“I wrote my BYU theatre and media arts master’s thesis about my performances in theatre and how the church progressed spiritually and temporarily in Jane [Manning James]’s day. As a part of my research, I discovered that in 1839, within four years of pioneer immigrants arriving in the great city of Nauvoo, Joseph Smith ran for the US presidential office and conducted a political campaign to protect the civil rights of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a minority people. He also spoke out for the rights of the black minority, some of whom were members of the church. The platform was essentially a secular declaration that, among other topics, condemned slavery, and the poor treatment of blacks…

“Joseph stated: ‘God hath made of one blood all the nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth’…

[Thus} The precipitating event of Joseph’s murder came about a month after his views on slavery were published in the Times and Seasons newspaper.”

-Fiona Smith

The full source of this quote can be found in the book,  It Will All Be Worth It, published by Cedar Fort in 2024.