I ran into our good friend, Alex Boyé in Walmart, of all places, with his darling two sons. We had some catching up to do and I was so glad we did. He told me all about a film he is working on called American Prophet—The Urban Musical which tells the story of 5 black pioneers; a fiery preacher, a barber and three former slaves, all of whom convert because of Joseph Smith’s powerful witness of the restoration and his First Vision. I got pretty excited about this in the few minutes we had to talk to each other.
I asked him to tell me a little more about his approach. He said, “Utilizing modern hip-hop, rap and classical contemporary music, the film takes a fresh, exciting look at Joseph Smith’s dynamic message from a different perspective and the movement he started that has grown to a church of seventeen million followers worldwide.”
Alex continued: “The church is more racially and ethnically diverse than ever before and I want to create a body of work that will represent that. “American Prophet” contains universal themes that anybody can relate to, from love, hate, persecution, redemption, and searching for your own place in an often unforgiving and fallen world.”
He said they did a small excerpt from his ideas during the 50th Anniversary Celebration of The Genesis Group, which took place about 19 months ago on October 23, 2021 at the Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. I watched the seven-minute clip and was mesmerized. It reminds me how diverse we really are now, I mean, in The Church of Jesus Christ. We truly are no more strangers and foreigners, but “fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” (See Ephesians 2:19) Watch this video (yes, take the seven-minute break from your schedule) and see how you feel as another culture bears witness of the Prophet Joseph. I love it. Thank you, Alex!
