COLUMBUS, Ohio — Central Ohioans continue to protest against police brutality, but one woman has decided to use movement to make a change.
On the streets of downtown Columbus, you might come across Lannetta Farmer. Farmer grew up in the Baptist Church and has witnessed the power of prayer and the power of song, but she says the best way to touch the spirits of others is through the power of dance.
“Like music and food, dance is a way to people’s souls,” Farmer said. “Especially, for people that can’t hear or can’t talk. They can look at the movements and they can get the feeling from it.”
Farmer has been dancing since she was seven years old but never thought she’d expand her stage outside of the church.
However, about a year ago, she was asked to do an inspirational piece for an event at COSI. The impression left on the audience pushed her to take her gift beyond the four walls of the church.
As protests took place over the past year, she decided to pack up her flags and her speaker and take her talents in front of the Ohio Statehouse and City Hall. Farmer said it’s important to display the pain of the people in a peaceful way.
“I feel like this is the best place to come,” Farmer said. “This is where you see the protest, this is where you see the press conferences so why not let this be a place where you also see the joy and also see the peace of the coming together.”
Although the protests have been the inspiration behind her location, they haven’t been her only motivation. Due to the pandemic, Farmer lost her job, her home and her sense of stability.
“Feeling that way when there was no income and there was no stability, housing or whatever, it was just like let me go dance and let me go free,” Farmer said. “It’s a lot like when people say they go running and they say running is freeing, so for me, that’s what it was with dance.”
In a season of uncertainty, Farmer allows dance to be a bright spot through a dark time.
“When you pray you just think, something has to give,” Farmer said. “You know, the word of God tells us that weeping man may endure a night but joy cometh in the morning, so something has to break because the joy will come.”
This Friday, Lannetta Farmer is planning to dance in front of the Columbus police department to continue fighting for change in the black community.
