On October 7, 2022, a 22-year-old Black woman in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, “escaped from a white man who she says held her captive in his basement for nearly a month, whipping, torturing, and raping her repeatedly,” as reported in Democracy Now!’s global news report.

She and the other Black women who she said were sexually abused or killed by him represent the tens of thousands of Black women and girls who go missing every year in the United States. 

RELATED: Are Black Women Invisible?

In East Africa, every 36 seconds, one person is likely to die of hunger between now and the end of the year, according to a recent report by Oxfam International. They represent the 829 million people who are undernourished around the world, as of 2015.

RELATED: 7 Powerful Prayers for Help From God

About 1.6 billion people in the world may lack adequate housing. And, with the danger of Russia deploying nuclear weapons in its war against Ukraine, President Joe Biden warned that “the world is at risk of a nuclear ‘Armageddon,’” as reported by AP News.

RELATED: 6 Powerful Prayers for Safety and Protection

Humanity is suffering across the planet. In a letter written by the Universal House of Justice, the global governing body of the Baha’i Faith, in November 2020, they wrote:

There is a mounting realization on the part of the world’s people that the decades ahead are set to bring with them challenges among the most daunting that the human family has ever had to face.

We need healing, justice, equity, aid, love, unity, and peace. May these Baha’i prayers for humanity inspire your pursuits to better this world and fuel your efforts to work toward a brighter future.

1. A Baha’i Prayer for Uniting Humanity

Can you imagine how much justice we would have if humanity was so united that our hearts were connected by God’s indissoluble bond? Then we all would feel pain whenever we witness segments of our human family that are hurt and suffering. Our hearts would beat as one.

This prayer that Abdu’l-Baha, one of the central figures of the Baha’i Faith, revealed asks God to unify humanity, giving “light to our eyes, hearing to our ears, and understanding and love to our hearts”:

O Thou compassionate Lord, Thou Who art generous and able! We are servants of Thine sheltered beneath Thy providence. Cast Thy glance of favor upon us. Give light to our eyes, hearing to our ears, and understanding and love to our hearts. Render our souls joyous and happy through Thy glad tidings. 

O Lord! Point out to us the pathway of Thy kingdom and resuscitate all of us through the breaths of the Holy Spirit. Bestow upon us life everlasting and confer upon us never-ending honor. Unify mankind and illumine the world of humanity. May we all follow Thy pathway, long for Thy good pleasure and seek the mysteries of Thy kingdom. 

O God! Unite us and connect our hearts with Thy indissoluble bond.  Verily, Thou art the Giver, Thou art the Kind One and Thou art the Almighty.

2. A Baha’i Prayer for Mercy for Humanity

In this prayer that Baha’u’llah, the prophet and founder of the Baha’i Faith, revealed, we entreat God to bestow His mercy and grace on humanity:

My God, Whom I worship and adore!  I bear witness unto Thy unity and Thy oneness, and acknowledge Thy gifts, both in the past and in the present. Thou art the All-Bountiful, the overflowing showers of Whose mercy have rained down upon high and low alike, and the splendors of Whose grace have been shed over both the obedient and the rebellious. 

O God of mercy, before Whose door the quintessence of mercy hath bowed down, and round the sanctuary of Whose Cause loving-kindness, in its inmost spirit, hath circled, we beseech Thee, entreating Thine ancient grace, and seeking Thy present favor, that Thou mayest have mercy upon all who are the manifestations of the world of being, and deny them not the outpourings of Thy grace in Thy days.

All are but poor and needy, and Thou, verily, art the All-Possessing, the All-Subduing, the All-Powerful.

3. A Baha’i Prayer for the Advancement of Humanity

In this prayer that Abdu’l-Baha revealed, we ask God to help humanity progress and acquire knowledge that is pertinent to our physical and spiritual reality:

O God, O Thou Who hast cast Thy splendor over the luminous realities of men, shedding upon them the resplendent lights of knowledge and guidance, and hast chosen them out of all created things for this supernal grace, and hast caused them to encompass all things, to understand their inmost essence, and to disclose their mysteries, bringing them forth out of darkness into the visible world! ‘He verily showeth His special mercy to whomsoever He will.’

