perfectly unconscious of all but 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Upon Him his eyes were fastened with an adoring, blissful look such as I had never seen upon any face. For the moment he was transformed. The reality of his being had been brought to the surface and the angel he really was revealed.