Celebrate Black voices with these LDS Living resources

In recognition of Black History Month, below you will find a collection of LDS Living videos and podcast episodes that celebrate Black voices and experiences. We hope you will take the time to watch and listen to some of these stories and embrace the beauty of diversity, act on the importance of equality, and engage in the power of discussion and conversation.

In 1830, the same year the Church was organized, a former slave named Peter became the first documented Black member of the Church. Nearly 200 years later, Mauli Bonner first heard Peter’s story when he started exploring his own faith as a Black member of the Church. This journey led him to Paul Reeve, a professor at the University of Utah who has studied Blacks in Church history extensively. On this episode, Mauli and Paul explain not only the importance of the stories of early Black Latter-day Saints but also how their stories can strengthen our faith and our testimonies of the restored gospel.

Zandra Vranes and Laurel Christensen Day’s friendship requires a conscious, deliberate effort to create trust. In this episode, they talk about why they have chosen to create a strong relationship and understanding with one another by refusing to shy away from difficult conversations. Vranes and Day discuss how racism is manifest in the Church today and what we can all do to help each other feel at home in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Debra Bonner didn’t know she could sing and she didn’t know Jesus until a friend invited her to church when she was 13 years old. Since then, she has spent her life singing the good news of a Savior while instilling a love for Him in her eight children and to all within the sound of her voice.

Born in Nigeria, raised in London, and currently residing in Beijing, Lola Ogunbote is a lawyer-turned-soccer coach who has learned how to prioritize joy in life. It is her belief that true fulfillment is found as we seek our acceptance from God and celebrate each individual for the many things that make them who they are.

Carrying a television with a VHS player to school every day became second nature for Tshoper Kabambi. He and his classmates studied film by watching movies on that little TV, discussing everything from lighting to plot. Kabambi believed that if he could learn to tell a story through film, he could finally tell the story of the Congo through the eyes of someone who has lived it.

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 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.

Marcus Martins never planned to serve a mission, to be sealed in the temple, or to serve as a bishop. These things would require him to receive the priesthood, and there was a restriction in place that precluded him from doing so. But Martins’s life changed forever on June 8, 1978, when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced a revelation extending the priesthood to all worthy male members ages 12 and older. Since that day, Martins has served not only as a missionary, but as a bishop, a temple officiator, a Book of Mormon translator, and a mission president. On this episode, Martins explains how he developed a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ even before 1978 and why he has never looked back in the nearly 50 years since he joined the Church.

In this episode, Isaac Thomas shares the story of how he gained a testimony and joined the Church in 1976 at a time when he, as a Black man, could not receive the priesthood. He recounts the heartbreak and joy he found as he faithfully served and waited for a revelation that would restore the Priesthood to every worthy male member of the Church.

Stories in this episode: Wendy’s childhood is fraught with bullies and self-doubt until she asks God to teach her what her parents knew all along; A run-in with a trampoline right before the family reunion sends Cassidy into hiding, but she can’t hide from the Spirit; When artist Melissa can't find herself in museum paintings of heaven, she decides to take matters into her own hands.

After a year of asking and waiting, Donald finally got permission from his mom to join the Church when he was 15. Being a part of this new church family felt like the right next step for this Jamaican immigrant living in Florida, but he soon learned that while the restored gospel was perfect, the people weren’t. In this story, Donald shares the moments that left him wondering about his place in the body of Christ and what helped him to choose faith and forgiveness. 

After his family moved from Nigeria to Utah, Agbor's family met with the missionaries and everything changed. After a life-long dedication to serving God, Agbor has found what it truly means to be converted.

A scripture in Isaiah comforted Tamu through a tough time in junior high when she felt rejected by her friends. The scripture reminded her that the Savior knows what it feels like to suffer rejection from friends and helped her feel like she wasn’t alone.

Reading about Jesus Christ’s family helped Zandra realize that no family is perfect, but that by living the gospel and following Christ’s teachings, we can learn to accept and be happy with the family God gave us. “We’re not in the gospel because, ‘Wow, if we had it, our families could have been so functional and so much better and so picture-perfect,’” Zandra shares. “We’re in the gospel because this is always what the families that Heavenly Father has used have looked like.”

Watch the story of one man who used six questions to determine whether or not he would convert to Christianity.

Isaac Thomas was the first Black man sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. Listen as he shares his life-changing moment when he learned of the priesthood revelation received by President Kimball in 1978.

Reggie fell away from the Church and started doing things that made him feel like he was “as far from the gospel as he could get.” Burdened by the misery and pain he felt, he reached out to God and with the help of friends had the strength to come back to church.

Bishop Donald Kelly joined the church at 15 and struggled to figure out his place in a predominantly white church. Watch his story and see how he navigates the complex role of race in his choice to “stay in the boat.”

Jonas shares how his doubt creates a general sense of confusion in his life and how it requires him to lean entirely upon the love of the Savior.

The Sistas in Zion have some great tips for navigating those awkward moments at church when cultures collide.

Marcia was a young mother of two when she suddenly found herself caring not only for her children but the children of her deceased sister. She wanted to raise them to love God and asked Him how to do that … and the answer came in a surprising way.