My Lord, He Calls Me: Stories of Faith by Black American Latter-day Saints

by Alice Faulkner Burch (editor)

Though Black members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have only had full access to the priesthood and the ordinances of the temple since 1978, there have been faithful Black members of the Church since the beginning. Both early and contemporary members have been faithful in the face of criticism from both inside and outside the Church. My Lord, He Calls Me is a new essay compilation by active Black American Latter-day Saints whose ancestors were brought to the United States from Africa and enslaved. They share their conversion stories, what life was like during the priesthood restriction, and why they remain in the Church. Though all will benefit from it, this book was created especially by and for Black members as support and encouragement. Readers will be inspired by the faith, testimony, endurance, wisdom, and spiritual strength of these faithful Saints.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, History, Lds, Biography, Spirituality, Audiobook

225 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 28, 2022

Reviews

[Courtney Hatch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays from Black American Christian Latter-day Saints from the 19th century to present. It’s publication by Deseret Book this year is one of the most exciting and hopeful things I’ve seen recently. It shares the good, the hard, and the painful all with a faithful approach. I cannot recommend it enough.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book on an impulse when I saw it on the shelf at Seagull Book. The contributors in this book vary in age, time period, and experiences -- I saw this as a huge strength to this book. It's powerful to learn someone's story when they are telling it themselves. I haven't seen another compilation like this, one that focuses on experiences of Black members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in the US, and its something I hope to see again soon. This book was faith-promoting. Thanks to all who took the time to share their stories. Through sharing our stories we can better become one.

[Emily Pope · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there’s anything this book (and it’s authors) taught me, it’s that I don’t have to comprehend or relate to people’s painful experiences with racism or discrimination to validate them. That isn’t my job. My job is to be there to listen to people’s stories, whether they be difficult or easy, and let them be what they truly are. It’s not my place to try to justify, or try to defend or to make sense of it. I need to let people’s experiences just be and not try to belittle or invalidate. I also learned that I need to self reflect and see where I can be more loving and inclusive to those who may feel alienated or alone because of their race or ethnicity. If I am to call myself a disciple of Christ, then I need to learn how I can better unite, not divide.

[MykeWeber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most important books I’ve read in recent times! I have always felt a love and kinship with my fellow Latter-day Saints of African American descent. This, even though I have known only a few personally. As a boy I had a dream that assured me of their value as children of of God just like me. Consequently, I struggled mightily when I discovered that they weren’t given all of the blessings that were readily available to me.

I wept tears of joy in 1978, when those blessings were extended to all of God’s children on the earth.

Until I read this book I had only a small notion of what all that meant to them in their own lives. This collection of stories and testimony has confirmed what I have known since that dream. On top of that though, was the power of the individual faith of those who, in this book, shared with all of us, not only what they’ve suffered, but how they’ve triumphed through their very personal connections with Jesus Christ.

I hold this as holy inspired scripture, for the faith of these wonderful people has enriched, informed and strengthen my faith far beyond what I thought I needed. I express my deepest gratitude for their candor, humility and Christ-like lives. I am forever changed by their wonderful examples! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this collection of testimonies by African American Latter-day Saints to be extremely moving. Many of the contributors write frankly and fearlessly about their experiences as Black Saints dealing with the racism of fellow Church members. Some also write about how they’ve managed to maintain their faith after facing hostility from people who should have been their brothers and sisters in the “household of faith.” These are not easy stories to read, and I imagine they were not easy stories to write. I’m glad they are now publicly available. They are testimonies we need to hear.

I know there are people who would rather not talk about past and present racism in the Church, which is why I applaud Deseret Book for publishing this collection. I hope it sparks hard conversations and mighty changes of heart.

[Carissa Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was vital to me. I have had a year full of tears as I’ve tried to make sense of some things I hate about a religion I love. Hence, the reason why I picked up this book.

This book is a compilation of a group of Black Member’s of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints stories of how they found this Church, why they joined, their painful experiences with racism and the reasons why they’ve stayed. I’m just so grateful for these people! I’m so humbled by their examples! A priceless perspective on a hard topic!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose this book in honor of Black History Month. It’s a compilation of personal essays and poetry of African American Saints of all ages, from the 19th century until present day. Their writings touched on race, identity, prejudice, faith, testimony, conversion, and their personal experiences with God. I was inspired and expanded by their stories and faith. I especially loved part 2 on “Following Where The Holy Spirit Leads.” I initially listened to this on audiobook (which was really well done), but halfway through I knew I needed to own the book because their experiences with God were so powerful (plus the book has pictures of each writer). This book educated and moved me, and I highly recommend it.

