GATHER

There are many advocacy groups that are working to widen the lens in the LDS church. You can sign up for their newsletters and attend their events. Research the following groups or classes. Here are some of the resources we share on our website:

Join and follow Black Lives Bless facebook page or website to read news and developments for ongoing efforts in Latter-day Saint unity.

Take James C. Jones’s online course to learn how to root out prejudice and bias.

Learn about the activities of Descendants for Reconciliation and inspire your own family’s advocacy for healing. Consider joining their group and conversations to expand understanding.

Learn about Genesis and attend a meeting in person or virtually.

Follow or volunteer with Meetinghouse Mosaic—a group of LDS women that advocate for more inclusive artwork in church meetinghouses—and learn how to make changes in your church’s artwork and why it’s important.

Take a look at Let’s Talk Sis

Learn about and support the Debra Bonner Unity Choir organization, promoting the creation of youth Gospel choirs across the globe for unity and healing.

Semi-Hadithi Foundation tells the story of African Americans in the Utah Territory and Mountain West. You can join their newsletter, volunteer team, or donate.

WIDEN THE LENS

Read Church Leaders talks, watch videos, or listen to podcasts that discuss the importance of rooting out prejudice and racism.

Words Matter
Conference – Elder Ronald A. Rasband

Lord, To whom shall I Go?
Conference – Sister Tracy Browning

2023 Utah Regional Leadership Talk
Elder Giraud-Carrier

We Are His Children
Conference – Elder Giraud-Carrier

Peacemakers Needed
Conference – President Russel Nelson

Brothers and Sisters in Christ
Conference – Ulisses Soares

The Doctrine of Belonging
Conference – Elder Todd Christofferson

Defending our Divinely Inspired Constitution
Conference – President Dallin Oaks

Infuriating Unfairness
Conference – Dale G. Renlund

Love Your Enemies
Conference – President Oaks

Let God Prevail
Conference – President Nelson

Christ: The Light that Shines in the Dark
Conference – President Eubanks

The Need for Greater Kindness
Conference – President Hinckley

Spit and Mid and Kigatsuku
Conference – Sister Chieko Okazaki

Healing Racism through Jesus Christ
Ryan Gabriel on building Zion through Racial Justice

Learn about the work of Bryan Stephenson
BYU Devotional Speech

Racism and Other Challenges
BYU Devotional Speech – President Oaks

William Barber II on the need for coming together
BYU Devotional Speech

Roots, Race and Culture
Podcast

First Name Basis
Podcast

Love your Lineage
Podcast

Tribe of Testimonies
Podcast

Footnotes with Jemar Tisby
Podcast

Tracy Browning on “Inclusion, Unity and Loving Better”

Watch Faith Matters discussion with LaShawn Willians and Yahosh Bonner on being Black in America and in The Church.

Listen to “The Foyer: The Ongoing Quest for Racial Equality”

Listen to “At Last She Said It: What About Racism?”

Listen to “Faith Matters: 7 Ways to Lead Out Against Racism” 

All in Podcast talks with Sistas in Zion about “Racism in the Church”

Watch the film directed by Mauli Bonner called “His Name is Green Flake” that tells the story of a Black Enslaved Pioneer who was part of the first group of saints to arrive and help settle Salt Lake Valley.

Watch the film “13th” about the 13th amendment to the Constitution and how slavery still exists in the United States today.

Watch a pre-recorded panel discussion between Black members who have called for reconciliation work in the church and Descendants of Brigham Young.

Watch the recording for a regional church event “Unity in the Community.”

Watch the lecture “Blacks in the Scriptures: Darius Gray.”

Watch a Faith Matters interview with Darius Gray “About the Genesis of Change in the LDS Church.”

Watch the documentary, Nobody Knows the Untold Story of Black Mormons.

Listen to Child of God, featuring the Bonner Family.

See the “Be One Celebration”, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1978 revelation on the Priesthood.

Watch “Blacks in the Scriptures with Darius Gray.”

Watch “Meet Amos Brown, friend of The Church.”

Watch “Darius Gray, Not a Curse, But a Calling.”

Watch Paul Reeve present on “The origin of the Priesthood Ban.”

Watch Elder Johnson’s “Run to the Light.”

Read Tracy Browning on LDS Living on what “Belonging” means.

Watch the Lifting Others Video Series from Church HQ – Various Short Videos from Leaders.

Watch Melissa Tshikamba Boggs discuss on PBS “Roots, Race and Culture” the importance of inclusive artwork and representation in artwork.

