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The Bahá’í Faith in Ebony and Jet Magazines

From Bahaipedia

The Bahá'í Faith in Ebony and Jet magazines.

Ebony magazine[edit]

Ebony magazine began publication in 1945. Google presented the magazine from Nov 1959 to October 2008.[1]

Before 1960[edit]

1952[edit]

There are some mentions of the Faith before the google cache between 1945 and 1959. The first set of stories come in October 1952: "Baha'i Faith: Only church in the world that does not discriminate"[2] which features pictures of the House of worship in Chicago, Robert S Abbot, Alain Locke, and a Baha'i wedding ceremony of an interracial couple. The text also mentions Elsie Austin and Matthew Bullock[3] on the National Assembly(no mention of the electoral process.) The article mentions

"Chief reason why so few Negroes embrace Baha'is, despite its open-armed racial attitude, is its ultra conservativeness. Totally unspectacular, it lacks the dietary laws, dogma, rituals and pageantry of other faiths. It has no clergy and at services which are informally conducted by members of the congregation, no vestments are worn. Only a cappella music is permitted. There is begging, no plate passing. Nobody receives a salary, and only the treasurer knows how much one gives".

The story continues in a new article "Engagement to Negro girl cost Baha'i youth his job"[4] which tells more of the story of that wedding. The young man's employers and coworkers did not accept the marriage and soon made things so uncomfortable that he resigned but he was soon rehired elsewhere. The magazine states that the couple "are … the sixth interracial couple among Chicago's 75 Negro Baha'is" though most of the pictures continue to focus on the Temple. Mention is made of Ellsworth Blackwells, the ex-chairman of the Chicago Assembly and his wife are in Haiti at the time of the printing of the article.[5] The Ebony story continues as "Baha'is teach oneness of God, brotherhood of man"[6] with a photo of a plainly interracial fireside meeting with the wedding couple centered and another photo at Green Acre (features Lois Howard "of NC State College for Negroes")[7] The "Letter to the Editor" section follows up with four letters responding to the articles.[8] Baha'i Jessyca Russell congratulates the magazine "for going "Life" a few better …so much more effectively and correctly than the one they did a couple years ago."[9]. Non-Baha'i friend of the Faith Marion Peterson writes of "a lot of respect and admiration" and that a group he belongs to is going to visit various denominations and clergymen to have them stress brotherhood, the Office of the Secretary of the NSA also writes in thankfulness but clarifies that on page 46 the article listed `Abdu'l-Baha as one of the nine great prophets was an error and that the Temple will be publicly dedicated May 2, 1953. Gisela B. Dyer writes claiming that the Catholic Faith deserves to be entitled the "Only Church in the world that does not discriminate" or more broadly all Christians saying "Article like "Baha'i Faith" are apt to increase prejudice, rather than diminish it. It surely is a setback when a magazine like Ebony counts Jesus Christ, our Lord, amongst the prophets.… it is presumptuous to say it is the "only church without discrimination. No /true/ Christian will practice discrimination."

1959[edit]

"Take a vacation in Chicago" noted the Temple in June 1959 on page 112 amidst a series on places to visit.[10]

1965[edit]

Its first publicly available story mentioning the Bahá'í Faith came in April 1965 with a article "BAHÁ'Í: A way of life for millions"[11] which is a broad review of the Faith with many pictures and locations. It also generated seven appreciative letters from Bahá'ís or Bahá'í institutions to the editor in the June 1965 issue:[12] The photographer for the story, Lacey Crawford and his wife, Ethel, converted to the religion, pioneered to Winnsboro, SC, and then served at the Bahá'í World Center.[13]:380 Baha'i Matthew Dunlop underscores "The truths former Christians learn as baha'is make clear that man's small thought and fear have inserted the many frictions into religion…". Elizabeth Tower, secretary of the Baha'is of Springfield, noted it "a comprehensive, truthful and excellently prepared view." Carolyn Galkinkin, secretary for the Baha'is of Fort Worth, agreed. Stanwood Cobb also wrote in "I feel your article is the best journalistic expression of our faith that I have seen in the course of all these years." Nina Matthisen, secretary for the Baha'is of Fort Myers agreed on the excellence of the article. A. Duhaney wrote in that "I have been trying to muster up enough courage to write and ask you to write an article covering the Baha'is - and now you have done it, so I am writing to thank you for doing so." PFC Mack Owens writes that he was grateful and "This is the first time that I've heard about such a religion."

1968[edit]

The April 1968 issue is the next to mention the Faith with a portrayal of the Faith in Africa starting with Uganda, "Bahá'ís Commemorate predictions and warnings of Founder; African conference is the focal point of worldwide observance of religious group", by Beth McKenty.[14] The conference was portrayed in the Bahá'í News as well.[15]

1978[edit]

The next mention is in the "Robert Hayden `Poet Laureate'" article by Harriet Jackson Scarupa, in the January 1978 issue.[16] While focused on Hayden it says:

"Hayden, his wife, his daughter, Maia (a nurse and graduate student), and his Ethiopian son-in-law, Habtemariam Tredla (also a graduate student) are all members of the Baha'u Faith. Baha'is believe in the oneness of mankind (another reason Hayden could never embrace Black seperatism) and see the events of the present, no matter how frightening of confusing, as part of some divine plan towards that end. It was this faith that enabled Hayden to weather the turmoil of the '60s, and see in it the seeds of renewal. Thus, the title poem of Words in the Mourning Time, which he calls his "Sixties book", ends in a stirring plea in the name of all humanity:

Reclaim now, now renew the vision of
a human world where godliness
is possible and man
is neither gook nigger honkey wop or kike
by man

                  permitted to be man.