-Hearing the story of Joseph Smith for the first time: “Time seemed to stand still and all creation become reverent so that I could hear with my whole soul…I could not speak. My soul seemed to leave my body because my heart learned what it felt all along was true. My body felt a rich, gentle heat that consumed me with love and pure understanding. My ears grew warm and my mind was experiencing the vision with Joseph! I went into another world of pure joy as God answered the longing of my heart.” -Rodric Anthony Johnson

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an interesting and insightful collection of essays from Black members of the Church, sharing their experiences of conversion and the struggles they faced with racism within the Church. It was really eye-opening and well done. The narratives in this book have the power to foster a deeper sense of compassion and understanding among readers.

I have two main criticisms. First, I would have preferred the content to be presented in chronological order, starting with the early Black members of the Church and progressing to modern experiences. The essays' jumping around between different time periods was a bit confusing at times. Additionally, it would have been better to have fewer longer and more in-depth essays. Otherwise, it was a great book and definitely worth reading.

[NaDell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning from these essays from Black Americans who are also Latter-day Saints.
Like everyone else, they have trials to overcome and faith to believe.
Unlike everyone, they don't always get the support, friend-shipping, and grace allowed to others.
We can all do better to more fully understand everyone around us and do our part to help them feel loved, included, and cherished as the children of God they are.

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is filled with essays dating from the 19th century to the present. Contributors are from all walks of life and age groups. I loved the insights that were shared of faith and trials by black American Latter-day Saints.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me a lot to think about. It also fed my soul in interesting ways, to read about people who have faith under trying circumstances; people who felt called to God in many different ways; I also enjoyed and was enlightened by the poetry Burch shared throughout the book. Because I forget what I read so fast, I am sure I could continually reread this and enjoy it over and over.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly inspirational, and well-worth the read.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This should be required reading for all white Latter-day Saints; we can’t root out racism in the church if we’re not aware of its prevalence and effects and the different forms it takes. For every one of these Black church members who testifies of why they have stayed in the church, I’m sure there are dozens who have left because they have not felt wanted or equal. It’s heartbreaking to think about and must not always be so. There is plenty that is inspiring here, to be sure. But there is also a lot of pain expressed—pain inflicted by bigoted white fellow church members.

[Kevin Folkman · Rating 5 out of 5]

What does it mean to be a Black member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? From 1852 to 1978, Black male members were banned from holding the priesthood for males, and both males and females were denied the ordinances of the temple. Lingering folklore and clumsy explanations for the ban have persisted beyond the ban’s end by revelation in1978. Rules on grooming for temple workers have on occasion been interpreted to keep some Black members’ with certain hairstyles from serving as temple workers. All this despite the clear scriptural statement of 2nd Nephi 26:33 that “….he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female…all are alike unto God.”

The experiences of Black LDS members are individual, and not universal. All church member should recognize that anyone’s path to the gospel is unique. For Black members, the added weight of being Black in a predominately white church, at least in the United States, is an extra burden. In the stories shared in “My Lord, He Calls Me,” edited by Alice Faulkner Burch, we see both heartache and hope in the lives of Black saints from the early days of the Restoration up through current times. To this reviewer, many of the saints in these stories have benefited from gifts of grace and personal revelation that have enabled them to persist in a church that was not always welcoming.

Burch relies on her subjects’ own words to tell their stories in this collection. Many of their stories are raw confessions of the pain and discrimination suffered at the hands of fellow church members, sometimes overt, and sometimes out of ignorance. Marie Graves, a Black women who was active in her Oakland, California ward until her death in 1930, wrote of a visit with friends to Atlanta, and attending an LDS branch there. As she writes, “I found the right church, but the wrong people.” She and her friends cautiously sat in the back of the all-white congregation. At length, the conference president asked to speak with her and her friends, explaining that they were making the other members there uncomfortable, and finally asking them to leave. She writes “Had I known we would have been treated like that I never would have tried to have gone to church there. I felt so much worse by my friends being with me and seeing how mean they acted.” [p150]

