Every year the African-American Culture Club hosted an evening event at Whitney Young High School.  I checked it out.  I had three reasons:

  1. I was hungry for soul food.
  2. It gave me a chance to make jokes in class about “breaking the color barrier”.
  3. The gospel choir was scheduled to perform.  That choir rocked the United States of America.  They could make the most hardened atheist love Jesus for a few minutes.  I doubt 99% of white folks have experienced a black gospel choir.  It’s mind blowing.  And no, that scene from Blue’s Brothers doesn’t count.  I’ve often thought about bringing the family to a black church to hear a gospel choir.  Dick’s Last Resort in Chicago has a Sunday afternoon black gospel choir, but I never got around to checking it out.

Alas, nothing ever lives up to its hype:

  1. The “soul food” was prepared by the school cafeteria.  It was the same crap I had endured every day for lunch.
  2. Mr. Wallace was there with his girlfriend. I had failed to break the color barrier.
  3. The gospel choir showed up, but their director/leader was crying and acting crazy, so they canceled the performance.

Oh well, still a good time overall…