Kelia “K.D.” Thompson has a lot going on right now.
Yes, she runs several events for the community, but there’s also her 6-year-old son, Carter, who wants to be a ninja — and that’s a lot.
“He wanted to be a train engineer, because he was hooked on Thompson the Train,” Thompson laughed. “But, lately … I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he said a ninja, and I said, ‘A what?! Like how does that work? How do you get paid?’ … Like ‘How’s your ninja-ing going today?’ How does that conversation work? Like, ‘How is Ninja 101?’ I don’t know; they don’t offer that in school!”
Thompson is a community event planner for her own business, K.D. Party Planning LLC, and is a part of the Higher Purpose business fellowship program. With the little time off she has, she also offers simple business classes for those looking for professional help.
She loves talking about her kids: Carter, the ninja in training, and Kailee, 2, who enjoys going to her events, much like the rest of her family.
“Sometimes if I have an event and there’s food, my mom will do the catering,” Thompson said. “My kids were at the pajama painting with Santa. … Well, the little girl was just making a mess on the floor with paint, but my family always helps. My uncle has a trucking company, so if I need something moved he’ll help. It’s just stuff like that; I have a good support system.”
Born and raised in Greenwood, Thompson graduated from Amanda Elzy High School. And at just 28 years old, she has already put on some successful events.
Black Girls Rock is an award ceremony to honor women of color within the community who have excelled in such fields as entrepreneurship, community involvement and medicine.
“I saw that with Black Girls Rock, there were so many women who were hardly ever honored who do great stuff within the community,” Thompson said. “So I thought that was a chance to honor them and give them their night.”
Also, she and Vontarris McPherson, a friend and fellow Greenwood native, planned “Breaking the Cycle,” a summit for boys about the importance of nonviolence.
“With all the shooting and gang violence here, (McPherson) was like, ‘We need to do something,’” Thompson said. “We had a couple of guys (to speak at the summit) who went to the Army, the Navy, some were teachers, some just graduated with Ph.Ds, and a social worker came to talk about peer pressure.”
Recently, even as events all over the world have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, she has not slowed down.
“I hosted the Adopt-A-Senior event for the Elzy High School seniors. This event allowed member of the community to donate gifts to the graduating seniors,” Thompson said. “I hosted that event because at the time, a graduation ceremony was (in doubt). So I did the Adopt-A-Senior to show the kids some love during the COVID pandemic.”
She loves to help build her community up, and she plans to stay. “I don’t plan on ever moving,” Thompson said. “People (elsewhere) say, ‘I think if you move here, you’ll be great,’ and I’m just like, ‘No, I’m going to stay here.’”
Looking out the window at another hot, humid Mississippi day, she said, “My favorite part about Greenwood is that it’s home.”
• Contact Adam Bakst at 581-7233 or abakst@gwcommonwealth.com. Twitter: @AdamBakst_GWCW
