Black people and early Mormonism

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Black people and the Latter Day Saint movement
Overview articles Black people and Mormonism Black people and early Mormonism History of African Americans in Utah Black Mormons Genesis Group LDS temple and priesthood policies 1978 Revelation on Priesthood
Historical teachings Mormon teachings on skin color Curses of Cain and Ham Mormonism and slavery History of slavery in Utah Act in Relation to Service Joseph Smith's views Premortal life Patriarchal blessings Civil rights and Mormonism Segregation Interracial marriage Lynching of Thomas Coleman
Living people Michelle Amos Thurl Bailey Alex Boyé Alan Cherry Brandon Davies Joseph Freeman Darius Gray Keith N. Hamilton Alvin B. Jackson Frank Jackson Peter M. Johnson JTM Bryan Kehl Gladys Knight Mia Love Burgess Owens Mark Paredes Jabari Parker Marvin Perkins Darron Smith Catherine Stokes Shaquille Walker Winston Wilkinson Jamal Willis
Deceased people Elijah Abel Joseph T. Ball Amanda and Samuel Chambers Eldridge Cleaver Gobo Fango Green Flake Mary Lee Pugh Hope Jane Manning James Peter Kerr Walker Lewis William McCary
Category Pan-Africanism
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Early Mormonism had a range of doctrines related to race with regards to Black people of African descent. References to Black people, their social condition during the 19th and 20th centuries, and their spiritual place in Western Christianity as well as in Mormon scripture were complicated.^{[citation needed]}

From the beginning, Black people have been members of Mormon congregations and Mormon congregations have always been interracial. When the Mormons migrated to Missouri, they encountered the pro-slavery sentiments of their neighbors. Joseph Smith upheld the laws regarding Black enslavement, and affirmed the curse of Ham as placing his descendants into slavery, "to the shame and confusion of all who have cried out against the South."^[1][2] After the Mormons were expelled from Missouri, Smith took an increasingly strong anti-slavery position, and several Black men were ordained to the LDS priesthood.^[3]