Silas 1st African-American to hold position (in Hattiesburg MS)
Hattiesburg American
August 29, 2009
Randall Silas is the new bishop of a Hattiesburg congregation of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints…
…Silas said he hopes his new position will encourage other blacks to
explore the Mormon church, but “I would hope that no one would base
their spiritual …
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20090829/LIFESTYLE/908290329
This is a good article.
I was looking at it over at the Deseret News and noticed some people thought that this was the first African-American bishop in the Church ever.
I am not sure if these people are willfully ignorant, or just unaware of much in the world. I responded by making a comment about Flavio Martins and Joseph Freeman, as well as mentioning the first African-American bishop in Michigan was called in 1991.
I am wondering if there is more than can be done to combat total ignorance?
The headline is somewhat ambiguous about whether Silas was the first black bishop in Hattiesburg or in the Church — this may be the reason people were misinformed.
I am grateful that this Brother, was called of God, to do His, work and service. He like most men that are called of the Lord, must have prayed for someone else to be chosen, and that he would be strong enough for the task. Having lived in Mississippi, I know that he must be a special spirit. In response to Brother Lambert:
I doubt that ignorance, of any kind will be done away with in our life times. It is one of the tools that Lucifer, uses and maintains with the help of millions of people worldwide to stop progression and freedom.
When you mention names like Alan Cherry, who I heard speak as a youth, or listen in the Genisis LDS Group, here in the Bay Area, of Ca. speakers talk of progression of great men and women that have been on their road to Zion’s Camp, to be the future leaders of our church. I am amazed that People do not have ears to hear and eyes to see. God Bless us, to have the strength to do what must be done.
We must remember that there was a seventy who was black in the time of the prophet Joseph Smith. So the first black to hold a high position in the church was that person. Part of the reason that the prophet Joseph Smith was killed was because of this policy of no racial exclusivity. Is it any wonder that the priesthood was withheld from the blacks officially while privately blacks continued to be ordained? It cost the best blood of this milennium. Do you not see that the Church had to be branded racist for it’s own protection when the Church might have been wiped out for advocating freedom for the blacks? So publicly, the Church was racist while privately, it was anything but. Look what happened to Martin Luther King for advocating what Joseph Smith proposed over 130 years before. There were too many evil people in the South to allow blacks having the priesthood officially after Joseph Smith’s death. But privately, those who had the priesthood already kept the priesthood and had it handed down to their sons. The Lord withdrew the priesthood because of wickedness in high places. When enough of those wicked people had died, then the dreams of Joseph Smith and Martin Luther King came true. They watched all of this from the Spirit World rejoicing. The Church was not the last to advocated racial equality. The Church was the first. Martin Luther King is now a leader in the Spirit World, bringing thousands if not millions unto the Savior and His Church and he is good friends with the Prophet Joseph Smith, who is my great-great uncle.