Dr. Billy Roberts discusses what led him to found the Black Men's Gathering, an organization of Baha'i men of African descent who encourage and mentor each other on their path of service to their families, communities and the world (10 minutes). Download

Robert Hayden surmounted an impoverished childhood to become the first African-American to be appointed Poet Laureate.

Helen Elsie Austin, a Baha'i who devoted her life to justice and truth, was a woman of many “firsts.” She was one of the first African-American women lawyers in the United States, the first African-American woman to receive a law degree from the University of Cincinnati and the first African-American woman to serve as an assistant to a state attorney general.

Louis Gregory reached more people than any other advocate of racial harmony in the first half of the 20th century, says Gayle Morrison, a Baha'i who has researched the life and contributions of Mr. Gregory, an early U.S. Baha'i.

Van Gilmer vividly remembers participating in the March on Washington (for Jobs and Freedom) on Aug. 28, 1963, while a student at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro.

If you’re a member of a minority, and you’re not involved in decision-making at an administrative level, then society is still far from realizing the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., says Phillipe Copeland, a Baha'i in Boston who examines social issues from an African-American perspective on his blog, Baha'i Thought.

John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, who became a Baha'i in 1968, would have been 90 this Oct. 21. He was at the forefront not only of the bebop jazz phenomenon, the most vital music of its age, but of a jazz generation that included Thelonious Monk, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald.

For the 78th year, the Bud Billiken Parade will step off at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 11, on Chicago's South Side.

Myron Wilson joined the Air Force to fight the Good War. He joined the Baha'i Faith to fight, and heal from, the racism he experienced as a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first group of African-American fighter pilots in the United States and the only group of African-American fighter pilots in World War II.

Dr. Dempsey Morgan, 87, a Baha'i in Bristol, Va., was among the 300 Tuskegee Airmen who were present Thursday, March, 29, to receive a replica of the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor from President George Bush at the Capitol Rotunda. (See related article from USA TODAY).