PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Nearly every summer for the last 14 years, the Unity in the Community block party on Snyder Avenue in South Philly has attracted thousands of people to come and enjoy free food, live entertainment and other vendors.
But this year, founder Anton Moore made the difficult decision to cancel it due to concerns over heightened instances of gun violence in Philadelphia.
He said it was a tough call and he languished over it for weeks.
“We looked at what was going on in the neighborhood,” he said. “I saw in New York, they had a free block party with performances — a basketball player got killed. I looked at D.C. and saw that a 15-year-old kid got shot and killed at a free block party with performances. I said to myself, you know what, safety is first.”
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Moore talked with others in the community, who ultimately agreed.
“I love my event, but my event is not going to be safe,” he admitted. “I draw a lot of young people. … Let’s shelf it this year and look to next year.”
The event is normally a positive and free experience that hundreds of people look forward to every year, especially youths. In past years, there were performances by Jasmine Sullivan, Teyana Taylor, Meek Mill and PnB Rock, to name a few.
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Moore does, however, plan to take his endeavors in a different direction this summer.
“We’re taking 400 young people to Dorney Park for a day,” he said. “We’re going to provide them breakfast, lunch and dinner. And, we’re going to have a conversation with them about gun violence and why it’s important not to hate each other.
“When we go to the park, we’re going to split the kids up in groups from different areas so that they get to know each other and fellowship with each other.”
The trip will take place on the day that would have been this year’s block party — Aug. 6. Moore is fundraising to fill 15 buses with kids to send to the park.
“There’s a lot of kids who never get a chance to get out of the neighborhood and never get a chance to enjoy these things,” Moore added. “There are too many neighborhood beefs going on with young people, and it’s not enough people stepping up to the plate.”
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