Juneteenth 2023: Moorestown’s Perkins Center Celebration Grows
Photo by Tyriq DeShields.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was produced as part of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University’s South Jersey Information Equity Project fellowship and supported with funding from the Independence Public Media Foundation.
By Tyriq DeShields | AC JosepH Media
MOORESTOWN — Hundreds gathered as Moorestown hosted its fourth annual Juneteenth Celebration event on Saturday at the Perkins Center for the Arts.
Food trucks and vendors lined the lawn of the center while attendees enjoyed face painting, live music and dance performances.
The first event was organized solely by Ashlynn Conley following the murder of George Floyd. She felt it was important for that space to be created in an area where the residents may not fully understand the gravity of what happened.
After seeing how much support she got the first time around, she knew she must continue to do that work in the community. Since then, she’s gained the support to not only continue the event but scale it, also.
“The first year we started over there on the small lawn and it was packed with people so it’s great to be able to have more space and more support,” Conley said.
The event took place one day after Moorestown Township raised a Juneteenth Flag at the Town Hall.
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