The complexities surrounding conversations of racism today are numberless but the root of the solution is the two great commandments: love God and love your neighbor as yourself. On this week’s episode, we talk with Abe Mills and Stephen Jones, two black Latter-day Saints, about their experiences with racism within Church culture, the faith of those who came before them, and why they don’t hesitate to share their faith in Jesus Christ.
Understanding what He did for us, it gives us hope, which we live in a world with a lot of people that have no hope or they’ve lost their hope—whether it’s hope in equality, hope in fairness, hope in whatever—they’ve lost their hope, but the gospel has taught us hope because we know what Jesus Christ did for us. It has taught us understanding because we know Christ was the example of understanding, and on top of that, it has taught us forgiveness, or how to forgive, in a time where forgiveness is needed greatly.
Show Notes
3:40- Who Is Your Neighbor?
9:15- Mourn with Those That Mourn
14:33- Personal Experiences with Racism
30:14- The Body of Christ
41:06- Being a Diverse Voice in the Church
48:27- Pioneers
56:20- Peace and Hope in Troubled Times
1:02:16- What Does it Mean to be “All In” the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Links:
Article: Medium Op-ed from President Nelson and NAACP leaders: “Locking Arms for Racial Harmony in America.”
Video: Stephen's BYU Library Commercial “New Spice | Study like a Scholar, Scholar”
Video: Abe’s family’s YouTube channel: “Sunshine Mafia”
Video: Hope Works: “Answer the Call | Abe Mills”
Video: Hope Works: “One Question That Puts Life in Perspective | Stephen Jones”
Music: Jericho Road Music - Digital Album
Article: Deseret News Op-ed by J. Spencer Fluhman, “Harmony won't come until we recognize Racism as the problem”
Quote from the op-ed—“Authentic communion at the congregational level surely means making space for the burdens that come with our national history of racial injustice. Is there any hope for congregations of “one heart and one mind” if segments of Christ’s body cannot speak their pain or their anger at the persistent inequities that have long defined this national crisis? Surely membership in our covenant community requires more from us than comfortable obliviousness to the realities of our neighbors’ lives. Such a weighty history of American racism and its effects on our fellow Saints must demand our attention.”
Quote—“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ― Marianne Williamson
View transcript here.