OLD RICHMOND SENIOR CITIZENS AND ONENESS

excerpt from COLORS OF MY WORLD (see Aug 31, 2010)

In January, 1984 I met a neighbor of mine, at a church in a town about 10 miles from my house. My family and I were attending a Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial service and reception.  I told Mr. spears that I would like to share some ideas on the Oneness of Mankind with some group in the our community and had heard that he knew of a community center in the black community.  He eagerly requested that I speak to his church the next Sunday morning and invite church members to attend the meeting which he would arrange with the Senior Citizens at the community center.  I was stunned at such an opportunity and eagerly agreed.  The night before I tried to plan what I would say and came up blank.  It was so stressful to have no idea what to say because I was (and still am) basically a shy person, not used to public speaking.  I prayed for some plan and still came up blank.  I developed a migraine and kept repeating the prayer "O God, make me a hollow reed from which the pith of self has been blown that I may become a clear channel through which Thy love may flow to others."  Some Baha'is from a nearby community and my children went with me and sat in the congregation.  Still not knowing what to say I just opened my mouth and spoke for about five minutes - actually it was a two way conversation with the congregation - after I started out by saying we came from the same set of parents (Adam and Eve) and therefore must be members of the same family.  The reception to my talk was enthusiastic and very friendly.  Thus began a series of regular, weekly meetings, which lasted almost a year.

It was challenging and frightening in some ways. Not what most might imagine but because I had grown to intensely love and cherish these new friends and felt a tremendous sense of wanting to build trust in our relationship. Because of my own particular personality, the bottom line from the outset was an honest, vulnerable, one on one sharing, even in the group meetings.  Rather than sticking to a pre-arranged speech, eye contact, sensitivity to nuances of facial expression, body language and voice tone helped me be completely flexible in any exchange of thoughts, feelings and information.

At the meeting on the first Thursday, ten adults and one youth attended.  I began by sharing my childhood of segregation and unawareness and told of various events and thoughts which led to a very strong awareness of the desire for friendship with all colors but frustration at being so alone in this desire.....My agenda at these meetings folllowed a fairly consistent pattern.  They opened the meeting with a Christian prayer and hymn then turned it over to me.  I began with sharing some discovery I had made in the various books I had read which revealed our common denominator of humanity.  Sometimes it was  noted anthropologist, Ashley Montague's research on the reality of only one race, sometimes it was a psychological thought (such as I'M OK, YOU'RE OK)  concepts; pre-conceived ideas due to our childhood influences which were in error (such as all blacks liked watermelon and all whites are rich); group dynamics (such as fear on entering a strange group, power struggles, saving face); brainwashing done to white children (such as teaching prejudice and enhancing inclinations toward superiority); learning techniques on consultation, no competition.  I mentioned  a figure in black history or current events which had made a contribution to society (most of the time unrecognized).  Also at each meeting there was at least one quote from the Baha'i writings concerning oneness, the nobility of each, and the need to love and be patient, while being honest and expecting fairness.

We shared recent examples in our daily lives in which the fruits of our study were manifested. Some shared family history of slave family members and past troubles. All of the members joined in the discussions.  We had an open-minded, free-form discussion each time toward the middle and remainder of each meeting.  They lasted from two to three hours because we forgot what time it was.  We continued to build our friendships and I genuinely felt love and trust and honesty in our relationships.  there was joy at our meetings and vigorous discussions (some quite challenging and thought provoking).  I came home exhilarated!  Almost all of those dear friends have now passed on but they live in my most cherished memories.