O Lord, help Thou Thy loved ones to acquire knowledge and the sciences and arts, and to unravel the secrets that are treasured up in the inmost reality of all created beings. Make them to hear the hidden truths that are written and embedded in the heart of all that is. Make them to be ensigns of guidance amongst all creatures, and piercing rays of the mind shedding forth their light in this, the ‘first life.’ Make them to be leaders unto Thee, guides unto Thy path, runners urging men on to Thy Kingdom.

Thou verily art the Powerful, the Protector, the Potent, the Defender, the Mighty, the Most Generous.

As Abdu’l-Baha said:

To be a Baha’i simply means to love all the world; to love humanity and try to serve it; to work for universal peace and universal brotherhood.

Let’s all pray for humanity and do our best to serve it to the best of our abilities.

Honesty, decency, faithfulness, and comradeship… must be shown when dealing with those of like blood but to no one else. What happens to a Russian, to a Czech, does not interest me in the slightest… Whether nations live in prosperity or starve to death like cattle interests me only insofar as we need them as slaves for our culture… Whether 10,000 Russian females collapse from exhaustion while digging an antitank ditch interests me only insofar as the antitank ditch for Germany is finished. – Heinrich Himmler, Reichsfuhrer of the Nazi SS.

Reading this horrifying quote, which describes Himmler’s and Hitler’s fascist totalitarian state and its hyper-nationalistic brutality quite succinctly, reminded me of the MS St. Louis, the German ocean liner that sailed across the Atlantic and tried to find homes for 908 Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis in 1939.

It’s a fascinating story, later the subject of a book and a Hollywood film called Voyage of the Damned. From the title, you can probably guess what happened.

The captain of the ocean liner, a heroic non-Jewish German named Gustav Schröder, steered his ship to Cuba, then to Florida, and finally towards Canada. No nation in the Americas would accept the refugees. Finally, Schröder had to sail back to Europe, where hundreds of the ship’s Jewish passengers later died in concentration camps. We could have saved them.

We didn’t save them because of prejudice and anti-Semitism—and a strong bias against immigrants. In each country, anti-immigrant political forces prevailed.

One year earlier, in 1938, as Jewish people and many other persecuted minorities fled Nazi Germany by the thousands, England’s Daily Mail newspaper ran an ignominious, scare-tactic front-page headline: “Stateless Jews Pouring into this Country.”

Anti-immigrant politicians of the period rushed to assure their constituencies that no such thing would be allowed on their watch. The United States and several other South American and European nations had denied asylum to Jews before, and would continue to, despite their knowledge of the Nazi persecutions and murders.

This refusal to save people, a shameful chapter in our recent history, now threatens to repeat itself. One photograph—Aylan Kurdi, a three-year-old Syrian boy, drowned—has made the world face that fact.

As refugees pour out of de-stabilized, war-torn countries like Iraq, Syria and Libya, a huge refugee crisis has developed in Europe. As migrants and refugees, many of them children, flee dangerous and even murderous conditions in Central American nations and try to cross into the United States for asylum, the same thing has happened in the U.S. Refugees from Central African countries, from Afghanistan and North Korea and many other global trouble spots now desperately seek shelter from the terrible conditions they encounter in their home countries—but have few viable options for refuge.

The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) says almost 20 million people were on the move seeking refuge at the end of 2014; and that 3% of the world’s population are now refugees. This mass movement of desperate people raises a whole host of powerful, troubling questions: what does it mean to be a citizen? Do you feel secure in your role as a citizen of your country? What if the country you live in begins to decline, face corruption and destabilization and war? What if you had no work, no income, no way to feed your children? What if another, more powerful country invades, throws out your government and replaces it with one that no longer protects you or respects your human rights? What would you do then? What if conditions grew so bad that you feared for your life every day?

No matter what our citizenship, most of us would try to leave such misery. We would take our families and cross the border and try to find a place where we could have some security and peace. If conditions didn’t improve enough to return, we would voluntarily renounce our citizenship in our former country and try to become a citizen of our new nation—if we got very lucky, and that new nation accepted us.

