Festival a celebration of soul food, African American culture | Local

“As soon as I heard about this, I was excited,” said Mary Massey Barnes, a member of Love in Action and a vendor at the event. “I feel our history has been neglected for too long.”

Barnes — who formerly taught African American history to local groups in Salisbury, North Carolina — attended the event as a way to teach others about African American history.

“We got to represent us,” she said. “Kids got to know there’s more to us than drugs, gangs and prison.”

Another vendor who was attracted to the festival for its pro-black message was South Boston resident Wayne Sutphin Jr., a comic book artist, author and owner of Apple Avenue Publishing.

“At the end of the day, we are underrepresented in children’s books and comic books,” Sutphin said in between conversations with customers. “I want to bring some fresh new stories, new perspectives and diversify characterization in both markets.”

He discussed the lack of mainstream black comic book characters until recent years, mentioning many of them were either side characters, non-existent or their race unclear.

“A lot of people didn’t know Spawn was black,” he said, with a laugh.

Spawn, a comic book character created by Todd Macfarlane, mostly has his face covered by his costume, Sutphin said. He also said Spawn’s face is deformed from an accident, making his race virtually unrecognizable.

As for the cooks of the event, their reasons for showing up varied among contestants. Cindi Poteat for example, came out simply because she heard about it.

Poteat — who took home the best desserts and grand champion awards — made home-cooked bread pudding. She prepared the bread pudding because of its significance to her family.

“It was a soul food thing,” she said. “In my family, we made bread pudding when there wasn’t enough to make another dessert.”

Another contestant, Ruben Cordwell, came as a way for others to taste his cooking, as he has dreams of establishing a rib “joint.”

“I just need somebody to help with that,” he said, a smile rising across his face.

Hong Quing Ye — the winner of the bread category — showed up just because she enjoyed cooking.

“I just love cooking,” she said, smiling. “It’s fun for me.”

The event attracted more than 700 attendees, according to an estimate from Billy Wooten, executive director of center at Averett.

“That’s not even counting the vendors and cooks,” he said.

Wooten said the event originally was planned for only 300 people. He considers the high turnout rate, proof the event was successful.

“I think at this point, we’re going to have to do it next year,” he said, with a laugh. “Otherwise people are going to be disappointed.”