Keep in mind there were over 10,000.00 members of the black panther movement during its hight point.

I'm not sure what the significance is of Ronald McClain being a black panther member?

My father, who is white, was asked to be a member when he was a student in San Jose. So what is the big deal about this man being in the black panther movement??

I think its signifigant showing where he has come from. I'm sure there were many peaceful members of the Black Panthers, but it is seen as a militant group.

I was very touched to read that this man is now a sealer- How WONDERFUL!

The big deal is that the Mormon church is and was regarded as being a racist cult. They have done much to reshape their image in the last 30 years, i.e. 1979 "revelation." He married this woman exactly 3 years after the church formally allowed blacks into the priesthood. For someone who has a history with the black panther history to join the LDS church is mind-blowing. Hence the mention of his affiliation with the movement.

I have to agree with Georgia. Many thousands (over 40,000 in the 70's) of people were members of the black panther party.

The black panther party organized and funded drug rehabilitation facilities, scholarships and various outreach programs.

I don't think anybody today would characterize the black panther party as "militant". However, at the time, there were certain segments of society that viewed a well organized black organization as a threat.

Diamondladi, why do you feel "it is seen as a militant group"? That is not only inaccurate, but embarrassing to people who know their black history.

The title may be partly because in Utah people have an image of the Black Panthers as an extreme group. On the other hand I do not think Utah is alone in that view. I am not 100% sure of all they stood for, but I do know they were more extreme than the NAACP, Martin Luther King and most African-Americans of the time.

if you meant 10,000 black panthers, than compared to over 30,000,000 African Americans this is a very small number.

After actually reading the article I think it is extremely well written. I do not know more about the Black Panthers, but I think not discussing them was wise on Mr. Walsh's part. Incidentally, I think Mr. Walsh may be a cousin of mine, since he spells his name the way my great-great grandmother did and that is a fairly uncommon way of spelling it.

I am not sure if it is a good thing that the article did not directly address the fact that Sister McClain is white. On one hand I am encoraged that we have moved to a point where interratial marriage is accepted without discussion. On the other I wonder if we are hiding from an issue. However I think the former is more true than the latter, and with the photo, it is not like we are hiding anything.

I like this series on members of African descent a lot. Keep up the good work.

Great article. I grew up in Utah but have lived throughout the United States and the World. I make an effort to try to welcome African Americans when I see them at church.

When I was stationed in South Korea, an African American Soldier (Female) was baptized. She was very excited about the church and her new friends. When she went home on Leave to North Carolina, she brought her family to a church in her hometown. Unfortunately, she and her family did not feel welcomed there and she came back depressed about the ordeal. It took a lot of work to get here to come back to church. I have lost contact with her but hope she feels welcomed wherever she is.

I've studied the history of Black Panther activities in the Bay Area in the 60s, and sorry, they WERE a radical group. The drug rehab activities, etc. were nice, but they were simply whitewash.

There are few gospel stories that make me happier than these. I am so grateful for that revelation. While I am not black, I served a mission in Haiti and had a wonderful time there. I am so grateful for our black brothers and sisters and their examples of courage and faith despite the challenges they have faced dealing with lingering prejudices.

The Black Panthers used the drug rehab and the other things were a front for their illegal activites. Today's generation should watch History Channel for programs devoted to their violent and illegal past and how many of them are still in prison. The group started out as a way to help, but ended up as a violent gang.

Labels are so misleading.

Black Panthers? White Black Panthers – wouldn’t that be Grey Panthers?

If an “African American” moved to Africa would he be an African American African? If he later moved back would he be an African American African American? How many generations does it take to just be an American?

If I (a white native-born American) moved to Germany would I be an American German or an American European? Because of my German ancestry am I a German American or a European American? Moving across the pond would I be called a German American European or a Euromerican European? But wait – my father was of English and Norwegian descent, so I guess I am a German English Norwegian American? Or maybe on the continent I would be a Euromericopean?

Where is the logic in these labels? All they do is divide people into groups that (we are told) need to be protected. Divide and conquer is happening all around us. People, wake up.

Like Diamondladi, I was also touched to read of his calling as a Temple Sealer. Bro McClain has lived an exemplary life and made some wise comments about nature of people's actions/attitudes in and out of the work force and the commitment and knowledge required to be a christian latter-day saint. His quote from Pres Hinckley is right on the mark; Pres Hinckley spoke for the Lord when he was at the pulpit and if we don't agree with those loving words then we have personal change and work to do or we're just fooling ourselves. I appreciate he and his families willingness to be interviewed for this article. May God continue to bless them.

Eldridge Cleaver was a prominent leader in the Black Panthers who also joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As a teenager he was involved in petty crime and convicted of assault with intent to murder in 1957. In 1966 he was released from prison and joined the Oakland-based Black Panther Party. In ran for president in 1968, the same year he was injured in a confrontation with Oakland Police. Charged with attempted murder he fled to Algeria and later spent time in Cuba. In his book, Soul on Fire, he admits receiving money from Communist Vietnam, organized a stolen car ring to fund his revolutionary proteges, raped women, beat his wife and used crack cocaine. While in hiding he began to change his life. He returned to the US in 1975 and while in prison studied religion. He eventually joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints prior to his death from prostate cancer in 1998. Jesus the Savior can save anyone.