This enormously unjust and completely arbitrary citizenship birth lottery now determines, more than any other single factor, how an individual will live, be treated, be educated, and live out his or her life. Those of us who win that lottery—born as citizens of stable, developed democracies, or accepted as immigrants and naturalized citizens by those countries—will have a chance to live better lives and have more opportunity than human beings at any other time in the world’s history. Those of us who lose that lottery—born as citizens of unstable, undeveloped countries with war, hunger, poverty and corrupt governments—will be condemned to a life without hope, or take the unknown risks most migrants and refugees take, putting their lives into the hands of smugglers and human traffickers to flee.

The immigration expert and author Ayelet Shachar, in her book The Birthright Lottery, calls this sad state of affairs “inherited privilege”—a form of property inheritance that becomes a valuable entitlement transmitted by law to a restricted group of recipients and their heirs. Nations, she writes, need to expand their membership boundaries beyond the old, unfair, outdated legal notions of citizenship.

For more than 150 years, the Baha’i teachings have said that these fundamental inequities must stop. How? Baha’is believe that all people have the inherent human right to world citizenship:

The oneness of the kingdom of humanity will supplant the banner of conquest, and all communities of the earth will gather under its protection. No nation with separate and restricted boundaries — such as Persia, for instance — will exist. The United States of America will be known only as a name. Germany, France, England, Turkey, Arabia — all these various nations will be welded together in unity. When the people of the future are asked, “To which nationality do you belong?” the answer will be, “To the nationality of humanity…” The people of the future will not say, “I belong to the nation of England, France or Persia”; for all of them will be citizens of a universal nationality — the one family, the one country, the one world of humanity — and then these wars, hatreds and strifes will pass away. – Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 18.

In this series of essays on the massively complex and supremely important contemporary question of citizenship, we’ll look at the laws; examine the controversies; explore the potential solutions the Baha’i teachings offer; and take a hard look at what citizenship really means in a modern context.

I’ve tried to strengthen my faith through earnest seeking, through more or less constant reflection and prayer, and in trying to do right. Isn’t that the essence of all religious teachings?

Scripture supports this logic, proclaiming that if you seek first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, all things will be added unto you (Matthew 6:33).  

Following a path to God, knowing that it is good, is, in itself, rewarding. It is also, as the Psalmist says (119:97), surely wondrous to revel in God’s law, to think about it all day. Many days scriptural study has buoyed me up and illuminated my path. 

It is also surely better to do right than to do wrong. Though I often make mistakes, my experience fits the reality the prophet Ezekiel proclaimed: “if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.” – 18:27. In Romans 2:7, Paul said it more sweetly: “To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life.”   

Doing the right thing just feels good of its own accord, and thus brings assurance that the ancient road laid out for all to walk is the right path. In the end, both faith and deeds are necessary to find and stay in touch with God on this path.

My Experience of God 

As a final piece to consider about finding God, it may help if I share, as best I can, how I experience my connection with God in the moment. Before I share, however, a cautionary note is in order.  

Religious people get in a lot of trouble when they read too much into their individual spiritual experiences or draw unjustified conclusions from them. Though God’s spirit can and does guide people, I encourage skepticism of those claiming to be moved or directed by God, as much nonsense occurs and is tolerated under this protective cultural and quasi-religious banner. The Baha’i teachings warn against the “vain imaginings” some consider divine, when really they’re only the manufactured mirages of the mind:

… they that tread the path of faith, they that thirst for the wine of certitude, must cleanse themselves of all that is earthly – their ears from idle talk, their minds from vain imaginings, their hearts from worldly affections, their eyes from that which perisheth. – Baha’u’llah, The Book of Certitude

… how can the human reality, which is limited, comprehend the eternal, unmanifest Creator? How can man comprehend the omniscient, omnipresent Lord? Undoubtedly, he cannot, for whatever comes within the grasp of the human mind is man’s limited conception, whereas the divine Kingdom is unlimited, infinite. But although the reality of Divinity is sanctified beyond the comprehension of its creatures, it has bestowed its bounties upon all kingdoms of the phenomenal world, and evidences of spiritual manifestation are witnessed throughout the realms of contingent existence. The lights of God illumine the world of man, even as the effulgences of the sun shine gloriously upon the material creation. – Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace

However, inspiration often makes me feel that what comes to me is not from me. Well, the mistakes are mine – part of the limitations of my particular being at each moment in time – but my animation is part of a much larger process. I, and we, experience God through being, through our tie to life and to the Creator of all that is. This connection can be very exciting – the source of all gifts.  

