An evening of prayer, dinner and gospel music from artists from across the area and country brought people together from all walks of life on Sunday for the annual Gospel Explosion and Soul Food Dinner in Columbia.
“I find that the best way I connect with people and that I can build community with people is through music and song and the arts…it’s like breathing honestly. It’s always been there for me,” Tateonna Thompson, the featured vocalist at the celebration this year said.
Thompson was born and raised in Columbia before studying musical theater in college. She now lives in Chicago, working in the arts professionally.
Thompson said she relished at the chance to come back home to share her voice with the community again.
“I was very quiet as a child. So, looking at the people who were the adults of the time and doing everything, those are the ones who taught me how to walk and how to sing and riff and run. And, to see them here still supporting me and remembering me from when I was five, it’s everything,” she said.
Kenny Freeman has been coming to the event for 25 years, and has been its emcee for over a decade.
“We have never needed gospel music more than right now,” Freeman said. “I pray that times get better. I pray that I see times get better, but there’s a rugged road out there right now. So, gospel music is our way to deal with it.”
Thompson said gospel music gives her and others the chance to reflect on this moment in time and what celebrating Black history now means to them.
“What is Black history to you and to every American? Because, Black history is American history,” she said. “And, it’s something that everybody should carry with them. To take this time and think, ‘What am I missing? What piece of the story have I not thought about? And, who around me am I not seeing? Can I take them along with me?’”
While Thompson has taken her talents to the third-largest city in the country, she said she will never forget where she came from, nor will she stop coming back.
“I just want people to continue to pour into Columbia because it is a gem and it is a treasure to always be, to keep up with,” she said.
Columbia Parks and Recreation partnered with St. Luke United Methodist Church to put the gospel explosion together this year. The event is on the fourth Sunday every February. All are welcome to attend.
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