I applaud Brother McClain and his efforts to both live the gospel and bring understanding between people. His comments, in my opinion, make it clear why it took so long for all worthy men to receive the priesthood; we white members of the church were not ready and unwilling to accept them as our brothers. Thirty years after this momentous revelation and step forward, there are those who still are unwilling to put aside prejudices and simply accept others as sons and daughters of the same Father.

My father died almost two years ago and, to the end, insisted upon calling minorities by unflattering terms, even when I asked him not to. (At lease his prejudices were not confined to any specific group or race.) How I wish that similar attitudes and practices had died with him.

We had a lovely, talented black sister who lived in our ward who spoke about an unpleasant experience in one of the temples in which some idiot told her she didn't belong there. How grateful I was to hear that other worthy men had come to her defense.

David Horowitz was a big leftist when he was young and was a Black Panther. He was involved in running a school that they were funding, but he left the organization and ended up becoming a conservative when they killed a woman he worked with at the school. The leaders incorrectly suspected her of some infraction and murdered her. The organization did some good things but were also extremely violent and law-breaking.

Kudos to this good man for the changes he made in his life. He sounds like a fantastic guy with a great family.

I am always thrilled when I see people of different ethnic backgrounds at Church. In my mind's eye, I've always pictured a great big table with the Lord at the head and a lot of empty chairs. The Savior wants us all at the table. When those chairs are filled by wonderful people of various colors and stripes, we should all rejoice and welcome them with open arms as the Savior does.

Very nice story. Just recently in October 2007, we in The Church of Jesus Christ [WHQ: Monongahela, Pennsylvania] ordained an African-American to the Quorum of 12 Apostles. He is the 2nd African-American to be ordained as an Apostle in the history of our church. He's also a former USMC and a Vietnam Veteran.

Brother McClain - your story is an inspiration to us all. Thank you for your example of faithful service and your Christ-like attitude to those who sometimes fall short.

Why were the Black Panthers considered a militant group?

I'm going out on a limb here, but it may have had something to do with their walking the streets with loaded shotguns.

How many of these former Black Panthers, Communists, NeoNazis, and whatever else who have joined the LDS Church have carried out restitution for their crimes? One wonders how sincere a person is in their conversion if they have not properly restored their victims.

Being a Black Panther is not inherently criminal. As far as I can tell you have no evidence that Brother McClain ever broke the law.

On the issue of militantness. "Militant" does not mean violent, it means radical and very committed to the cause in a way that the user of the term feels is negative.

Thus the term militant is very subjective.

John, maybe the term "militant" is subjective, but it's a matter of historical record that a Black Panther motto was "Off the pigs!" -- referring to police officers, of whom they killed more than a dozen, and with whom they engaged in countless shootouts. That's in addition to torturing some of their own members to death for disloyalty, and killing quite a few more in a famous shootout at UCLA over which black nationalist faction was going to get to control UCLA's new black studies program.

Call them "radical," call them bloody-minded thugs, whatever. I'm glad Brother McClain turned away from that mob, whatever you might call them.

To quote Meriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:

"Militant: 1. engaged in warfare or combat

2. agressively active (as in a cause): combative"

This does not sound very subjective to me, although I'm sure not all members were violent or involved in illegal activity, the group as a whole has been historically documented as having been involved in these activities; therefore, it was a militant group.

Thanks for your great example Bro. McClain. It was a touching article about a faithful follower of Christ. I love the verse "He (Christ) inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile." (2 Nephi 26:33 - page 103 of the Book of Mormon)

I would bet that JSC is one of the brothers from California who taught Eldridge Cleaver. I just returned to Idaho this evening after leaving my son at the MTC in Provo today. Last night a group of us from my mission in California San Jose gathered in SLC to reminice. One of the ladies who was there had photos of her former husband and brother-in-law (JSC?) with Cleaver after his baptism. I was again, after all these years moved to tears at the willingness of this man to partake in the atonement as he did. What a marvelous coincidence to return home tonight weary and a bit sad that I won't see my boy for two years only to find this uplifting story of Brothe McClain. What a wonderful blessing the gospel is!

To answer why the Black Panther Party was considered militant (the person who wrote this must be too young to remember the 60s) they called for the overthrow of the U S government. They taught people how to make homemade bombs to put under police cars (that's just one thing they did). There was no doubt they were a militant group. I read in previuous comments that they had schools etc. (I don't remember that) but remember, Hammas also does good things for people.

As we tread this life we'll find it hard @ times, we might gain respect of others, but that not why why join the church any way.

Race, nationality, creed are what we are about
ours is a cause or a living testimony of our redeemer
i say living because we need to be anxiously engaged in a good cause and striving to live that which we profess to know and believe.

My testimony is one that i try to refine everyday, i know better everyday that Jesus is the Christ the son of My heavenly Father i know that he'll return one day and he'll view his people as black,white or other but he'll see them as those who bound him with a promise that when they'll strive to live their lives by his precepts they'll be joint heirs with him.

My testimony of the church is strong too, i love it
the doctrines of Christ are simple and inviting but like anything worth while very challenging.
This is a church that we get saved after all we can do Joseph Smith stated deep water is what i am wont to swim in
should we be any different?

To Terrence
Amen, brother. Your testimony moved me to tears.