Pam Black




Pam Black
On Sept. 7, 1963, 11-year-old Pam Black moved with her mother Julia, three sisters and a brother to Short Creek, now Colorado City, AZ. Trying to fit into the "clannish community," she said, she accepted the "gospel truth" wholeheartedly. At 15, when a boy tried to kiss her in the dark she broke away, turned herself in and confessed the "sin" to a church leader. Her marriage to Martin when she was 17, started with him feeling frustrated and Pam "smiling outside, crying inside." Yet they bowed to the "main goal" of the marriage: "Not to let a year go by without a baby being born." Following the church's teachings, she said her husband had tried to control her and she then tried to control their 13 children. For most of her life Pam said she worried that "the invisible Taliban" would drive her husband away, take her children away and evict the "disobedient" family. As an apostate living on private land about five miles from Hildale, Black said her phone is tapped and the road leading to her home is watched. Black said she wants to show that women have choices. But she said she doesn't want to be known as an anti-polygamist. "I don't want to attack anybody," she said. "I don't like war. I'm a loving, compassionate person." Below are some news articles about this amazing woman. These articles are listed in chronological order.


Struggling with Polygamy
Is the lifestyle an ongoing commandment from God or a religious excuse for abuse?
By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Sunday, May 4, 2003
HILDALE -- Pam Black had prayed for a "sister wife." It took at least three wives for a man to ascend to heaven. And only obedient, "virtuous" women could make it happen, or so she was told. Yet after 35 years of marriage, she remained Martin's only wife and bore 14 children in 22 years. "I was angry at God and things: Would you please give us this blessing?" recalled Pam, 51, who has broken ranks with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. "I wanted it because I honestly thought that was the only way to get to God." She sat upright in a green chair, bursting into tears. Five years have passed since she became an apostate in Hildale, but 46 years of polygamous teaching still weigh heavily on her. It was a starlit evening, and the air was cold near Squirrel Canyon. Black's mother, Julia Thomas, heated the one-bedroom house with an old wood-burning stove. Across the flue, Martin Black watched his wife denouncing polygamy under a framed painting of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The FLDS church also traces its roots to Smith. "I hated polygamy," Pam said. "I hated it. But I did not dare to tell anybody I hated it because I was afraid they would kick me out and (I would) go to hell. I did hate what I saw my sisters go through. I saw only abuse in polygamy." Read more


Persecution, prosecution
By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Monday, May 5, 2003
About 20 months ago, Pam Black gradually started her transformation. She stored away her long dresses, put on makeup and went to see a hairdresser. When her waist-long hair was falling, she cried. "I was scared to pieces," she recalled. "That's a lot of programming behind a woman's hair. You just don't cut your hair here." In a community dominated by the fear of God and authorities, Pam said, the family's first step toward becoming apostate was filled with apprehension and isolation. "If I leave, then I (am) considered a son of perdition, then I'll suffer the second death, which is the spiritual death," Martin said. "I'm not afraid of death, so I don't believe that anymore." Though a proud grandmother, Pam said her seven grandchildren born in a polygamous marriage have been told she was "an outcast." Her three young children, who attend the Colorado City Unified District, have been labeled as "inferior" to FLDS children, she said. Read more


Hildale woman holds Q&A session on polygamy
Black speaks in Kingman, Ariz., awaits court case
By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published May 15, 2003
Kingman, Ariz. -- Pam Black, who has broken ranks with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, talked about her 46-year struggle with polygamy Wednesday evening at the Powerhouse, located along Route 66 in Kingman's historic district. "I think I'm a living miracle," Black told half a dozen people who attended the hastily called meeting sponsored by Help the Child Brides, an anti-polygamy advocacy group. "I have no fear. It's worse than death already." Following the church's teachings, she said, her husband had tried to control her and she then tried to control their 13 children. As an apostate living on private land about five miles from Hildale, Black said her phone is tapped and the road leading to her home is watched. "It's the fear that keeps us confined," she said. Read more


Polygamy dominates life in small towns
Breakaway sect continues illegal practice in Utah, Arizona communities
By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published May 20, 2003
HILDALE, Utah -- Pam Black had prayed for a "sister wife." A man needed at least three wives before he could ascend to heaven, and only obedient, "virtuous" women would make it happen for him, she believed. Yet after 35 years of marriage, she remained Martin Black's only wife. "I was angry at God," recalled Pam Black, 51, who has broken ranks with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. "I wanted it because I honestly thought that was the only way to get to God." Five years have passed since she became an apostate, but 46 years of polygamous teaching still weigh heavily on her. Read more


Woman rebel in polygamy sect stands firm, declares her rights
By Mark Thiessen The Associated Press Originally published January 23, 2004
HILDALE, Utah (AP) --Pam Black was emancipated on July 3, 1998, the day she was ordered to leave town by the polygamist leaders who had tried and failed to rule her life. Her husband of 31 years, Martin Black, left with her. He turned over the keys of the their home to the landlords, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and moved the family to the outskirts of town. There, they lived in a trailer home sitting on family-owned land he kept in a trust -- never heeding the church requirement that all men give turn over their land. They watched Fourth of July fireworks together, "and we were so free. It was the most beautiful thing in the world." Now, five years later, Pam Black, 52, is about to become an even bigger thorn in the side of the strict patriarchal hierarchy of the FLDS church, which considers women and children as its property. She is about to become one of the few -- if not only -- female landowners in the twin border towns of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., where about 10,000 church members make up the nation's largest polygamist enclave. Breaking away from the church could not save their marriage. Martin, 62, died last August, a week before their divorce became final. Read more


Former Hildale resident reclaims rights, land
By Mark Thiessen Deseret Morning News Originally published Sunday, February 22, 2004
HILDALE, Washington County — Pam Black was emancipated July 3, 1998. That was the day the spunky auburn redhead was told to leave town by the polygamist leaders who had tried and failed to rule every aspect of her life. Her long-embattled — and only — husband of 31 years, Martin Black, also bucked church authority and left with her. He turned over the keys of their home to the landlords, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and moved the family to the outskirts of town. There, they lived in a trailer home sitting on family-owned land he kept in a trust — never heeding the church requirement that all men turn over their land. That night she said they "watched the fireworks, and we were so free. It was the most beautiful thing in the world." Now, five years later, Pam Black, 52, is about to become an even bigger thorn in the side of the strict patriarchal hierarchy of the FLDS Church, which considers women and children as its property. Read more


Polygamists embrace lifestyle, but not all agree
By Karen Brooks The Dallas Morning News Originally published Saturday, August 14, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. – In this polygamist enclave, where men take many wives to get to heaven, believers are taught that the difference between good and evil is stark and unwavering. Just who is good and who is evil in the heart of polygamy country depends on who's asking. In Terrill Johnson's bucolic world, "life is beautiful" among members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In Colorado City, where Mr. Johnson has been a council member since the town was incorporated in 1985, the people all have jobs and the population grows each year. Here and across the state line in Hildale, Utah, where the church leadership lives, there are no nursing homes and the children stay near their parents to raise their families. Read more

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