Can you be of African descent and become a mormon?

Answer 1

Yes. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called the "Mormon" church) has always welcomed those of African descent and extended membership to all races. In fact, this is one of the reasons they faced such extreme persecution and were eventually ordered out of Missouri by an Extermination Order. In the 1800's, Mormons were anti-slavery and welcomed black members into their congregations. In the early church, all races worshipped together and were treated as equals, which caused a campaign to drive the Mormons out, as well as to claim that Mormons were a different race and to deny immigrant Mormons citizenship. (here is an interesting article addressing that time)

In 1852, Mormons stopped ordaining black members of African descent. The exact reason is unknown - perhaps to appeal more to the white Protestant majority, perhaps due to racist leadership, or perhaps due to scriptural interpretation. Blacks could still be members of the church and still worshipped together with whites, but they could not hold positions of authority. (read a discussion about race and the Mormon priesthood here.)

The policy barring black men from priesthood ordination was repealed in 1978, and since that time hundreds of thousands of black / African men have been ordained. There are now black African General Authorities (international church leaders) as well as bishops, priests, missionaries, etc. The Church is now self-sufficient in Africa and has seen tremendous growth there. (see a news story about the growth of Mormonism in Africa here.) In 2015 and 2016, the Church was the major sponsor of the Freedman's Bureau Project, digitizing and indexing records of freed slaves so that African Americans can research their family history.

Answer 2

yes