Episode 661: Dr Jacob Rugh, Dr Michael Wood, Grace Soelberg; New BYU Research On Black LDS.

My friends Jacob Rugh, Michael Wood and Grace Soelberg (all from the Department of Sociology at BYU) join us to talk about their new peer-reviewed and scholarly published research to better understanding the experience of Black Latter-day Saints. The research article is called “Making Space Behind the Veil: Black Agency within a Predominantly White Religion” in the Journal of Scientific Study of Religion (see show notes to access the article). In the podcast Jacob, Michael and Grace give powerful insights and examples to better understand the experience of Black Latter-day Saints—including the concept of W.E.B. Du Bois’s concept of ‘twoness.’ They also talk about why they embarked on this groundbreaking research effort and their hopes on how the findings can help improve the experience and better value the contributions of Black Latter-day Saints. I was so moved listening to these three authors. The principles and insights help me new tools and perspectives to help better create Zion, see and address racism within myself, and the work we still need to do in our community. I encourage everyone to listen to his episode and check out their research. Thank you, Jacob, Michael, and Grace, for your needed voice in our community! Links: Article in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jssr.12854