Audrey “Mah Smoke” Jackson with the Wynter Dance Staff on the Pop Smoke Mural on eightieth Avenue and Flatlands Avenue in Canarsie, Brooklyn.
Picture by Sara Hendricks
The Brooklyn-based Shoot for the Stars Basis on Sunday, July 20, hosted its annual Pop Smoke Day, commemorating the life and legacy of the late Canarsie rapper Bashar Barakah Jackson, also referred to as Pop Smoke.
The total day occasion, led by Pop Smoke’s Jamaican-born mom, Audrey “Mah Smoke” Jackson, honors Pop Smoke’s “influence on the neighborhood, and perpetuates his spirit of upliftment and unity,” Ms. Jackson advised Caribbean Life.
She mentioned the festivities started at 9:00 a.m., with “a colourful parade rolling down eightieth Avenue and Flatlands Avenue towards Seaview Avenue—an echo of Pop Smoke’s sturdy roots in Canarsie.”
However she mentioned the primary competition ran from 10 a.m. to five p.m. at Canarsie Park, alongside Seaview Avenue.
It included stay DJ units, notably by DJ JP, along with performances from native artists and drill dance crews.
Ms. Jackson, a Canarsie resident, mentioned there have been “heartfelt neighborhood meals giveaways”, courtesy of Meals with Fam; youth-centered basketball tournaments and clinics “fostering teamwork and mentorship”; and household enjoyable, comprising face portray, double‑Dutch stations, video games, native distributors, and merchandise stalls.
She mentioned the Shoot for the Stars Basis, established by Pop Smoke in January 2020, was created to “empower youth going through adversity—providing entry to expertise, sports activities and career-building assets.”
After Pop Moke’s premature loss of life, Ms. Jackson mentioned she “took the helm, making certain Pop Smoke’s imaginative and prescient endured.
“We do that in celebration of who he was – his want to provide again, to cowl folks,” she mentioned. “That is for the folks. Pop’s roots are right here.”
Ms. Jackson mentioned the celebration is grounded in Pop Smoke’s values: “Unity, neighborhood empowerment and pleasure in Canarsie.”
Past the annual occasion, she mentioned the inspiration organizes associated gatherings in the course of the previous week, akin to basketball clinics, youth summits, and the Pop Smoke Style Gala on the Brooklyn Museum.
Ms. Jackson mentioned Pop Smoke’s affect can also be seen in murals round Canarsie — notably alongside Flatlands Avenue — “serving as each day reminders of his lasting bond with the neighborhood.
“The competition fosters constructive power and camaraderie, selling inclusivity and shallowness,” she added.
“In essence, Pop Smoke Day is greater than a memorial — it’s a free, inclusive block get together that channels the power Pop Smoke delivered to his hometown,” Ms. Jackson continued.
Native DJ Don P mentioned, “Pop Smoke gave us a lane to tell us that we’re vital.”
