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	Courtesy Photo Author Tod Ewing

"This guy comes in and looks around the room and says, 'I never thought I'd see heaven in the face of black men,'" Ewing said. "He didn't say it in a disparaging way, but with awe. That concept resonated with me. What helpful imagery, I remember thinking."

Later, when Ewing, who has 25 years of experience in diversity, race relations, communication and conflict resolution, decided to write a book reflecting on his own life and race relations, that moment inspired the title, "Seeing Heaven in the Face of Black Men."

A member of the Baha'i community in Washington, Ewing will discuss his book and his work Sunday at the Frederick City Youth Center. The lecture and book signing are sponsored by the Baha'i Faith, Frederick and the Frederick chapter of the NAACP.

The event is also the last engagement of the 2010 Season for Peace and Nonviolence, stretching from Jan. 18 to the closing ceremony March 28 at the Unity Church in Frederick

The "Gandhi-King Season for Peace and Nonviolence," annually celebrated from Jan. 30 to April 4, is a nationwide educational, media and grassroots campaign dedicated to demonstrating that nonviolence can heal, transform and empower communities. It began in 1998 and is promoted by the Association for Global New Thought and was inspired by the 50th and 30th memorial anniversaries of the assassination Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., respectively.

Ewing's own experience dealing with racial issues and prejudice stems from the time he was born.

His parents moved into a Minneapolis suburb in 1953, with Ewing, their first child, still in his mother's womb. They were the only black family in the neighborhood, and residents organized protests against their arrival.

"It was a big enough deal that it made the newspapers," Ewing said. "I still have the clipping. We had to go to the NAACP. Those were my formative years, we lived there until I was 10. But that was just the beginning, too."

While Minneapolis may not spring to mind in terms of racist attitudes in the U.S., Ewing noted, "there's a lot of misconceptions about where racism lives."

Despite the hostile attitude of many living on their own block, Ewing and his younger brother Jeff, were taught not to hate or hold a grudge against anyone by their mother and father. Both parents, members of the Baha'i faith, led by example, Ewing said.

"When I think about my parents, I don't ever remember them saying anything negative about white people or anything like that growing up," he said. "I think that's a tribute to their faith."

Later, Ewing, a magna cum laude graduate of the St. Cloud State University, served for five years as director of minority affairs at his alma mater, helping bring an NAACP chapter to campus.

Moving to South Carolina, Ewing partnered with Janice Hanna, who is white, forming Hanna, Ewing and Associates, a consulting authority on diversity, workplace and conflict resolutions issues.

Clients over the years have included BP Amoco Chemical Co., the South Carolina Bar Association and Department of Education, the Divinity Students Association at the University of Chicago and the U.S. Army base at Fort Jackson, among others.

Ewing said he thinks his Baha'i faith, which addresses the issue of racial prejudice directly, and his personal experience led to his career in diversity work, and specifically black-white racial relations.

He said he has come to think that even today, racial issues remain so emotionally charged for so many, that they can only be overcome by a spiritual transformation.

"I've done hundreds of workshops, a lot of work in the South," Ewing said. "Black-white issues become what I call an emotional boxing match. Most cultures have a spirituality, usually linked to a religion, and this becomes an opportunity to transform a person through spiritual growth. Those issues, and the idea that through spiritual growth we can achieve racial justice and racial unity -- that's the premise of the book."

Much of the writing, he said, draws upon his own experience and the everyday (and worse) slights that black men continue to face. He mentioned, for example, his brother, an actor, who is married with three children, once had a police officer put a gun to his head.

Ewing described the humiliation black men face as two-fold -- it's the personal and political. By this he means, for example, the drug policies that lead to the high incarceration rates of young black men. Although black youths are locked up at much higher rates than white youths for drug-related crimes, studies show that a higher percentage of white youths use drugs.

He said the book is part autobiography, part current events -- he often interrupts the narrative with news flashes of real time, racially tinged events -- and part solution, as he examines his own spiritual journey.

Even with the election of President Barack Obama, the state of race relations in the U.S. remains complex, Ewing said.

"The election of a bi-racial man of African descent shows tremendous progress," he said. "At the same time, it's also brought to light a lot of racist reaction around the country. The level of threats against him is unparalleled, as the security around him makes clear. Sometimes it's subtle, but the intensity of the reaction against him is unparalleled, and it's indication that racism is alive and well."

Ewing said he believes many in the social justice, political and religious communities who support racial justice and harmony got complacent after Obama's election. But in light of some of the racial protests directed against the president, he sees a renewed opportunity to address those issues.

"Ultimately, it has brought these things right out into the open," Ewing said. "We are making progress and subtle racial prejudice still exists. Both of these things are true. That's the daily reality I've found in my life and others have, too.

"My struggle, my progress to come to grips with this has been made through spirituality. I write about myself pretty transparently, sharing struggle, effort and the results."