Documentary: 'Abdu'l-Baha's Initiative on Race from 1921: Race Amity Conferences

This important and rarely seen video documents 'Abdu'l-Baha's efforts in establishing racial justice and race unity in America in the early 1900s, when the subject was seldom discussed in the U.S. and few had the courage to speak about it publicly. To that end, he instructed that Race Amity Conferences be held to encourage black and white Americans to collaborate with each other and gradually break down the social barriers that prevailed in the U.S. at that time. For the first Race Amity Conference, 'Abdu'l-Baha intentionally chose Louis Gregory (a young black Baha'i attorney in Washington, D.C.) and Agnes Parsons (a rich, white Baha'i woman who wasn't entirely ready to accept blacks as equals) to work together to plan and hold this conference. Through deeds (not words alone), 'Abdu'l-Baha modeled racial equality to the American Baha'is and they soon followed his example in accepting the self-evident truth that blacks and whites were equal. Senior Producer, Writer, and Narrator: Kathy Lee Executive Producer: Artis Mebane Production Date: 2003