SEE JOY

Dedicate a Family Home Evening lesson or family activity to one or more of the following topics:

Read or watch with your children Mauli and Chantal Bonner’s book, I am a Child of God and consider purchasing for your family library.

Read from the Church website, Overcoming Racism and discuss as a family.

Learn about the This is the Place Heritage Park monument commemorating Black Pioneers and consider a visit to the site if you are living in or visiting Utah.

Read Essay on Race and the Priesthood and discuss with family and friends.

Learn about early pioneer saint Jane Manning James.

Watch Esther Candari present at Restore Conference on “Picturing Zion” and how we can use inclusive artwork to increase our communal visual learning and deepen our worship.

Purchase and use Esther Candari’s Artbook Vol.1 or subsequent editions in lessons.

Download the free printable version of Melissa Tshikamba Boggs image of the Savior’s “Second Coming” from the Meetinghouse Mosaic website. Discuss the impact inclusive depictions of the Savior can have on everyone and put up the image in your home.

SHARE A BOOK

Read books and share with a friend, your church community, or your book club. You can also find this list on the BLB website under Resources:

Learn about the witnesses of faithful Black Latter-day Saints. Read Alice Burch’s book “My Lord He Calls Me.”

LDS Historian Paul Reeve’s book “Let’s Talk About Race and the Priesthood.”

Regina Jackson’ and Saira Rao’s book “White Women: Everything you Already Know about Your Own Racism and How to Do Better.”

Anna Malaika Tubbs’ book “The Three Mothers: How the Mother’s of Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation.”

Christian Kimball’s book “Living on the Inside Edge: A Survival Guide.”

Osheta Moore’s “Dear White Peacemakers: Dismantling Racism with Grit and Grace.”

LDS Historian Paul Reeve’s book “Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness.”

A set of books that depicts the conversions, struggles and trials of early African-American converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a trilogy by Darius Aiden Gray and Margaret Blair Young’s “Standing on the Promises  (Book 1, 2, &3).

Latasha Morrison’s book “Be the Bridge: Pursuing God’s Heart for Racial Reconciliation.”

Isabell Wilkerson’s book “Caste: the Origins of our Discontent”

Matthew L. Harris’s book “Second-Class Saints.”

Jemar Tisby’s book “The Color of Compromise.”

Tamu Smith and Zandra Vranes’ book “Diary of Two Mad Black Mormons: Finding the Lord’s Lessons in Everyday Life”

Jasmine L. Holme’s book “Crowned with Glory – How Proclaiming the Truth of Black Dignity Has Shaped American History.”

“Everyday White People Confront Racial & Social Injustice – 15 Stories” – A collection of stories compiled and edited by Eddie Moore, Marguerite Penick-Parks, and Ali Michael.

Valarie Kaur’s book “See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifest of Revolutionary Love.”

IN THE NEWS

Read and share these news stories and articles:

Blessings Received from the Participation in Florence Day Heritage Parade in Omaha NE

Dred Scott descendant Lynne M. Jackson tells RootsTech audience about her journey of Reconciliation

BYU study explores Black experiences in LDS Church

Church, city reshape neighborhoods with Operation MyHometown

Learn about the Church’s support for Black mothers and babies and find similar groups in your area to support

Read a story of reconciliation between the Church and the Wyoming 14

Make a conscious effort to shop at Black-owned businesses and recommend them to others. Use this spreadsheet to find black owned businesses you could support in the Utah, by county. Similar resources listing Black-owned businesses exist in most communities:

Learn about the 10 Million Names Project and consider how you might support their effort to recover 10 million names of individuals enslaved in the United States between 1500s and 1865.

Learn about the Century of Black Latter-Day Saints in the first 100 years of The Church.

Learn about Slavery in Utah at This Abominable Slavery 

Check out Trace Your African-American Ancestry 

Watch Dred Scott descendent Lynne Jackson’s keynote address at RootsTech. (Starts at 11:17)

Tri-stake Black History Event Keynote Address

All Are Alike Unto God Stake Fireside and Study Guide

The Blessings of Diversity: Becoming Disciples Together Youth Lesson

Becoming Stonecatchers Youth Lesson

Black LDS History Primary Sharing Time

Relief Society Sisters Who are Trying Stake Women’s Conference Lesson

Race and Church History Youth Lesson

Diversity Training – Primary Teachers

Share the Black Lives Bless “open letter” with leaders and church communities and have a discussion around how church members can create inclusive and safe spaces even during election years.

FINALLY, feel joy and gratitude for a prophet!
Listen to the Bonner family celebrate President Nelson’s birthday.