Balloons are released in commemoration of what would've been Mike Brown's 20th birthday.
Family, friends and neighbors gathered at Canfield Green Apartments Friday afternoon to celebrate what would’ve been Michael Brown Jr.’s 20th birthday.
Michael Brown Sr. and his nonprofit, Chosen for Change Foundation, hosted the party to provide a moment of remembrance and joy for a community that organizers say is still dealing with grief.
“We just want everybody to have a great time, and a nice time, and enjoy themselves and bring smiles and some type of comfort back to their home,” Brown said.
The party featured free toys and food for the community, along with a moment of prayer and a balloon release. Organizers read books to children and dancers showed off before an impromptu group dance off.
“Children and families have been traumatized by the events of Aug. 9, the loss of Mike Brown Jr.," the elder Brown said. "I’m just trying to build the community back up.”
Credit Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio
Cherish Turner, 11, with the Get Fit Dance Crew, shows off at a birthday party in honor of Michael Brown Jr.
A crowd surrounds Michael Brown Sr. as attendees get ready to release balloons.
Credit Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio
Calvin "Cap" Kennedy, with Chosen for Change, reads to children at the start of the party.
Credit Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio
Dashawn Moore, 8, raises his fist in the air as a drone takes a picture of partygoers at a 20th birthday celebration for Michael Brown Jr.
Mike Hassell, with Chosen for Change, hugs Joshua Anderson, with the Get Fit Crew, during a dance off.
Credit Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio
Dashawn Moore, 8, places toy glasses on Michael Brown Sr. during a birthday party held in honor of Michael Brown Jr.
Credit Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio
Attendees hand out balloons along Canfield Drive, near the spot where Mike Brown Jr. was killed and where a memorial now sits embedded into the sidewalk.
Credit Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio
Jana Gamble, vice president of Chosen for Change, gets ready to release balloons in honor of Mike Brown Jr.
Marcellus Buckley, with Chosen for Change, comforts Trinetta Walker, Michael Brown Sr.'s daughter, after attendees released balloons.
Credit Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio
Michael Brown Sr., flanked by activist Anthony Shahid and his daughter, Trinetta Walker, gets ready to blow out a candle on what would have been Mike Brown Jr.'s 20th birthday.
Credit Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio
Azylah Johnson, 7, hugs her friend Cherish Turner, 11, after Cherish performed for the crowd.
Credit Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio
Angel Campbell, 6, plays with a hula hoop after children received free toys.
Carolina Hidalgo joined St. Louis Public Radio in 2015 as the station’s first visual journalist. She now produces photographs, digital stories and radio features with a focus on issues of race, inequality and immigration. In 2019, she reported from the United States-Mexico border as an International Women’s Media Foundation fellow. In 2018, she was named one of The Lit List’s “30 photographers to watch.” Carolina also volunteers as a mentor with NPR’s Next Generation Radio project. She is a proud native of New York City and a member of Women Photograph and Diversify Photo.
