Episode 56: William H. “Smitty” Smith

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'm joined via zoom by Dr. William H. Smith, or “Smitty” as he's affectionately known. Smitty is the Founding Executive Director of the National Center for Race Amity, and he's truly lived an exceptional life. He talks to me about growing up during segregation, and shares how he became a Baha'i. We talk about the challenges of balancing social activism while trying to obey the law, and he stresses the importance and serious impact genuine friendships can have on creating justice and lasting social change. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did! To find out more about some of the things we covered in this episode, check out the following links: * Smitty is the Founding Executive Director of the 'National Center for Race Amity': https://raceamity.org/ * Smitty is the Creator and Executive Producer/Co-Producer of 'An American Story: Race Amity and The Other Tradition': https://raceamityfilm.org/ * Smitty is the Executive Producer/Producer/Co-Writer 'The Invisible Soldiers: Unheard Voices': https://bit.ly/3l87YFt * Smitty talks about his love as a Baha'i for Jesus Christ. You may find this article interesting 'The Station of Jesus Christ in the Baha’i Faith': https://bit.ly/30xkeYf * Smitty shares the following quote from the Bible: "And I have other sheep which are not of this fold. It behooves Me to bring those also, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd." (Berean Literal Bible) * Smitty mentions: - Baha'i Firesides: https://bit.ly/31SILYP - Baha'i World Congress in London, 1963: https://bit.ly/33aTpL9 - Fort Tabarsi: https://bit.ly/3kQc5pa - The Dawnbreakers: https://bit.ly/3mU2nUR - The National Spiritual Assembly: https://bit.ly/2S6Bv5F - Glenford Mitchel: https://bit.ly/3kZo1VZ - Agnes Parson: https://bit.ly/3jfq9se - Louis Gregory: https://bit.ly/33aTONF - Alain Locke: https://bit.ly/3407wlm - Nat Rudstein: https://bit.ly/2Ghr4to - The 1919 Red Summer: https://bit.ly/3jcTOSD - The Orangeburg Massacre: https://bit.ly/2FYYb5G * Smitty shares the following quote by Baha'u'llah: "So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth." * I share the following quote from the Universal House of Justice: "Ultimately, the power to transform the world is effected by love, love originating from the relationship with the divine, love ablaze among members of a community, love extended without restriction to every human being. This divine love, ignited by the Word of God, is disseminated by enkindled souls through intimate conversations that create new susceptibilities in human hearts, open minds to moral persuasion, and loosen the hold of biased norms and social systems so that they can gradually take on a new form in keeping with the requirements of humanity’s age of maturity. You are channels for this divine love; let it flow through you to all who cross your path. Infuse it into every neighborhood and social space in which you move to build capacity to canalize the society-building power of Baha’u’llah’s Revelation. There can be no rest until the destined outcome is achieved." * Read the above letter here ( https://bit.ly/3jEvsAZ ) and listen to an audio version here: https://bit.ly/2S7ZBNG Be sure to subscribe to the Baha’i Blogcast for more episodes on: * YouTube: http://bit.ly/2JTNmBO * iTunes: http://apple.co/2leHPHL * Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/30dX0G4 * Spotify: http://spoti.fi/2IXRAnb 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: http://bahaiblog.net/ Thanks for listening! -Rainn Wilson