Yeah...and so, anyway...

The long excerpt that I have included at the bottom of this post is from a book called "The Advent of Divine Justice" which was meticulously written for American Baha'is by Shoghi Effendi (known to Baha'is as The Guardian of the Faith), and published in 1938. The book was intended to invigorate the American Baha'i community to teach the Faith to others in the United States and around the world. Yet, for the most part, American Baha'is remain "largely introverted", as former National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Universal House of Justice member Glenford E. Mitchell states in his 1967 paper, "The Most Challenging Issue: Teaching Negroes" (which I suggest that every Baha'i in the United States read:  ...If it has any standards at all, they are to be found in a convenient   cross-fertilization of existential philosophy and socialist aspirations. With   such a shapeless movement, it is difficult to separate black from whi...

Dear Friend, Voting rights are under attack across the nation, and I want you to help protect them! When the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act last year, it got rid of a powerful tool to end discrimination at polling places.  States and localities across the country are now enacting and implementing anti-voter rules that will keep many Americans' voices from being heard. I'm asking Congress to stand up for every voter and fix the VRA -- will you join me? http://www.commoncause.org/FixTheVRA Thanks! Don't believe it? Need more proof? Well, here ya' go! https://www.aclu.org/secure/congress-repair-voting-act This is what happened because Congress didn't fix the voting rights act Texas sees surge of disenfranchised voters Well, I know that's about all people can take in at one time. And I'm leaving the commentary out because I have some other things I need to write about. But right now, this issue feels very urgent. People...

I had a conversation a few days ago with my niece, Jasmine Shortt, about the importance of young African Americans knowing and understanding the history of what people have sacrificed over the past 400+ years, so that long standing institutions based on racial hatred, assumed superiority and economic benefits for the ruling class no longer have the type of stranglehold and taint on this country that they did at one time. Many young people don't know, or if they do, they don't understand what it means to them because people have a tendency to preach instead of teach . In my opinion, history has be broken down, put into context, and made personal to THEM . Otherwise, it's all about the Hamlet effect: "Words, words, words." What I told Jasmine is that many people died so that her grandparents, my parents, could own their home at 8420 Fawcett Avenue in Tacoma, Washington and at 2124 Kirk Way in Sacramento, California. The house in Tacoma was in a mostly White ...

The post started with a simple declaration:  I think I am in love with someone! What should I do? Usually, when I post on Facebook, it's about some cause or issue that I am passionate about. And usually, I'm lucky if five people like the post. I've hit the lotto if someone comments. But when I put up that question, which wasn't at all what it seemed to be, I was flooded with comments, suggestions and a couple of jokes. (I really liked the jokes!) I was flabberghasted. I thought most of them would be suspicious that I would post something like that because a) they know that I am not into mushy romantic stuff; b) In the five years I've been on Facebook, I've never posted anything like that before. I might post an article from a psychology website about (cough, cough) romance and relationships, but that's about it. I don't talk about myself that much, and I'm certainly not going to put myself out there on blast if I were in a relationship. But the co...