2001[edit]

The next mention is a minor mention in "Means to you; Triumphing over the terror" by Marian Wright Edelman, President, Children's Defense Fund, in the December 2001 issue.[17] It in the first page of the article of a visitor to an interfaith breakfast in Atlanta following the September 11 attacks.

2012[edit]

"A New Direction", [18] "…describes the author Phillipe Copeland's spiritual development from a boy baptized in the United Methodist Church to an adherent of Bahá'í Faith."

Jet magazine[edit]

Jet magazine began publication in 1951. Google presents the issues from Nov 1951 to Oct 2008.[19] Within that spread of issues Jet only mentioned the Bahá'í Faith once - the December 17, 1990 issue with "Dizzy Gillespie Delighted at Receiving Kennedy Honor".[20] In it, it says:

Wearing a tux and gold chain revealing a small sculpted rock from Mt. Carmel in Haifa (Israel) - a pendant representing his Baha'i religion - ….

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Issues of Ebony
  2. ↑ "Baha'i Faith: Only church in the world that does not discriminate", Ebony. Oct1952, Vol. 7 Issue 12, p39-41. 3p. You can see images and comments on the story at 1918; Alain Locke Becomes Bahá’í, which is from information at Christopher Buck (2005). Alain Locke: Faith and Philosophy. Kalimat Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-1-890688-38-7.
  3. ↑ for more on Bullock see Gwendolyn Etter-Lewis; Richard Thomas; Richard Walter Thomas (2006). Lights of the Spirit: Historical Portraits of Black Bahá'ís in North America, 1898-2004. Baha'i Publishing Trust. pp. 108–109. ISBN 978-1-931847-26-1.
  4. ↑ "Engagement to Negro girl cost Baha'i youth his job", Ebony. Oct1952, Vol. 7 Issue 12, p42-44. 2p.
  5. ↑ An interracial couple, pioneers and served administratively - both served on NSAs eventually… their story is woven through many issues of Baha’i News and has been collected in a book. Alas the book is not available through google preview but it is somewhat available through Amazon’s “Look inside” option where you can read their letter to the Guardian and the letter in response… White and Negro Alike. Stories of Baha'i Pioneers Ellsworth and Ruth Blackwell, by Audrey Mike, [Kindle Edition], - see also Bahá'í Faith in Haiti
  6. ↑ "Baha'is teach oneness of God, brotherhood of man", Ebony. Oct1952, Vol. 7 Issue 12, p46-46. 1/2p.
  7. ↑ for alittle more about Lois Howard see Musical presented by Eloit Baha'is, The Portsmouth Herald, (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), 14 August 1952 • Page 2
  8. ↑ "Letter to the Editor", Ebony. Dec1952, Vol. 8 Issue 2, p6-13. 6p.
  9. ↑ for more on the Life magazine see Coverage_of_the_Baha'i_Faith_in_Time_Magazine#Life_magazine
  10. ↑ "Take a vacation in Chicago", Ebony. Jun1959, Vol. 14 Issue 8, p105-114. 8p.
  11. ↑ BAHÁ'Í: A way of life for millions, Ebony, ISSN 0012-9011, Vol. 20, No. 6, April 1965, p. 48–52, 55-56.
  12. ↑ Letters to the editor; Baha'i, Ebony, ISSN 0012-9011, Vol. 20, No. 8, June 1965, p. 13–14.
  13. ↑ Venters, Louis E., the III (2010). Most great reconstruction: The Baha'i Faith in Jim Crow South Carolina, 1898-1965 (Thesis). Colleges of Arts and Sciences University of South Carolina. ISBN 978-1-243-74175-2. UMI Number: 3402846.{{cite thesis}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ Baha'is Commemorate predictions and warnings of Founder; African conference is the focal point of worldwide observance of religious group, ‎by Beth McKenty, Ebony, ISSN 0012-9011, Vol. 23, No. 6, April 1968, p. 124–126, 128
  15. ↑ Conference Imparts new spirit of courage, Baha'i News, ISSN 0043-8804, December 1967, No 441, p. 28–30
  16. ↑ Harriet Jackson Scarupa (January 1978). "Robert Hayden `Poet Laureate'". Ebony. Vol. 33, no. 3. pp. 78–80, 82. ISSN 0012-9011. Retrieved Dec 24, 2014.‎
  17. ↑ "Means to you; Triumphing over the terror" by Marian Wright Edelman, Ebony, ISSN 0012-9011, Vol. 57, No. 2, December 2001, p. 171
  18. ↑ A New Direction, Ebony. Mar2012, Vol. 67, Issue 5, p93.
  19. ↑ Issues of Jet
  20. ↑ Dizzy Gillespie Delighted at Receiving Kennedy Honor, Jet, ISSN 0021-5996, Vol. 79, No. 10, December 17, 1990, p. 60
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