A Baha'i Perspective

Travis for many of his younger years devoted his life to his music, but eventually had to abandon it to support a budding family. Later in life Travis was inspired to compile a book on the subject of happiness which he makes available for free from his website happyspirit.info.

At the age of 11, Kloud converted from Islam to a Baha'i while growing up in Baghdad. Both she and her older sister were imprisoned for becoming Baha'is while under the Saddam Hussein regime. She now lives in the US.

Leanne was raised as a Bahá'í in Northern Virginia, near Washington D.C. Her career path has been somewhat unconventional, starting off in engineering at Motorola, jumping tracks to Human Communication and a short teaching job at a local community college, and finally leading to her starting a business of her own, creating Bahá'í audiobooks. Today she explains what led to her decision to start that business, and what kinds of things she had to learn in order to take it from an idea to reality. She has published the audio book Advent of Divine Justice.

Four years ago I interviewed Phyllis and Gene and at that time they were traveling the US in their RV and drafting stories about the work in the field of race unity to be developed into a book. Well they're back this time on a road trip promoting their just published book Longing: Stories of Racial Healing.

Mona was raised in a Persian Baha'i family that immigrated to the United States in the early 1970's before the revolution in Iran. She grew up in a small town outside of Philadelphia, PA. Her professional career included working several years in the broadcasting industry as a television news reporter for an ABC-affiliate in upstate New York. She shares with us her story of how being a Baha'i has shaped and defined both her professional and personal life.

Peggy's Mom was involved with UNICEF and had instilled in Peggy the concept of helping others in need and the oneness of mankind at a very early age. Peggy describes how she became a Baha'i and her experience being in an inter-racial marriage.

Nabil was raised in Portugal but now lives in Stratford, ON where he is pursuing a career as a singer, song-writer and recording engineer. In 2006 Nabil graduated from Metalworks Institute with a diploma in Audio Engineering and Music Production. He has since started an independent music label, Nkindle Productions, and has been busy with writing and recording projects.

Jacqueline is a Lakota who was born on the Sioux Rosebud Reservation, and grew up in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota. I apologize in advance for the quality of the sound. Please hang in there as you listen to the interview. Jacqueline's story about the internal conflict she had to deal with in regards to her native spiritual upbringing and her catholic education, her becoming a Baha'i which is a "lesson to be learned" for those who teach the Baha'i Faith, and her explanation of the origin of her family name are all worth listening to. Enjoy!

Baha'is who have dedicated their lives to the education of children all over the world.

Adalia grew up as a Baha'i in rural SC in the 70's. She is now an educator who spent six years in Korea in service to promote the oneness of humanity.

Zabine grew up in Germany. She left Germany at 17 and settled in Hawaii and lived there for 30 years, running a social agency for 10 of those years. She nows lives in the Seattle area. She has created a website conveying the message of the Baha'i Faith called Heart to Heart.

Brent became a pacifist in college before becoming a Baha'i. Today he is an immigration lawyer and a great story teller. His website is bahai-storytelling.blogspot.com.

Deloria's heritage hails from two native tribes, Yankton Sioux on her father's side and Chickasaw on her mother's. Before starting a family, Deloria worked for United Indians for all Tribes Foundation. She is now the interim director of the Office of Aboriginal Affairs for the Baha'i Community in Canada.

A Baha'i who has dedicated his life to innovating teacher education. He was the dean of the college of education at the University of Mass. from 1968 - 1978. He is co-author of the book American Schools: The 100 Billion Dollar Challenge with Bill Cosby.

Born and bred in Louisville, KY, Ryan became a Baha'i while in high school, but it was when he was in Zambia that he realized what it was to serve the Baha'i Faith. At around 12, Ryan got interested in rap music. He is now a professional musician and is in a group called Common Market. They have produced 4 projects either as CDs or as digital downloads. I caught Ryan on the go, so he's conducting the interview while traversing Seattle. So you hear a lot of traffic in the background. Ryan says he is constantly around traffic.