Some of what I know of God comes quickly in almost ecstatic bestowals. Surely, this is not rare. There seems to be little pre-condition other than a place of quiet reflection and a beseeching attitude. Here’s one of my experiences of God, as I reflect on what God is:

He’s the One

He is the Lord of dance and life, and yet He rewards those who sit still to find Him. He’s the One who floods the minds of those who leave their selves behind, who approach His Holy Seat with wonder, who fills them with rapturous tokens of His might and with thoughts that flow too fast to capture. He’s the One who rescues the seekers if they come too near too fast, who diverts them to a pleasant garden and says “Peace be upon you. Tarry here till you’re ready to go on.”  

He’s the One who lets us know there is always more to know, more to experience and be. He’s the great life-giving Spirit. He’s the One who heals the broken hearts, who sustains the wounded. He’s the One who rewards good choice and lets us experience the consequence of the bad; He’s the Caring. He’s the One who protects purity with incomprehension of wrong. He’s the Author of the continuity beyond earthly time, and the One who lets us experience part of the next world in this one. He’s the One who tells us what life is, what death brings, and who causes us to celebrate because of it. He’s the One who will one day, lift us up, free our souls, and cause us to enter a new world, and He’s the one who is refreshing and refashioning this one, right now.  

Of course, these perceptions don’t represent anything other than me trying to articulate what I’m feeling in a particular moment. However, these perceptions did not feel like they came wholly from me, but rather from an interaction in which some kind of a bestowal took place. I take that as evidence of humanity’s connection to the divine, of our being through His Being, and of our closeness to the Creator.

To the trusting, abundant guidance continually flows, amazing events transpire, and a greater awareness of divine guidance is continually revealed. I’ve known people who are so responsive to these kinds of mystical signals from the heavenly realm that they often completely change what they are doing to follow some sudden call unheard by others. Such friends make lousy lunch companions – when moved by the spirit they follow, often leaving you behind to eat alone. While I know these people are not perfect, their lives are rich and they teach us of the wonders found in following a divine call, in knowing that it is here now.

Perhaps that explains why religion has lasted so long throughout human history – because it works its magic within individuals. While the periodic appearances of God’s Chosen Ones are the most dramatic examples of God’s interventions in history, God’s bestowals seem to be an ever-present force working many small miracles all the time among everyday people. Contact with this divine force through prayer, meditation and study can connect us, bring us union, and also refashion our understanding of God’s plan as more of it is revealed.

A quote often attributed to James Baldwin expresses a profound truth, “To be African American is to be African without any memory and American without any privilege.”

African Americans endure systemic and institutionalized racism as people of African descent, while also not being able to identify with any specific ancestral country — and hold on to the language, culture, and heritage that comes with it — because the passing down of these ancestral roots was forbidden in slavery.

Initially, I thought this experience was unique to the African American community. However, after speaking with two Afro Latinas — Black women in Brazil who are leading powerful efforts to advocate for Afro-Brazilian rights — I realized that the oppression and cultural homicide for those of us who descend from enslaved Africans is universal across the Americas.

The Racism and Sexism That Black Women in Brazil Face

Despite 56 percent of Brazilians identifying as Black — the largest population of African descent outside of Africa — Blackness in Brazil is still often linked to inferiority.

RELATED: How MLK Sought to Restore Dignity to Black People

Carolina Almeida, a philosopher, internationalist, and political scientist, shared that as children, they are raised with the understanding that the farther they are away from Blackness, the greater the person they are going to be.

She says, “So, identifying as a Black woman or as a Black man in Brazil is a great step, actually a great social and, also, emotional step to be achieved, because we are constantly being persuaded by everything around us that being Black is bad, it’s ugly, it’s not interesting.”

