Episode 22: Ruha Benjamin

Hello and welcome to the Baha’i Blogcast with me your host, Rainn Wilson. In this series of podcasts I interview members of the Baha’i Faith and friends from all over the world about their hearts, and minds, and souls, their spiritual journeys, what they’re interested in, and what makes them tick. In this episode I sit down with Dr. Ruha Benjamin, a mother, a scholar, an author and associate professor in African American Studies at Princeton University, who writes and speaks about science and technology, race and inequality. Ruha and I talk about racist robots and the use of technology, the relationship between unity and justice, the Marshall Islands and the example of her parents, Star Trek, marriage as a soul growing machine, and how bringing about social change also needs to consider the spiritual reality of things. We also look at the importance of independent investigation of truth and the need to challenge our own assumptions, plus the wonderful example of Abdu’l-Baha and how He challenged the status quo. I hope you enjoy the conversation! To find out more about Ruha Benjamin and some of the things we covered in this podcast, check out the following links: * You can find out more about Dr. Ruha Benjamin and her work here on her website: www.RuhaBenjamin.com * I mention her talk “The Beautiful Struggle: Understanding Racism and Transforming Words into Deeds” which can be watched here: https://vimeo.com/230838962 * You can find copies of Ruha’s book 'People’s Science: Bodies and Rights on the Stem Cell Frontier' here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Peoples-Science-Bodies-Rights-Frontier/dp/0804782970/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506308765&sr=1-1&keywords=People%27s+Science:+Bodies+and+Rights+on+the+Stem+Cell+Frontier&linkCode=sl1&tag=baibl0c-20&linkId=91de7de6656addd9fe84a7e6076e173b * Ruha shares the following quote from Abdu’l-Baha: “Baha’u’llah once compared the coloured people to the black pupil of the eye surrounded by the white. In this black pupil you see the reflection of that which is before it, and through it the light of the Spirit shines forth.” * Ruha mentions the Louis Gregory Institute: www.lgbi.org * I mention a mutual friend named Jamey Heath (www.jameyheath.com/), and you may enjoy one his songs on Baha’i Blog’s Studio Session series called “I Have Breathed Within Thee“: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b1vrzmOJbI * Ruha and I talk about the book ‘No Jim Crow Church’ by Louis Venters which can be found here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jim-Crow-Church-Carolinas-Community/dp/0813054079/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506309553&sr=1-1&keywords=No+Jim+Crow+Church%27+by+Louis+Venters&linkCode=sl1&tag=baibl0c-20&linkId=97ed880506bef59909e82648b4d5fc88 * I mention my non-profit in Haiti called called The LIDÈ Foundation, which you can learn more about here: www.lidehaiti.org * I talk about Dr. Saiedi, who was also a guest on the Baha’i Blogcast, and you can listen to his interview here: http://bahaiblog.net/site/2017/08/bahai-blogcast-rainn-wilson-episode-20-nader-saiedi/ * Ruha talks about the example of Abdu’l-Baha(www.bahai.org/abdul-baha/) , the eldest son of Baha’u’llah, so I thought you may find the following series of talks called by Tom Price about Abdu’l-Baha enjoyable: https://soundcloud.com/bahai-blog/sets/recreating-ourselves-in-the Be sure to ‘subscribe’ to the Baha’i Blogcast for more weekly episodes on: *iTunes: itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/bahai…son/id1127132519 *Soundcloud: @user-545312385 You can also stream the Blogcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/54kCzOPGNL4hATHDOojEAf If you would like to find out more about the Baha'i Faith visit BAHAI.ORG, and for more great Baha'i-inspired content check out BAHAIBLOG.NET. Thanks for listening! -Rainn Wilson