REDDING, CA, JUNE 15, 2009: For many people, the words "black" and "Mormon" don't belong in the same sentence, unless in a pejorative manner. Few people, Mormon or non-Mormon, are aware of the African American presence in the LDS Church from its earliest days. Free and slave blacks have been members of the LDS church since the 1830s and, in most cases, worshiped together with white members. The vanguard company of Mormon pioneers, fleeing religious persecution in 1847, included three "colored servants." At least one of those was a baptized Mormon whose descendants remained active in the Church for generations....