I will not use the real names of those were involved in this case either as the accusers or as the victim. I will call the victim (which, to me, she is) Maye, which means water in Lingala. I had known Maye, a Black woman (born 1991) for much of her life. Before being placed in foster care, she had lived in a home where sexual abuse was rampant and where gang violence had directly impacted her family.  Her biological... Read more

I met Darius Gray on July 29th, 1998. We started writing our books about black Mormon pioneers later that same year. When we finished the first volume, Darius wrote a touching preface about the racism his son had experienced and why our book mattered so much to him. Our publisher, Deseret Book, had some problem with the preface. They thought that some people (white people) might be offended by it. Darius was away on a family vacation, as I recall,... Read more

This is from the book Darius Aidan Gray and I wrote, The Last Mile of the Way. (more…) Read more

Following is an excerpt from the third book in the trilogy of historical fiction which Darius Gray and I wrote. The title is The Last Mile of the Way. The revised edition has a photo of Len and Mary Hope on its cover. The original edition has a photo of Darius Gray with his parents and sister. This excerpt happens after the baptism of Len Hope, shortly after the end of WWI. (more…) Read more

Pioneer Remembrance Day circa 1886, Willow’s Creek, Idaho Green Flake describes slavery: Bishop Simmons introduced him, and Green took the pulpit. He started slow but then got going and told his tale—what it was like to dig and hack out the trail the later pioneers would follow; what it was like to drive Brigham Young’s wagon and to know Brother Brigham on a personal basis; what it was like to see a grizzly bear lying dead at his feet and... Read more

Enslaved people Elizbeth and Green Flake (ages 5 and 10) were given as wedding gifts to James and Agnes Love Flake. In this segment, Darius Gray and I depicted the moment when Liz was taken from her mother and prepared to become the property of Agnes Love Flake. We know that Green was told that his mother had died. This was not true, but he was told this so that he wouldn’t run off and seek her. This excerpt is... Read more

A short excerpt from The Last Mile of the Way. (more…) Read more

Excerpt from The Last Mile of the Way. Everything in this excerpt is true as well as Darius Aidan Gray could remember it. I include a photo of the book with its original cover, because this is Darius’s family. He is the baby. The setting is Provo, Utah, 1965. I was in fourth grade at Wasatch Elementary School. Darius had no idea what was awaiting him in Provo as he came to study at Brigham Young University. (more…) Read more