Darius Gray is an
African-American Latter-day Saint speaker and writer.
Gray was born in
Colorado Springs,
Colorado. He joined
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in 1964. He attended
Brigham Young University for one year and then transferred to the
University of Utah. 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 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, blacks in the
Bible and
blacks in the LDS Church. He had also written a trilogy of historical novels ("Standing on the Promises") with
Margaret Blair Young
Margaret Blair Young (born 1955) is an American author, filmmaker, and writing instructor who taught for thirty years at Brigham Young University.
Biography
Young's published work includes the novels ''House Without Walls'' (1991), ''Salvador' ...
, and co-produced/directed a documentary with Young as well
"Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons."Utah's
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
honored him with its Martin Luther King Jr. award in 2008, and the Iota Iota chapter of
Omega Psi Phi
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African-American fraternity. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, by three Howard University juniors Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty advi ...
fraternity honored him as "Citizen of the Year" in 2011.
Gray has traveled throughout the
United States to make presentations. In 2007, he appeared in the
PBS documentary ''
The Mormons''. In February 2008, he made an invitation-only presentation at the
Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in
Detroit 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 for contributions to Mormon history.
See also
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References
External links
Darius Grayat 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