In a 2022 letter to the Baha’is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Universal House of Justice, the globally elected governing council of the Baha’i Faith, discussed how this “crisis of identity is directly related to the spread of prejudice.”

Leticia Leobet, a social scientist specializing in anthropology, added:

In terms of my daily life as a Brazilian, the impact of racism added to misogyny is notable. And more than in my daily life, it has an impact on the construction of [my] self, my inner identity. So, it is an action that devoids you from any perspective of [the] future — who you want to be, what you want to do, and how you see yourself in the world. So you lose all that. We are forged in a way that we don’t believe in our potential, in our capacities.

Her experience echoes the insights shared by the Universal House of Justice in a 2020 letter to the Baha’is of the United States, which emphasized how racism suppresses individuals’ abilities to realize their full potential:

Racism is a profound deviation from the standard of true morality. It deprives a portion of humanity of the opportunity to cultivate and express the full range of their capability and to live a meaningful and flourishing life, while blighting the progress of the rest of humankind.

Carolina says, “For us Black women in Brazil, especially, we are always hitting this glass ceiling because you can see, but you cannot achieve” due to “social and political barriers.”

These challenges prevent many from pursuing professions like becoming physicians or engineers, and, as she noted, “In Brazil, the Black women have been at the [bottom] of the social pyramid since slavery.” 

Stepping into leadership roles in politics is particularly difficult, and this struggle is so ingrained that it affects their mindset, limiting their ability to envision themselves in positions of power. Carolina says, “I would never have imagined I would be working inside the UN [United Nations]…and the Baha’i International Community has helped us a lot on this path.”

How Geledés Advocates for Afro Brazilians

Carolina represents Geledés – Instituto da Mulher Negra in the United Nations’ periodic review mechanisms and the G20, while Leticia serves as an international advisor for the organization. Founded by Black women in 1988, Geledés is a Brazilian non-governmental organization that combats racism and sexism in all its forms while ensuring equal access to rights and opportunities for people of African descent.

In September 2022, Geledés was granted consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), enabling the organization to access various human rights mechanisms and special events. Since obtaining this status, Geledés has been able to independently produce shadow reports requested by UN committees, focusing specifically on the urgent needs of women and girls of African descent in Brazil, who face the harshest violations. These detailed reports assess the current situation and offer recommendations for actions the Brazilian government should take. Notably, many of these recommendations have been integrated into the official guidance provided by UN committees to Brazil.

Geledés tackles a variety of critical issues, including hunger and poverty, violence against people of African descent, the mass incarceration of Black people, public health disparities, economic crises, climate change, and religious freedom. Additionally, the organization highlights the significant problem of violence against women and girls of African descent within the Public Health System. The UN often cites the data collected by Geledés to advocate for the Brazilian government to take action against femicide.

RELATED: Over 90,000 Black Women and Girls Are Missing and Forgotten

Geledés is mentored by Iradj Eghrari, an international consultant and former member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Brazil. As a Baha’i, Iradj recognizes that Geledés’ goals align with one of the missions of the Baha’i Faith, which is to be “an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression.” He expresses his support, stating, “Religion is converting your spiritual principles into action.”

How Everyone Can Help Eradicate Misogynoir

As we think of how we can eradicate misogynoir, this intersectionality of racism and sexism that is wounding Black women in Brazil and across the globe, let’s call to mind the following words from the Universal House of Justice: 

To distrust, fear, hate, or discriminate against another person or a whole group on the basis of ethnicity is a spiritual disease. It is also a scourge that infects social structures and causes instability. In this light, eradicating ethnic prejudice requires transformation at the level of both the individual and the social environment.

At the individual level, Iradj says “we have to empower women of African descent to recognize their potential.” This empowerment is “not a question of just giving some tools,” it’s embracing, loving, and being there for them. At the level of the social environment, Iradj expresses the need for us “to have policies established” and change “racist structures.”

He continued, “So what I can do as an individual is to implement action. This thought of: how can I be of service to another human being?”

Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, stated that the Baha’i community “should feel it to be its first and inescapable obligation to nurture, encourage, and safeguard every minority belonging to any faith, race, class, or nation within it.”

