A Baha'i Perspective

Osmar is African-Cuban and came to the States when he was 11 years old. In 1999, his family settled in Holyoke, MA where they ran into the Baha'i Faith. Osmar became a Baha'i after his family moved to the Midwest and he stayed behind to attend Holyoke Community College.

Nina grew up in the south, and when a young women at the time of World War II, she was very angry on how African-Americans were treated, so she left the south for CA. She tells a funny story on how she manipulated her husband into going back into the service so she could find what she was looking for [you'll have to listen to the interview to understand what I'm talking about]. It was when they were in Guam that Nina ran into the Baha'i Faith.

A Baha'i from the San Francisco bay area. He grew up in a very religious and social activist family. When Tim went to college his intention was to become a minister like his father. It was in college that Tim ran into the Baha'i Faith. He left college after becoming a Baha'i and became a professional musician. In 1977 Tim went to Guatemala to help the Baha'i Faith there. It was there that he first started producing Latin music. Today he is writing music for films. His website is TimMcLaneMusic.com.

Although, Jack grew up in a religiously blended family, his Jewish culture from his father's side, allowed him to grow up with a Jewish identity. As it so happened his mother's extended family were Baha'is, and it was through one of his cousins that Jack took more interest in the Baha'i Faith while in college. Jack eventually ended up in Madagascar where he became confirmed in the Baha'i Faith. He recently returned to the US and is in the D.C. area watching over his uncle and working on a project called Payam-e-Doost, which in Farsi means "the message from the friend", which he explains in the interview.

Louise is the daughter of Dorothy Baker, a well-known historical figure in the Baha'i Faith. Louise tells her story growing up as a Baha'i, and tells us the details surrounding her mother's tragic death. Louise's daughter, Dorothy Freeman Gilstrap, wrote a book about Dorothy Baker called From Copper To Gold: The Life of Dorothy Baker.

Denali grew up in the rural northwest. As a teenager she was caught up in the pressures of fitting in and the Baha'i Faith wasn't conducive to that. When she graduated from high school, she decided to go on a Baha'i year of service, which Denali explains is an opportunity for a young Baha'i person to give a year of service to help the Baha'i Faith somewhere. She chose Ecuador because it sounded like a great place to travel and she had certain expectations of what her experience would be like serving in Ecuador. The experience was much different than her expectations, and the hardship of the year of service actually confirmed her in the Baha'i Faith. She wrote a book about her experience titled Arising: A Year of Service Handbook for Volunteers. Before playing Denali's interview, I play an excerpt from the podcast Interfaith Voices by Maureen Fiedler. Maureen interviewed Rainn Wilson in one of her sessions. You can find the Interfaith Voices podcast at InterfaithRadio. org.

Before James became a Baha'i he was working for a social agency promoting race unity. After becoming a Baha'i, James branched out into a multititude of endeavors. One of them being the sole producer of a local TV news program called "The World Today" in Roanoke, VA.

A Baha'i musical artist whose CDs include Crimson Robe and He is the Healer.

A Knight of Baha'u'llah who, after World War II, got his engineering degree and became a research scientist. Soon after, he and his wife and young children moved to the Aleutian Islands to help the Baha'i Faith. Janabe describes the difficulties of living on the Aleutian Islands, and the miraculous circumstances of his departure. Janabe is also an author. His books include The Aleut, From Night to Knight, and In the Heart of Words.

Anisa talks about how she became a Baha'i.

Randie grew up in a culturally Jewish, but atheistic family. She describes her miraculous story on how she ended up becoming a Baha'i. She, along with her husband, Steve, is the author of the book Once To Every Man and Nation. She is now a diversity trainer. Her website is unityworks.net.

A Baha'i and executive director of the Center for Diversity in the Communication Industries at Emerson College. Among his many accomplishments is his founding a video, film and multimedia company called ComTel Productions; founding a non-profit organization called Pupil of the Eye: Vision for Unity in Education; and writing and producing the award winning documentary film "The Invisible Soldiers: Unheard Voices", which aired on PBS. And now he is working on a memoir called Remembering The Pupil of the Eye: Stories of Faith, Race and Patriotism. In my first interview with Smitty back in February 2007, he described his growing up in Greenville SC and his encounter with the Baha'i Faith.

A Baha'i who grew up in search of a spiritual community that recognized what he had recognized which was the oneness of all religions. He has a blog called Baha'i Thought where he addresses current events from a Baha'i perspective. It took me a minute or so to get the sound right, so it sounds a little funky at the beginning. But be patient, you'll enjoy this interview.

A Baha'i who started out being a teacher, then discovered the performer within while working at the Baha'i UN office in NY, and is back to being a teacher in Arizona. Before I played the interview, I played a speech by Congressman Kirk. On July 30th, 2008, Congressman Kirk of Illinois spoke on the House floor in support of his resolution #1008 condemning Iran for its persecution of Baha'is. The resolution overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives. After the interview portion of the program I play two selections from Ladjamaya's CD "Intone My Servants" which can be found at Special-Ideas.

This is a Skype interview with Vivian and Stu Gilliam. Vivian grew up in New Rochelle NY when the school district was segregated. After a stint in the TV industry, Vivian married and moved to Italy. Vivian now resides in the Czech Republic. Stu Gilliam has been an entertainer all his life. He started as a magician then a ventriloquist with the act Stu & Oscar. It was the Stu & Oscar act that got Stu into television. He ultimately became a stand-up comic on such shows as the Ed Sullivan Show, the Dean Martin Show, Hollywood Squares and the Arthur Godfrey Show to mention a few. Vivian & Stu live near an airport so you'll hear planes flying overhead once in a while during the interview.