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At 14, Richard (Ricky) Abercrombie was besieged by prejudice because of his multi-racial background and angered by unsatisfactory answers to his heartfelt questions about religious truth. The time was 1960, and the place was Greenville, South Carolina. Ricky began carrying a gun, skipping school, and numbing his painful emotions with alcohol. His parents were worried and his future looked bleak. What happened next – an invitation to a birthday party at the home of a Bahá’í family – changed his life forever. Ricky became intrigued by Bahá’í teachings on racial equality, peaceful strategies for social justice, and the fundamental unity of religion. As he investigated these teachings, Ricky experienced a profound spiritual awakening that led him to give up the gun, stop drinking, and engage in life with hope and joy. His friends and family initially opposed his dangerous new association with racially integrated groups, but Ricky’s steadfastness drew them into investigating his new beliefs themselves. This true story of how a rebellious teenager transformed his own character and affected the lives of dozens of friends and family members is a cover-to-cover delight.

At 14, Richard (Ricky) Abercrombie was besieged by prejudice because of his multi-racial background and angered by unsatisfactory answers to his heartfelt questions about religious truth. The time was 1960, and the place was Greenville, South Carolina. Ricky began carrying a gun, skipping school, and numbing his painful emotions with alcohol. His parents were worried and his future looked bleak. What happened next – an invitation to a birthday party at the home of a Bahá’í family – changed his life forever. Ricky became intrigued by Bahá’í teachings on racial equality, peaceful strategies for social justice, and the fundamental unity of religion. As he investigated these teachings, Ricky experienced a profound spiritual awakening that led him to give up the gun, stop drinking, and engage in life with hope and joy. His friends and family initially opposed his dangerous new association with racially integrated groups, but Ricky’s steadfastness drew them into investigating his new beliefs themselves. This true story of how a rebellious teenager transformed his own character and affected the lives of dozens of friends and family members is a cover-to-cover delight.

Recipient of a five-star review from Readers' Favorite Book Awards

John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie was a jazz musician who pioneered a new style of jazz music, known as bebop, in the 1940s. This book, written for junior youth, chronicles Dizzy’s life, beginning with his childhood in South Carolina, his move to New York City, and his eventual travels around the world. Dizzy Gillespie became a Bahá’í in 1968 and strove to be of service to others through his unique gift in music.

This is the second book in the Change Maker Series, highlighting people connected with the Bahá’í Faith who worked to bring about social change. The first book in the Change Maker Series can be found here.

The first in the new Pause & Reflect series, sharing meditative passages from the Bahá’í Writings. Meditation is not exclusively a means for personal growth, but a tool that can equip us with insights that can be translated into action. For so many artists, creators, and change makers, meditation and mindful living are practices interwoven with the creative process. These passages can be used for quiet reflection and a source of inspiration for creative endeavors.

Siyyid Mustafá Rúmí’s nearly century-long life was one filled with tireless travel and selfless service to the Cause of God. The extent of his role in the establishment of the Bahá’í communities in the Indian subcontinent—particularly in Burma (present-day Myanmar)—cannot be overstated.

The memoirs offer the reader a fascinating firsthand account of the early days of the Bahá’í Faith in the region, along with details of several pilgrimages to the Holy Land and time spent in the presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Included in these passages are Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed to Siyyid Mustafá Rúmí, as well as letters of the Guardian, who would posthumously appoint him as a Hand of the Cause of God and describe him as an Apostle of Bahá’u’lláh, a pioneer, and a martyr.