To “safeguard” means, as Merriam-Webster defines it, “to make safe: PROTECT.” What comes to mind when you think of needing to feel safe? My mind immediately thinks of psychological and emotional safety, my mother thinks of medical and social safety, my brother thinks of physical safety, and my friend thinks of financial safety. 

This made me realize how important it is for us all to understand the different types of safety if we’re going to do our best to safeguard every marginalized community from the various forms of harm.

1. Physical Safety

Ensuring that oppressed demographics are physically safe necessitates protecting them from physical threats, violence, and exploitation. The urgent need for physical protection is evident in these alarming statistics: 

In 2022, there were 13,278 victims of reported hate crime incidents in the United States, 59 percent of which were racially motivated. Globally, an estimated 49.6 million people were in modern slavery on any given day in 2021, including forced labor, forced marriage, and sex trafficking. Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that “on average, 736 million and up to 852 million women who were aged 15 years or older in 2018 (almost 1 in 3 women)” have experienced physical or sexual violence.

RELATED: Over 90,000 Black Women and Girls Are Missing and Forgotten

What are we doing to ensure that every member of our human family is protected from all forms of physical harm? Abdu’l-Baha, one of the central figures of the Baha’i Faith, explained that “if someone oppresses, injures, and wrongs another,” the “community has the right of defense and of self-protection; moreover, the community has no hatred nor animosity for the murderer: it imprisons or punishes him merely for the protection and security of others.”

He continued:

… the constitution of the communities depends upon justice. … Then what Christ meant by forgiveness and pardon is not that, when nations attack you, burn your homes, plunder your goods, assault your wives, children, and relatives, and violate your honour, you should be submissive in the presence of these tyrannical foes, and allow them to perform all their cruelties and oppressions.

No, the words of Christ refer to the conduct of two individuals towards each other: if one person assaults another, the injured one should forgive him. But the communities must protect the rights of man.

RELATED: What Is Power Without Love? Explore MLK and Baha’i Quotes

2. Environmental Safety

The right to adequate sanitation and hygiene, clean air and water, a stable climate, and protection from hazardous chemicals, soil contamination, and dangerous levels of radiation are basic human rights that have been denied to so many. 

This denial of basic environmental rights has dire consequences. According to WHO, “24% of all estimated global deaths are linked to the environment.” For example, 3.8 million people die every year from household air pollution, and “91% of the world’s population live in places where [outside] air pollution levels exceed WHO guideline limits.”

Addressing these pressing issues, the Universal House of Justice, the global governing body of the Baha’i Faith, highlighted in a 2017 letter:

One of the most pressing problems of humanity in the current century is how a growing, rapidly developing, and not yet united global population can, in a just manner, live in harmony with the planet and its finite resources.

Certain biological realities present themselves when an organism negatively affects or exceeds the capacity of its ecosystem. The limited availability and inequitable distribution of resources profoundly impact social relations within and between nations in many ways, even to the point of precipitating upheaval and war.

“Local and national governments need to introduce policies and make investments that support cleaner transport, energy-efficient housing, power generation, industry and better municipal waste management,” wrote Dr. Maria Neira, the WHO Director for the Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health. 

“But we can also lead change at community and individual level. This can include commitments to cycle or take public transport to work, when safe routes are available; to recycle waste or compost; or conserve water and energy at home and in the office. Strategies such as “pedibus” initiatives can encourage children to walk to school safely, and the creation of urban gardens can provide both healthy foods and venues for social interaction and physical activity.”

RELATED: 4 Benefits of Going Vegan for the World — and You

3. Financial Safety

Impoverished communities are the most vulnerable to environmental instability, enduring higher exposure to pollution, inadequate sanitation, and the growing threats of climate change. These challenges are compounded by widespread malnutrition and limited access to essentials like clean water, electricity, and basic healthcare. Sadly, more than 700 million people around the world live in extreme poverty, struggling to survive on less than $2.15 a day.

Baha’u’llah “admonished all that we must be the servants of the poor, helpers of the poor, remember the sorrows of the poor, associate with them; for thereby we may inherit the Kingdom of heaven.”

