Darius Gray is an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

Latter-day Saint Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

speaker and writer. Gray was born in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. He joined

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

(LDS Church) in 1964. He attended

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

for one year and then transferred to the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. Gray worked for a time as a journalist.

LDS Church service

Gray was a counselor in the presidency of the LDS Church's

Genesis Group The Genesis Group is an auxiliary organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church) for African-American members and their families. History LDS Church leaders Thomas Monson, Gordon B. Hinckley, and Boyd K. Packer estab ...

when it was formed in 1971. He was president of the group from 1997 to 2003. Gray was also the co-director (with Marie Taylor) of the Freedmens Bank Records project for the church's Family History Department. He is a speaker on African-American

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

, blacks in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

and blacks in the LDS Church. He had also written a trilogy of historical novels ("Standing on the Promises") with Margaret Blair Young, and co-produced/directed a documentary with Young as well
"Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons."
Utah's NAACP honored him with its Martin Luther King Jr. award in 2008, and the Iota Iota chapter of Omega Psi Phi fraternity honored him as "Citizen of the Year" in 2011. Gray has traveled throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

to make presentations. In 2007, he appeared in the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

documentary '' The Mormons''. In February 2008, he made an invitation-only presentation at the

Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, or The Wright, is located in Detroit, Michigan in the U.S.; inside the city's Midtown Cultural Center is one of the world's oldest independent African American museums. Founded in 1965 ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

that was partly sponsored by New Detroit. He is also featured in the BYU Television series ''Questions and Ancestors''. Gray has also served as a developer of the website blacklds.org and on the advisory board of Reach the Children, a humanitarian organization designed to help people in Africa. Gray was among those involved in Developing the "Race and the Priesthood" essay published on the website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in December 2013. In 2014 Gray was given a special citation by the

Mormon History Association The Mormon History Association (MHA) is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the study and understanding of all aspects of Mormon history to promote understanding, scholarly research, and publication in the field. MHA was founded i ...

for contributions to Mormon history.

References

External links

Darius Gray
at FairMormon.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Darius 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century American historians American male non-fiction writers Academics from Colorado African-American Latter Day Saints African-American historians African-American religious leaders American Latter Day Saint writers American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Brigham Young University alumni Converts to Mormonism Genealogy and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Historians of Utah Historians of the Latter Day Saint movement Latter Day Saints from Colorado Latter Day Saints from Utah Living people Mormon studies scholars Mormonism and race University of Utah alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American male writers 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics

LDS Church service

See also

References

External links