MANSFIELD — If there is one thing Renee Thompson knows for certain, it’s that people come together over food.
Thompson, the Ohio State University at Mansfield’s director of diversity hosted its 15th Soul Food Dinner Celebration the evening of Feb. 25.
“(Soul food) speaks to an era; it speaks to a history. It originated through slavery; through adverse times. Soul food dinners really represent, in a sense, how we were able to take scraps, and make good meals out of them,” Thompson said. “Over time, it became a celebration because we started to celebrate, ‘Hey, you know what we did a lot with little.’
“It’s not just something that works just with African-Americans,” she said noting a strong mixture of races in the audience. “As you can see, everybody likes a good soul food dinner.”
As about 200 members of the sold-out celebration shifted to the line to be served ribs, fried chicken, collard greens, mac and cheese, cornbread and about five choices of dessert options ranging from red velvet cake to pumpkin pie.
From there, OSU-Mansfield students performed various acts from Harlem Renaissance legends such as “Take the A Train” by Billy Strayhorn, “It Don’t Mean a Thing” by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills and a reading of Abel Meeropol’s “Strange Fruit.”
Mark Matthews, a student representative of the diversity committee at OSU-Mansfield said he attended the dinner because he thought it would be a great opportunity to be apart of something culturally enriching.
“(It’s) a great way for me to experience something (I) wouldn’t otherwise be in,” he said. “There is always some kind of lesson to take away from experiences like this.”
Ashley Benson, a civic leader in the Mansfield community, gave a speech about her time learning to become empowered by refining her leaderships skills at Bowling Green State University
“If we did not step up to impact change, who would? That is when I became a civic leader,” Benson said.
She told the audience about her passion for low-income, first-generation students in Mansfield, and she encouraged the audience to help those students to understand their educational power and potential.
“Everyone deserves the opportunity to pursue their dreams. When our young people are encouraged to rise above the streets, and introduce the cultural and educational experiences outside the classroom, they begin to realize the world is at their fingertips. They begin to believe in the opportunities before them,” she said to a round of applause.
Thompson said she saw the 15th Soul Food Dinner as a great success and said coming together over good food was just the beginning.
“(The dinner) really is steeped in a rich heritage,” Thompson said. “The idea is, you bring people together for a meal; it’s a sense of fellowship. I wouldn’t bring my enemy to the table. It brings together a diverse group of people — this is meant to show that we really can come together. If we can come together over food, we can come together over politics, over religion.”
