Mauli Bonner and Paul Reeve: Understanding the History of Blacks in the Church

All In

DB Podcasts

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.8 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2021

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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 today's 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.

"The beauty of it all is that we are here now and have an opportunity to learn and do something good. That's what we have control over. We can't change what was, we were not there. But we are here now. " -Mauli Bonner

Show Notes

3:24- Blacks in the Early Days of the Church
8:50- Legislation with Theological Implications
12:00- Learning the History as a Black Latter-day Saint
15:22- Green Flake and Brigham Young
25:28- Strengthening Testimony Rather Than Weakening
31:44- Historical Accuracy
37:12- What Needed to Change?
44:22- Why Monuments Matter
51:22- What Does It Mean To Be All In the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Find the full episode transcript at ldsliving.com/allin.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	On the about page of the century of Black Mormons' database, Paul Reeve writes,
0:05.7	in the months leading up to the 2012 presidential election between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney,
0:12.1	a few media outlets reinforced the public perception that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were predominantly white.
0:20.8	A reporter for the New York Times speculated in a Times Online video that there were only a very small number of Black Mormons,
0:29.0	a couple of thousand Macs, or somewhere between 500 to 2000.
0:33.7	Likewise, Jimmy Kimmel asked on Jimmy Kimmel live,
0:36.9	are there Black Mormons? I find that hard to believe.
0:40.4	These questions asked in 2012, Reeve writes,
0:43.9	highlight the historical amnesia that dominates the public perception.
0:48.8	The irony lies in the historical evolution of that public perception.
0:53.2	Black Saints were among the first to arrive in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847,
0:58.8	and have been a part of the Mormon experience from its beginnings.
1:02.6	End quote.
1:04.0	One of those first to arrive in the Salt Lake Valley was a man named Green Flake,
1:08.6	a man who has gone virtually unnoticed in the history of the Church until Mally Bonner recently felt led to make a movie all about him.
1:18.2	Perhaps best known to our audience as a member of the Bonner family,
1:22.2	Mally Bonner has been a vocal coach for prominent stars,
1:25.6	including Katie Perry, Ariana Grande, and Fergie.
1:29.4	He is a first time writer, director, and producer on the upcoming film,
1:33.9	His Name is Green Flake.
1:36.0	W. Paul Reeve is the Simmons chair of Mormon Studies in the history department at the University of Utah.
1:42.6	He is also the project manager and general editor of a digital database,
	...

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