‘I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.'
-- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

For more than a century, American Baha’is have worked for social justice and racial harmony, in keeping with the Faith’s beliefs in the oneness of humanity and the elimination of prejudice. So it’s fitting that Baha’is throughout the United States have been involved in Martin Luther King Day activities since the holiday was established in 1986.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Dr. King", says one Baha'i, "still represents the idea of racial unity," a cause near and dear to the hearts of American Baha’is, who take their inspiration from the Faith and its main figures. As early as 1912, Abdu'l-Baha, while on His historic journey across North America, made race unity a key feature of public addresses, for example at Howard University and before the Fourth Annual Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

He encouraged loving interaction between blacks and whites, including interracial marriage. As a result of his vision, the American Baha'i community hosted its first racial amity conference in Washington D.C. in 1921 and later formed race unity committees.

In the late 1930s, Abdul-Baha’s successor, Shoghi Effendi, wrote:

"As to racial prejudice, the corrosion of which, for well-nigh a century, has bitten into the fiber, and attacked the whole social structure of American society, it should be regarded as constituting the most vital and challenging issue confronting the Baha'i community at the present stage of its evolution."

This year, in hundreds of communities around the country, Baha'is are helping to organize or host fitting commemorations of Dr. King’s life and legacy.

At Valparaiso University in Indiana, Baha’is Sandra and Gregory Maytan will present “Racial Unity Through Interracial Marriage” on Monday. Their talk draws upon the 40-year marriage of Louis Gregory, a prominent black Baha'i of the last century, to Louisa Mathews, a white woman from England, as an example of the struggle interracial couples faced and continue to face. (See also, the book Marriage Beyond Black and White, a powerful story about the marriage of a Black man and a White woman in the early 1940s.)

Promoting the Baha'i ideals of interracial relations and the oneness of humankind is the idea behind the booth run by Baha’is in Olympia, Washington at their community’s MLK Day celebration.

"I have a dream that one day… little black boys and black girls
will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls
as sisters and brothers." -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In Washington, D.C., a historic walk is being sponsored by Humanamity, a Baha'i organization founded to promote the advancement and honor of those of African descent. Stops on the walk, which begins at the Lincoln Memorial, include the FDR Memorial and the Martin Luther King Memorial being built next to it; the home of the first female Baha'i; “Black Broadway,” which was the heart of African American business and culture in the last century; and the homes of Louis Gregory and Alain Locke.

To uphold Dr. King’s push toward interfaith unity, Baha'is in the suburbs south of Chicago are sponsors of Calumet Park’s 4th Annual Community Celebration honoring Martin Luther King. Events include a speech by Baha'i Dorita Fuller who will read from Dr. King’s speeches and reflect on a familiar quote by Baha’u’llah:

“So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.”

In the 15 years that they’ve been involved, Baha’is in Alexandria, Virginia, have turned the town’s MLK Day Memorial Service into a true multiracial event, says Baha'i Paul Glist. This year’s 34th annual service continues its tradition of starting with a “procession of faiths.”

Baha’is believe that achieving racial unity in America will have a profound influence on the world, as expressed in the Baha'i Prayer for America, excerpted here: “Confirm this revered nation to upraise the standard of the oneness of humanity, to promulgate the Most Great Peace, to become thereby most glorious and praiseworthy among all the nations of the world.”