By: Leisa Parsons, Media Relations Representative
Edifying, inspiring and fun are apt descriptions as you listen to The Debra Bonner Unity Gospel Choir perform. In town at the invitation of the NAACP to perform at their national convention, The Choir also put on two free 
community concerts this evening at an LDS meetinghouse. “The walls of this LDS Chapel have never seen anything quite like what it saw tonight! Most of us spent the night on our feet clapping and singing along…. Great fun!” said Lynette Williams who attended their later concert.
The Choir’s message is one of love and unity and healing through gospel music. The Choir will perform throughout today at the convention. The opportunity for the Choir to perform at the annual convention is a continuation 
of the work begun by NAACP President and CEO, Derrick Johnson, and Russell M. Nelson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On May 17, 2018, Johnson and Nelson issued a joint press release and called on the world to “demonstrate greater civility, racial and ethnic harmony, and mutual respect” while eliminating “prejudice of all kinds.”
When asked about the requirements for joining the choir, Debra Bonner said that people sing for the entire choir. Then they give them a thumbs up or a thumbs down. She was quick to add, “No one ever gets a thumbs down!” She continued: “We are all about love and encouragement. We want to encourage everyone in the choir. In the choir if they can’t sing, they will learn to sing.”
Elizabeth Hathenbruck, a relatively new member of the Choir said: “My favorite thing about singing with the choir, is that Debra really stresses that we sing with our heart. And I really feel like when I sing to people, I feel that love for them and I feel like that is projected back to us in a way that I never really experienced before. The crowd gets involved and you can feel that. It’s just amazing.”
Debra Bonner said that her favorite thing about the Choir “is the love.” The love they feel for one another, the love of gospel music they get to share and the love they feel as they sing and perform.