St. Albert, Atla. and Milton, Ont. celebrate unity in diversity

The Edmonton Chinese Dance Academy performs at the event to celebrate unity in diversity in St. Albert, Alta.

For two decades, the Bahá’ís of St. Albert, Alta. have been reaching out to residents of their city to collaborate on promoting an annual “Unity in Diversity” celebration.

“From the beginning, the people of St. Albert have warmly supported our celebration,” said Arno Brocken who serves as the secretary of the Spiritual Assembly of St. Albert.

Each year since 1992, the Mayor of St. Albert has signed a document proclaiming the second week of November as Unity in Diversity Week,” said Mr. Brocken.

“This year at the celebration, Mayor Nolan Crouse talked about the importance of treating everyone with respect and friendliness.”

The celebration received extensive local coverage, with one newspaper describing its goal “to promote tolerance, eradicate prejudice and foster positive relations between all Canadians.”

A number of artistic presentations illustrated the concept of unity in diversity. In one such presentation, the Edmonton Chinese Dance Academy performed a traditional and modern Chinese dance. The Edmonton Festival Ballet performed two poignant dances, one of which, Displaced Persons, was choreographed to convey the plight of refugees and new immigrants. The Karim Gillani Sufi Music Ensemble, which is made up of 11 musicians from different countries, performed pieces that blended the sounds of Eastern and Western instruments.

The Karim Gillani Sufi Music Ensemble performance featuring Easter and Western instruments, at the Unity in Diversity event in St. Albert, Alta.

In Milton, Ont., the Bahá’ís prepared for the celebration of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh by reaching out to the Milton Town Council and requesting that the second week of November be officially proclaimed Unity in Diversity Week. The request was granted, and the Bahá’ís of Milton celebrated the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh with music, and live performances; speeches were made by the Mayor of the Town of Milton, Mr. Gordon Krantz, and the regional member of the Provincial Parliament, Ms. Indira Naidoo-Harris, and a media essay was presented on the topic of unity in diversity.