An anonymous writer shares the story of how her parents hid from her the fact that she had a different father than her siblings, a Black man. This duplicity continued well after the 1978 revelation reversing the temple/priesthood ban. As a result, she grew up through adolescence and young adult years confused at the reaction of schoolmates and friends who questioned her racial identity. Her stake president, also her family’s physician, tested her for sickle-cell anemia, common among Black Americans, while withholding the truth about her biracial identity. When her stake was encouraged to donate DNA samples for a BYU research project, her mother contacted the study’s leader and asked him to withhold her daughter’s results. When she finally learned the truth of her heritage at age 43, she explains how she reacted:
“After being hurt through exclusion from ordinances and collusion to maintain lies, why do I continue to be a part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Because I follow the Christ, not man. Because I desire the blessings promised by Jesus. I seek truth confirmed by the Spirit. I knock to obtain testimony strengthened through Christ’s tender mercies…the Lord still reaches out to me to pull me up. [p134]

One of the most enjoyable chapters for this reviewer described the experience of two adopted Black teens in a white family in predominately white community in Utah. Their adoptive mother, feeling she lacked some of the context she needed to meet the needs of these two girls, took them on a five thousand mile road trip, with visits to the girls’ Black grandmother, the home of Medgar Evers, and Ruby Bridges school in Louisiana. They talked about Emmett Till while crossing Mississippi, and read the New Testament to learn more about Christ and his mission. As the girls recall, it was their “find-our-roots-and-Jesus road trip.” Like other stories in this collection, their story explains how despite challenges they have found sufficient faith and strength to remain in a church that sometimes does not feel welcoming.
One author writes about the problems with the lack of diversity among church leadership, saying “It is important that I, my children, and my grandchildren see people like us in those leading the church.” [p41] Another writes about people who have said to her “I don’t see color.” As she relates it, this attempt to be colorblind about her racial background ignores the totality of her experience as a person who has always been defined first as Black.
Jane Manning James’s story tells of converting to the church, walking from New York to Nauvoo in the winter, and finally finding shelter and a sense of belonging in the home of Joseph Smith, traveling West to Utah, and staying in the church despite never being able to fully enjoy the blessings of saving temple ordinances.
“My Lord, He Calls Me” has something for all church members. The challenge for us as members in the Lord’s church is to recognize both the unity and cohesion of being fellow-saints in the Kingdom, while also respecting and recognizing the individuality and eternal nature of others and their unique life experiences. We have come a long way towards truly seeing all our brothers and sisters the same way that our Father in Heaven sees us. Burch’s book may be about our Black brothers and sisters heeding the call of the Lord, but it’s also a call to the rest of us is to hear and listen to what our Black brothers and sisters are telling us about their experiences.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so grateful that this book was written and the people who shared their experiences and testimonies. I first learned of this book from one of my friends who is one who shares his story in this book.
I loved that the author shared past and present stories and a diverse age and experiences. Would love to have more books like this written and shared so we can all learn from each other and have more compassion with one another.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading the individual stories in this book! I finished it in 2 days, but it’s a book that you could pick up and read 1 essay at a time if you only have short intervals of time to read. Each essay felt so genuine and from the heart.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

To say that My Lord, He Calls Me: Stories of Faith by Black American Latter-day Saints, ed. Alice Faulkner Burch (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 2022) is an important collection would be an understatement.

While small (clocking in at 225 pages), the volume contains around 35 chapters written by Black American Latter-day Saints, including conversion stories, testimonies, and other experiences and thoughts. The contributors cover a range of ages and time periods, including the words of 19th century Latter-day Saints–like Jane Elizabeth Manning James or Samuel Davidson Chambers–to contemporary teenagers in the Church. In addition, several poems are also included that are quite powerful and touching.

The book was compiled with several reasons in mind. As explained in the introduction: “It is meant to strengthen and aid the Black American Latter-day Saint community as well as educate other members of the Church who want to better understand the experiences of Black American Latter-day Saints…. Ultimately, the hope of this book is to help all Church members become united through better understanding or another.”

