Atlanta University Center (AUC) Thanksgiving: An LGBTQ Ministry of Food and Fellowship

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Since 2019, Larry Aldridge, a senior at Morehouse College, along with his best friend, JaKobe Alexander, have used the family-oriented nature of Thanksgiving to create something to quell the loneliness of the holiday for their fellow college students at Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, and Morehouse College, three schools under the Atlanta University Center (AUC) umbrella. 

Aldridge wasn't planning to attend Morehouse. His first choice was Clark Atlanta University. It was at the urging of someone he'd grown up with that suggested he attend Morehouse. He applied and got in but was still determining if he wanted to leap. A product of the Black Pentecostal church, Aldridge did what he learned to do when faced with a major life choice, he prayed. 

"I said [to God], send me where you want me. Tell me what you need me to do," he says. "My apostle was preaching, but after a while, I got in prayer, and I couldn't even hear him anymore. All I heard was Morehouse. And I was like, okay."

Aldridge, who identifies as queer, hadn't told anyone yet, because he didn't even realize it himself. 

"I see people eating Burger King on Thanksgiving. It's because either they're low-income, first-generation [college students], like me, and they can't afford to go home. Or they're queer like me, and they're not comfortable at home."

- Larry Aldridge

"I kind of just stayed away from it, honestly," he says. "I was like, I don't have time to fight this battle. I need somewhere to live. I need somewhere to be happy, and I need to be safe, so I'm not gonna worry about that right now."

Aldridge arrived at Morehouse and started building a community for himself. He became a resident assistant and befriended other queer students on campus, but he hadn't come out yet.

A friend suggested he listen to a song—"Out of Hiding" by gospel artist Tye Tribbett.

As the song played, he heard the lyrics, "Come out of hiding, you're safe here with me / There's no need to cover what I already see…." Aldridge began to weep. At this moment, standing in line, waiting for his breakfast, he began to embrace his queerness. 

"Good friends who have graduated and moved away, they had already started to create a safe space for me," he says.

In turn, he wanted to do that for others. Aldridge and Alexander observed something alarming during their first year on campus. 

"I see people eating Burger King on Thanksgiving," he said. "It's because either they're low-income, first-generation [college students], like me, and they can't afford to go home. Or they're queer like me, and they're not comfortable at home."

For Aldridge, Thanksgiving represents love, family, and food. With an innate understanding of how loving spaces can facilitate healing if done properly. Aldridge set out to do just that.

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Flyer for the 2022 AUC Thanksgiving Event (Flyer Design: @chasesgraphics)

A different kind of ministry 

Senior art major Da'Marion Miller was one of those students who could not go home during their first year at Morehouse. 

"I didn't go home because I couldn't afford to go home," he tells The Reckoning. "It didn't make sense to go home in November and then go home again in December for good for a month."

Miller, who identifies as gay, has been previously invited to the AUC Thanksgiving celebration and plans to attend this year. 

"I want to be a part of this again and again," he says. "Not being at home, but feeling at home on campus is so important."

The celebration is filled with old-school music, games, and fellowship. But like any Thanksgiving celebration, the food is a centerpiece of the holiday. 

Families have gathered en masse for generations around tables to eat and fellowship. Hefty servings of turkey, dressing, pies, and trimmings fill tables yearly. The only time this celebration has been interrupted was at the height of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

 "I want to be a part of this again and again. Not being at home, but feeling at home on campus is so important."

- Da'Marion Miller

"While many of these dishes have links to the food world of slavery, some represent the glory of freedom," James Beard Award-winner Michael Twitty writes about the holiday.

Through laughter, Aldridge tells The Reckoning, "we thoroughly thought about the food." 

In the first year of the AUC Thanksgiving, organizers chose K&K Soul Food for catering, and they've stayed with them ever since. 

"We ordered pans of dressing, macaroni and cheese, green beans, collard greens, yams, cornbread, muffins," Aldridge says. "Sponsors donated Ham and turkey. Desserts were donated by Crave My Cakes, and drinks were donated by [AUC] alums."

AUC Thanksgiving is important for students because it gives them a space to be around others and enjoy a meal enveloping them in love. They also feed students on campus who choose not to be present physically. 

"You don't wanna be in a room full of people? Let us know," Aldridge says. "Reach out to one of us via DM. We'll walk this plate to you."

From feeding the security guards to handing out leftovers to those who are unhoused, the tradition continues.

"It's very quiet in a dorm room by yourself. The TV can only produce so much noise," says Aldridge. "We're not stopping. We gotta keep this moving. We gotta keep it going."

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Editor’s Note: The Reckoning publisher, CNP, is a sponsor of this year’s AUC Thanksgiving.