wfn.org | BWNS -- Standing up for justice and truth

[Bahá'í World News Service <bwns@bwc.org>]

Baha'i World News Service
See story with photographs at http://news.bahai.org
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Standing up for justice and truth
SAN ANTONIO, United States, 5 December 2004 (BWNS) -- When she was just a
little girl, Elsie Austin (1908-2004) bravely stood up for justice and truth,
and she never stopped doing so throughout her long life.

One of only two African-American children in her Cincinnati classroom,
eight-year-old Elsie pointed out errors in a textbook that denigrated the
role of Africans in world history.

Elsie then told her class about the many contributions made by Africans in
producing works of great beauty from bronze, gold, and ivory.

"There was an electric silence," she said many years later. She recalled that
her teacher had then agreed with her and described to the class the
contributions made to the world by African-Americans.

Elsie Austin gained her initial motivation to stand up for principle from the
example and teachings of her brave forebears such as her great-grandmother,
who refused to be intimidated by the racist terror perpetrated against her by
the Ku Klux Klan in her home state of Alabama.

After Dr. Austin became a Baha'i in 1934, she gained life-transforming
inspiration from accounts of the life of 'Abdu'l-Baha. She was confirmed in
her Baha'i attitudes and beliefs by Hands of the Cause of God Dorothy Baker
and Louis Gregory, an African American.

In a 1998 lecture Dr. Austin said that Baha'is constitute a unique world
community, one that is operating in every part of the world where there is
tension, violence, and hatred.

"We are making a serious effort to pry human beings away from their
alienating traditions, their comfortable ignorance, and their prejudice --
but we must try harder."

Dr. Austin never wavered in her own resolve to try harder, but rather
redoubled her efforts over the decades.

The service rendered to humanity by Dr. Austin was so distinguished that,
after her death in October 2004, the Universal House of Justice advised the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States to hold
memorial gatherings throughout the Baha'i community in the United States and
in the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois. That event will be held
on 11 December 2004. Another such gathering will be held in the Baha'i House
of Worship in Uganda.

Describing her as a "dearly loved, keen-sighted, stalwart promoter and
defender of the Cause of God," the Universal House of Justice said "the
shining example of her sacrificial life will remain a source of inspiration
to her fellow believers for generations to come."

Dr. Austin met the head of the faith, Shoghi Effendi, while on pilgrimage to
the Holy Land in 1953, and shortly afterwards earned the accolade from him of
Knight of Baha'u'llah for introducing the Baha'i Faith to Morocco.

She was a member of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha'is of the
United States (1946-53) and North and West Africa (1953-58), and of Local
Spiritual Assemblies in five countries -- the United States, Morocco,
Nigeria, Kenya, and the Bahamas.

She was one of the first members of the Auxiliary Board, assisting the Hand
of the Cause of God Musa Banani in that role for four years. She also served
at the Baha'i World Centre in the Holy Land.

Dr. Austin recorded a series of firsts in the secular community. She was the
first African-American woman to graduate from the University of Cincinnati's
College of Law and the first to be appointed assistant attorney-general of
the State of Ohio.

After a legal career with several federal government agencies, she spent a
decade in Africa as a Foreign Service officer, working in cultural and
educational programs sponsored by the United States Information Office, and
initiating the first women's activities program of that organization in
Africa.

Dr. Austin participated in many international women's conferences, including
the 1975 International Women's Conference in Mexico City where she chaired
the Baha'i delegation.

In such roles, as in her daily life, her natural dignity and grace, and her
down-to-earth attitude won the hearts of those with whom she came into
contact.

Citing her determination, independence, honor, and justice, her longtime
friend, Lecille Webster referred to her love of fine dining and her sense of
humor.

During one address Dr. Austin said, "I have shortened this talk, lest it
become like the mercy of God in that it endures forever and passes all
understanding." And in a resume, Dr. Austin described her hobbies: "Reading,
writing, theater and anything else which stimulates the mind and does not
involve drastic exercise."

Dr. Austin won a string of awards, including two honorary doctorates. A
scholarship for law students from minority groups was named after her, and
she served as national president of Delta Sigma Theta, a prestigious national
US public service sorority.

Her writings appeared in legal journals as well as in Baha'i magazines. One
of her articles, later produced as a pamphlet, was about her mentor, Louis
Gregory.

More than seven decades after she stood up for the truth in her classroom,
Dr. Austin delivered a lecture in which she said that there are times when it
is necessary to protest, not violently but with the courage to reject the
false and the unjust.

"If we go about it with faith, with intelligent protest, standing up and
demonstrating what the right attitude and motivation is for human progress,
we can cause progress," she said.

"After all, the battle we face is essentially a spiritual battle to transform
the souls and spirits of human beings, to empower them to express love and
justice, and to develop a unity of conscience."