As part of opening a view into the experiences of Black American Latter-day Saints, the book does not shy away from discussing racism. The intro begins by noting that the experiences shared in the book “offer sacred truths in maintaining faith while overcoming challenges, including racism,” among other things. Individuals share experiences where they have experienced racism. For example, Hayle and Millie Fletcher write that: “Since days we get tired. People touch our hair, ask us if we play basketball, and assume that our birth moms were on drugs. We have heard and been called the N-word more times than we can count, and our family has experienced racism in many ways.” Along with recounting these types of experiences, however, the authors also talk about their relationships with God and how they have remained faithful disciples even though those things have happened.

The book was meaningful for me for a number of reasons:

As an armchair historian, I appreciate that the book gathers and makes accessible the words of people who aren’t heard from as often. It provides a glimpse into the world of members of the Church throughout its history in the United States, including the Church in the 21st century.
As a disciple of Jesus the Christ, I was touched, uplifted, and strengthened by the experiences, testimonies, and insights that were shared.
As someone who strives to follow the words of the prophets, including teachings from Gordon B. Hinckley, Dallin H. Oaks, and Russell M. Nelson about ridding ourselves of racism and prejudice, it helped me better see and understand what that racism looks like and how it is experienced by marginalized individuals in the Church.

For all of the above reasons, I highly recommend picking up a copy and reading My Lord, He Calls Me: Stories of Faith by Black American Latter-day Saints, ed. Alice Faulkner Burch (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 2022).

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a collection of many different life stories from black, American Latter-day Saints. It included selections from the words and diaries of some of the few black LDSs that we know about. I'm completely on board with hearing more of black Latter-day Saint voices. I've personally done a lot of research on black people and Mormonism and a few early black pioneers. But this book disappointed me. While I expected passionate stories of conversion, hurt, or fellowship, many of the profiles were faithful members recounting their life history. Personal histories are important, don't get me wrong. But they're often full of general sum-ups instead of the bright and dark moments I look for in a memoir. Maybe if there had been fewer, but longer profiles, I could have gotten to know some of these interesting people a bit better. A few of the profiles did a great job with telling a compelling story in a small space, but it is a weird and difficult genre. I enjoyed Diary of Two Mad Black Mormons: Finding the Lord's Lessons in Everyday Life more for the views of two black women on racism in the church and various takes on universal as well as cultural issues.

I appreciated Abigail Hansen's honesty, as well as the way she fit in multiple salient details in a small space. She writes, "It was always hurtful to see the White girls and boys in my graduating seminary class ask each other out all the time, while I was not just ignored but treated as though I was invisible or didn't exist" (159). She concludes candidly: "Something I often say is, 'I love the Church and I love the gospel but sometimes I hate Church members.' If it weren't for my knowledge and my testimony, I wouldn't be in the Church, quite honestly. I don't blame those Black men and women that leave the Church. Is that sad? Yes. But there are many ways it can be traumatic to be a Black member. But I think it speaks to the power of the testifying Spirit and the enduring truth of the gospel that I and other Black people stay in the Church despite often being made to feel we are less than" (161).

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Each chapter is a different person's story, testimony, experience regarding being a black faithful Christian, specifically within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There were a few chapters that the reader can tell the author of that chapter is in a somewhat 'victim' mentality, and follows today's cultural take on being black in an systematically racist society. Other chapters the reader can tell the author of that chapter takes more the view that it's THEIR choice how they see life, that they will not allow others to tell them they are 'victims', and that regardless of how some others may or may not see them, they will define their own lives, and they forge ahead in success. Then the rest of the chapters are somewhere in between those. Some people are so old, they died in the last two generations, so we hear the reading of their journals. Other people are so young, they are 13 or 14 yrs old and share their own stories.

Over all, it is a good read and offers insight into these particular people's views of the world around them. It helped me reconsider my own views and experiences - being a minority white in a Latin culture and the experiences that brought with it.

We can all learn from each other and work toward accepting other's views as something we don't need to fight against, but at least acknowledge and learn to live with in peace and neighborliness. I think the idea of this is waning in today's society, and this book helps the reader (if the reader so chooses,) to ponder on these things and how to be a better neighbor.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was eager to read this book and to hear the stories of black saints and to learn more about a group that you don't know much about. Instead, the book seems to be a correction for non black individuals. The book specifically says that if you know one black person you don't know them all, but then goes on to share experiences that try to give you tunnel vision of what someone who is black and in the church has gone through. I couldn't finish the book. It felt more like a finger wag that a history. I'm never a fan of a book that speaks on behalf on a people. I know plenty of people from different cultures, countries, backgrounds, and I don't know any group who loves to be painted with a broad brush. I know some people who are black who really honor and hold their heritage in their culture, I know some black people who just feel like being black is like being blonde... A physical attribute. I know people who are black who are Latin and see themselves as Latin, and not American culturally black. I see this with Asians, Polynesians, latins, whites. I guess what I'm saying, is I'm sad because I was excited to learn about history and experiences and a group of things we don't normally hear from in the past... But instead the book felt divisive and passed over the eternal truth that we're all children of God.

