The Peace Of A Baptist And A Baha’i
You can’t sound like a skipping record when you remember injustice. It can’t be talked about enough. Exploitation is not something that should be swept under the rug. As Black History month comes to a close, who can help but to reflect not only on the beauty, great art and rich culture of blacks in America, but also the great evils done them? The echoes of the slave trade, the prejudice, the racism, still ring through the halls of our imaginations. They serve as a reminder of what we should never repeat.
It’s been 43 years since Nobel Peace Prize-winning minister and civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee in 1964. And though we have come a long way in civil justice since then, we still remember a hate and racial myopia that is very recent in our history. Had he not suffered death for his cause, Martin Luther King would have celebrated his 82nd birthday just this last January 15th.
Martin Luther King’s Baptist Christian faith compelled him to celebrate and to take a stand for love of neighbor, peace, and human dignity. While this southern Baptist minister was defending peace in the United States, a contemporary of his was also standing up for non-violence and acceptance among people—no matter what race, color or religion. His name was Banjo Clarke, an Aboriginal Baha’i leader in Australia. As written in a book about him “Wisdom Man” published by Penguin.
The Baha’i faith is less than two hundred years old, but its’ youth does not mean it does not have an important voice. In the face of Aboriginal prejudice, Banjo Clarke lifted the Baha’i faith up as an example of repaying hatred with kindness and evil with good.
Banjo Clarke and Martin Luther King might live on different continents, one might be Baptist and the other Baha’i, one a descendant of Africa, the other an Aborigine, but they both stood up for what is priceless and surpassing any differences: love and peace.
And so as Black History Month warms with the coming of spring, we at Sherri Rosen Publicity want to humbly step back and commemorate these two great voices. There voices still ring out around the world. And there cause is solid god.
Sherri Rosen, Sherri Rosen Publicity, NYC
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This entry was posted on Sunday, February 20th, 2011 at 1:35 am and is filed under Clients, Friends and Colleagues, Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
February 20th, 2011 at 4:34 am
“You can’t sound like a skipping record when you remember injustice.” First thought was, that is a really great sentence, Sherri! I’ve been using the word “orginals” lately, in my thoughts, when looking at the basic wisdom and integrity of native people.
I do this in part when I wonder why (we) western buddhists struggle so much with simple teachings, intellectualizing what is intuitive.
The other part of this is wondering about (we) europeans, who have torn apart the Home of so many people around the world; the collective confusion that must now be causing, the unbearable sadness. Perhaps a collective legacy is behind this need for more that (we) see here in the U.S.: coupled with the fact that the “white” race is becoming outnumbered, I wonder if we are _almost_ ready to start experiencing compassion for the pale faces who need to block the sun because of our expansive greed and disrespect for the original?
And as you said about these two men living on different continents, in the face of deep adversity, “they both stood up for what is priceless and surpassing any differences: love and peace.” I believe that the indigenous people from around the world are now the ones teaching. And speaking for the earth, we are grateful.
Love,
Steph