People who are financially secure have enough money to cover their expenses and meet their needs without fear of running out for retirement and possible emergencies. Financial safety and security include access to financial literacy, stable employment, fair wages, and protection from exploitation and financial abuse. If you’d like to learn more about the solutions that the Baha’i writings have offered to reduce the wealth gap, read my article, “How to Reduce the Wealth Gap — With Augusto Lopez-Claros.” 

Most of those living in extreme poverty are people of color. Not only do they lack financial safety, but they also don’t experience social safety.

RELATED: Reducing Poverty Amongst Marginalized Women and Communities

4. Social Safety

Social safety ensures that individuals feel included and respected within a society and involves protection from discrimination, exclusion, and exploitation based on social identity, such as race, gender, and class. 

Ask yourself: Can women be safe from sexist comments and actions in your presence? Can people of color be safe from racial microaggressions and macroaggressions in your community? We can socially safeguard others by advocating for social justice and fostering just, supportive, and inclusive communities.

As the Universal House of Justice wrote in a 2020 letter to the Baha’is of the United States:

We ardently pray that the American people will grasp the possibilities of this moment to create a consequential reform of the social order that will free it from the pernicious effects of racial prejudice and will hasten the attainment of a just, diverse, and united society that can increasingly manifest the oneness of the human family.

5. Spiritual Safety

“One of the forms of prejudice which afflict the world of mankind is religious bigotry and fanaticism. When this hatred burns in human hearts, it becomes the cause of revolution, destruction, abasement of humankind and deprivation of the mercy of God,” said Abdu’l-Baha at a talk in Colorado in 1912.

Because of religious bigotry, hundreds of millions of people around the world are denied spiritual safety. A  just, diverse, and united society would allow everyone the freedom to express, explore, and practice their spiritual or religious beliefs without fear of persecution, coercion, and discrimination. We can spiritually safeguard others by promoting religious freedom and creating interfaith fellowships and dialogues to enhance mutual understanding.

6. Emotional Safety

Emotional safety is crucial for fostering mutual understanding, trust, and intimacy. It is the assurance that one can express their feelings, thoughts, and vulnerabilities without fear of judgment, betrayal, rejection, or ridicule. This freedom to be authentic, without having to mask one’s emotions and put up guards, is a vital aspect of mental health.

We can emotionally safeguard others by cultivating inclusive, respectful, trustworthy, and compassionate spaces, practicing active and empathetic listening, validating others’ feelings and diverse experiences to foster a sense of security and belonging, and implementing conflict resolution strategies that prioritize understanding and reconciliation.

7. Psychological Safety

People who are denied psychological safety don’t have that freedom to express their perspectives. Psychological safety involves creating an environment where individuals feel safe to voice their thoughts, perceptions, and opinions without fear of retribution, humiliation, isolation, or manipulation.

RELATED: Spiritual Clarity to Resist the Different Types of Gaslighting

We can psychologically safeguard others by creating safe spaces that encourage honest, open communication without the risk of being subjected to gaslighting, mind games, and other forms of psychological abuse — abuse that is prevalent in physical and digital spaces.

8. Cyber Safety

As people spend more and more of their time online, cyber safety has become increasingly important. Cyber safety involves protecting individuals from online threats such as identity theft, cyberbullying, catfishing, online predators, privacy breaches, and exposure to harmful and inappropriate content.

We can safeguard others in this way by implementing privacy protections, using security tools, and educating people about cybersecurity and positive, healthy, appropriate, and safe online behavior.

9. Medical Safety

Last but not least, medical safety ensures access to quality healthcare and protecting individuals from medical errors, unsafe treatments, and inadequate health services. This includes the right to receive proper medical care, accurate diagnoses, and effective treatments while being safeguarded from harm and medical racism within the healthcare system. 

For example, according to the CDC, “Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women,” and “more than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. are preventable.” 

RELATED: How to Reduce Black Maternal Mortality in the U.S.

As we care for humanity and safeguard our most vulnerable populations, let’s remember these nine different types of safety. By prioritizing financial, emotional, social, environmental, spiritual, psychological, cyber, medical, and physical safety, we can better ensure the well-being of both ourselves and others.