Olivia Gross Photo
Waiting for the dance contest to start at Unity fest on Sunday.
A rebooted Dixwell community festival with decades-old roots offered free haircuts, free food, and bountiful calls for citywide unity in Goffe Street Park.
That event was the latest annual iteration of the “Unity in the Community” festival, which took place on Sunday.
Led by Dexter Jones, the event saw dozens of attendees and over 20 vendors and community groups that tabled and advertised their products, with local artisans selling crafts and various clubs handing out free back-to-school supplies. There were also multiple bouncy houses and a dance contest led by MC Majesty.
Unity in the Community was first created in 1976 by Pastor Donald Morris. Attendees of that original iteration of the event said that, at that time, over 3,000 people came to the event each year, including a young Dexter Jones, who is the organizer of the current version.
After the event took a hiatus in the early 2000s, Jones reached out to Morris and asked for his blessing to bring the event back. Jones saw a need for the event to return when he realized that New Haven was growing apart, not together.
“I want kids to get the experience of seeing everyone getting along. It doesn’t matter if people are from the Hill or Fair Haven, they come here, to the mecca, and everyone can be together,” Jones said.
Dexter Jones with free-haircut recipient Kyle Walker, who liked the bouncy houses.
Brian John MacCalla brought his own rig to the party: his newly minted pull-up barbershop. He made the trailer by hand, and its sleek décor, new equipment, and cooling A.C. had patrons feeling like they were in a real barbershop.
MacCalla started doing house calls for people who couldn’t get to barbershops in the height of the Covid shutdown, but soon realized he was wasting gas with the individual calls. So he built this and plans on taking it to nursing homes, juvenile correction facilities, and anywhere that needs him.
On Sunday at Goffe Street Park, he gave free haircuts to kids. He said that kids and parents need help in the runup to returning to school, and helping students look presentable for the first day of school next week goes a long way. “I always try to give back to the kids. I wish someone had done it for me,” he said.
MacCalla also decided to help out on Sunday for a more personal reason. His said his first ever haircut was given to him by Jones himself at Willy C’s on Whalley Avenue. He was inspired to become a barber by Jones, and said he is still inspired by him today.
The pull-up barbershop.
MacCalla with 2-year-old Matteo Joseph.
The bouncy houses: a magnet for the kids.
Jones isn’t the only one who has been passionate about reigniting the Elm City spirit. Levon “Majesty” Whitaker served his seventh year as Unity in the Community’s MC. He said the community deserved to have a big party. “Otherwise, these kids would find other outlets,” he said. “MC Majesty – many have come before, but none shall come after.” Majesty ran back onstage and showed off his moves to the kids watching.
DJ Diamond.
DJ Diamond has been the house DJ for Unity for seven years. He’s a lifelong New Havener and retired special officer for the Board of Education. Diamond has been DJing since 1978 and will play anything, but his specialties are hip-hop and R&B. He reasoned that hip-hop is 49 years old and he’s 55, so he naturally is drawn to that style.
Diamond said he is an “OG Covid survivor,” which makes him even more grateful to be at the event and watching people have a good time. He came to Unity in the 70s also. He pointed to the empty grass in front of the stage: “It hurts to see so much grass. That should be full of people on a beautiful day like this.”
“Everyone wants to do their own thing. There is no reason to have 25 bookbag giveaways and not have everyone come together here,” said Diamond.
Among the vendors and volunteers were three different Dallas Cowboys football fan clubs. The United Blue Cowboys Fan Club was there to distribute free lunch and pencil cases stuffed with school supplies. The Loyalty is Everything Cowboys Fan Club is focusing on providing assistance to seniors, babies, and people experiencing homelessness. They passed out diapers on Sunday and are looking forward to a group trip to Texas for, you guessed it, a Cowboys game.
The S.P.O.R.T. academy chess club had a few boards out for kids to compete on, too. Their mission is to use chess as a medium to teach conflict resolution and violence prevention. They’ll be having a tournament soon, where kids will learn how to compete in a healthy way.
The United Blue Cowboys Fan Club.
The Loyalty is Everything Cowboys Fan Club in their matching vests.
Aquila Katuran Abdul-Salaam, 9, playing against Camdyn Johnson, 11.
Will Jackson Lowe moved out of New Haven at age 5. Now aged 44, he returned this weekend for his uncle’s birthday brunch. He heard about the event and came over. “This park used to be in demise and seeing young people functioning together in harmony is so important especially in their formative years. They’ll know strife is not the right thing,” he said. Lowe is now a stage actor in New York, but hasn’t forgotten his New Haven roots.
Will Jackson Lowe.
Jones and Morris.
Jones and Morris took the stage right before the dance contest on Sunday. “The kids will have a lasting memory of folks coming from all over. They’ll see unity in us.”
“Our children need it, they’ll emulate whatever we do,” said Morris.
The dance contest started, a breeze settled over the crowd, and Jones and Morris got their wish: Unity in Goffe Street Park.
Thank you to everyone who volunteered, donated and participated in this event. It’s wonderful to get students ready to school looking they’re best and getting excited about new school supplies, and bringing the community together.