Helvécio Martins, accountant, teacher, and the first black general authority in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 27, 1930. His father, Honório Martins, was a trader of animal hides and later an office … Read MoreHelvécio Martins (1930–2005)
Gobo Fango was born in the Eastern Cape Colony in what is now South Africa around 1855, just before the beginning of the eighth of the nine Xhosa Wars (Cape Frontier Wars) against British and Boer settlers. Fango was a member of the Gcaleka tribe, … Read MoreGobo Fango (1855-1886)
The Wyoming Black Fourteen were African American members of the 1969 University of Wyoming (UW) football team who protested playing a game with Brigham Young University (BYU) because of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’s ban on black men holding the priesthood in … Read MoreThe Wyoming Black Fourteen (1969)
Thurl Lee Bailey is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1983 to 1999 with the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves. Bailey has also been a broadcast analyst for the Utah Jazz and the University of Utah … Read MoreThurl Lee Bailey (1961– )
Mary Lucille Perkins Bankhead, lifelong resident of Salt Lake City and member of the Genesis Group leadership, was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on August 9, 1902. Her father, Sylvester Perkins, was a cowboy and farmer. Her mother, Martha Anne Jane Stevens Perkins Howell, … Read MoreMary Lucille Perkins Bankhead (1902–1994)
Ruffin Bridgeforth, president of the Genesis Group and priest in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), was born in Melville, Louisiana, on March 18, 1923. His father, Ruffin Sr., and mother, Mary Adams Fips, had four children together. Bridgeforth moved from Louisiana … Read MoreRuffin Bridgeforth (1923–1997)
In 1971 Ruffin Bridgeforth, Darius Gray, and Eugene Orr, all African American Mormons, met at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City to create a strategy for receiving greater support for the black members of the Latter Day Saints. In that year, there were … Read MoreThe Genesis Group of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1971- )
“Image Ownrship: Pubic Domain” Warner McCary, slave, musician, performer, self-identified prophet, and physician, was born in Natchez, Mississippi, circa 1810. His mother, Franky, was a slave, and his father, James McCary, was a slave owner and cabinetmaker who migrated to Natchez from Pennsylvania. Throughout his … Read MoreWarner McCrary (c.1810–n.d.)
Image Courtesy of LDS Church News David William Eka, engineer, elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), first president of the Aba Nigeria stake, was born in Etinan, Nigeria, on May 20, 1945. His father, William Udo, was a carpenter, and … Read MoreDavid W. Eka (1945– )
“Image Ownership: Pulic Domain” Martha Ann Jane Stevens Perkins Howell, born on January 20, 1875, was named for her maternal grandmother, Martha Vilate Crosby Flake, who had been a slave during the Mormon migration to the West. Martha Howell’s maternal grandfather was Green Flake, also … Read MoreMartha Ann Jane Stevens Perkins Howell (1875–1954)
