Block party to 'facilitate unity' on Saturday

Authentic Voices and One City are coming together for a community-wide block party Saturday at Indian Park in Cape Girardeau in an effort to connect people from all walks of life.

Raelenna Ferguson co-founder of One City alongside her husband Jeremy, said the goal for the The Community Block Party is "to celebrate the community and kick off the summer" and "bring the community together that maybe wouldn't necessarily be together."

According to One City's website, onecityunite.org, "Our mission is to create space and opportunities to unite our city through resources, relationships, and community development."

Ferguson said One City is a not-for-profit that's partnering with Authentic Voices, another organization in Cape Girardeau, "that's more of a neighborhood development group."

She said they will be grilling hamburgers and hot dogs at event, which will be held from 2 to 6 p.m.

There also will be local dance studios performing as well as people bringing their children to perform.

The day will serve as a time to "show the community what they do, to perform a little bit and bring some arts into it," Ferguson said.

"We are a fairly new organization, and so this is the first time we have partnered together to do anything," she said.

Authentic Voices has hosted community gatherings in the past, Ferguson said, such as a "dance-off competition" last year.

As for this weekend, Ferguson said, "they invited us, and we thought it would be a great idea to team up."

Authentic Voices, according to its Facebook page, is "a group of Neighbors who want to play an active role in their own community's response to poverty by empowering individuals to create solutions."

Local talent will be performing Saturday, including Broken and Redeemed Studio owner and founder Jimmie Miller.

Miller said he became associated with the event through Raelenna Ferguson.

"She asked me to be involved with the event and One City a while back. I love their messaging," Miller said. "They want to bridge the gap between what we consider 'South Cape' and 'North Cape' and to simply connect people from all walks of life in general. And that's kinda pretty much my life's mission."

Miller said he immediately agreed to perform at Saturday's event and hopes he can continue to "join people together through dance."

"People do truly gather over food and music, which is why I think this event will be beneficial," he said. "If nothing else comes from it, at least someone made an attempt to unify us in the midst of our division and chaos."