[Anna Larson · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Sometimes we learn the most on the unlit roads, the lonely stretches of travel, and the journeys that dip into the past but guide us into the future. We pray that people will learn that diversity is good, that racism is an awful sin, that Jesus loves us all because we are part of His beautiful family, and that we are all created in His image with great purpose. We can find Him anywhere in this world if we just take the time to look.” -Hayley and Millie Fletcher

This is a beautiful compilation of inspiring and empowering testimonies and stories. I didn’t want the book to end because I was just so filled with goodness and the faith of these wonderful souls. This is a wonderful way to reflect in yourself on how you can better be one with everyone and come closer to our Savior.

“It is written that the Light of Jesus is in all things and through all things (see Doctrine and Covenants 88:6). That includes me. He is in and through my Blackness” -Lita Little Giddins

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of narratives, with some poetry and one short play, by Black American Latter-day Saints, ranging from the earliest days of the Church in the 1830s to 2021. This book could be an inspiring source of stories for Black potential or current Latter-day Saints as well as a qualitative collection for people interested in the Black experience in the Church. The heartbreaking aspect of the book, for me, is how often Black Latter-day Saints were and are treated as "other" and "less than" by white members, even in the days since the 1978 priesthood revelation and continuing until today. Many of us have repenting to do and love to grow in overcoming the racist culture that permeates so much of the United States and so many of our hearts. That these faithful Saints stick with the Church, despite the flaws of its members, is a testimony of their strength and of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is everything you hope, want, and need it to be. A fabulous collection of personal interviews, poems, and essays by, for, from, and on behalf of black american saints. I loved it oh so very much and am so grateful it was published. As a seminary principal I was frequently thinking of how I might get more people to read this. Sadly, I'm a little pessimistic, I could hear people potentially reading the title and passing it over thinking, 'Do we really need that? Can't we just all have stories of faith?" But, hopefully my little review and others' recommendations will help this good book reach more. It is more than a collection of faithful stories.

[Paul Stout · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soooooo good! This collection of personal experiences from Black members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is powerful, compelling, instructive, and historically informative. I've read dozens of books about racism and horrific experiences suffered by people of color, but none touched me like this did -- on a spiritual level. This should be required reading for members, especially those in leadership positions.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best church books I have read. I learned a lot about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The book is full of joy and humor. However, the tears of joy soon turn to tears of sadness and frustration. With the Church growing so rapidly in Africa, I liked that this book focuses on the experiences and history of Black American Latter-day Saints. Currently, all is not well in Zion until EVERYONE feels welcome in the Lord's Kingdom. We can do better.

[Lauren Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories of these humans is incredible. I understand the purpose of the book and that it is distributed by Deseret Book, but it would have been nice and a more balanced look at the history of black saints, if it had included some stories of black saints that chose to leave the church because of the atrocious policy. I think there is value in those saint’s stories also.

[Sariah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading conversion stories. I appreciated reading a collection of Black stories. I was sorry, not surprised, to hear of some racist interactions. I was inspired to hear how these Black members of the Church prioritized their relationship to God over the failings of other humans. Overall, an interesting read.

[Lindsey Echo Hawk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It is powerful, humbling, eye opening, and inspiring. I appreciate the candidness in which it addressed racist and harmful attitudes in church members and policies while highlighting the positives of the gospel of Jesus Christ

[Anne Pimentel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every member needs to read this wonderful book. I was strengthened by reading the experiences of our Black brothers and sisters. We will be better united as we understand and acknowledge the experiences of others.

[Edy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In order to celebrate Juneteenth in my own way, I wanted to read some church literature about Black members of the church. This fit the bill. It is a wonderful book. It is the account of Black members of the church, their experiences, and their testimonies. Highly recommend this book.