Conway community party aims to change narrative after mass shooting

CONWAY, Ark. — A few weeks before Easter, a tragedy struck Fifth Avenue Park in Conway after a mass shooting.

Officials shared that nine people were injured and two others lost their lives.

“Since driving by [the park], there was kind of this black cloud that was over the city,” True Holiness Saint’s Center Jordan Ester said.

Now, with the help of city and community leaders, they’re working to clear that cloud.

It’s all thanks to a movement to “change the narrative.”

“We wanted to change the narrative of what people view this city as, what people view young people as, what people view people of color, or people not of color, but just we want to try and change the narrative of what was originally portrayed here and make people flip their whole mindset of what’s going on,” Ester said.

Those who walked around in blue shirts were the “playmakers” — the driving force behind Saturday’s event.

“This does not define a city, this does not define a race. This does not define anything that we stand for in Conway. And they stood up and said, ‘We’re going to change it,'” Conway Mayor Bart Castleberry said.

Their initiative was put in place to shift the perception after the tragic event.

It’s something Conway Police Chief Chris Harris said is critical when moving forward.

“We don’t want that to be the narrative of Conway. We don’t want that to be the lasting impression. So we got together for basically unity in the community,” Harris said. 

Saturday’s bash was filled with music, a splash zone and activities from Conway police and fire.

“We have a mobile health unit that people can get their blood pressure taken, with the famous Uncle Tim’s barbecue, who’s going to pass out meal tickets to the first 300 people,” Harris said.

Through their efforts, it shows that even after tragedy, hope can rise.

Officials got a chance to share future plans with THV11 — stating that this is just the beginning.

“We are wanting to set an ongoing effort to try and continue to reach out to that young male demographic group. And we are going to do things such as podcasts, weekly updates or whatever that might be, job fairs. I mean, there’s so much that can continue to go on and continue to promote and to put those people in front of people that continue to make a difference,” Ester said.