Black artists, authors, poets, singers, and community members gathered in Moorestown on Tuesday to celebrate Black art’s past and present. Themes of love and community permeated the room, as performers spoke, recited, and sang poignant words validating Black folks’ shared and distinct experiences.

An appropriate start to the night, a young high schooler belted the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” as the audience sang in unison, rocking back and forth in their chairs. The excitement and energy only rose as the night went on.

Southern Burlington County NAACP hosted the open mic night, called the SOULcial Justice Cafe, at the Perkins Center for the Arts.

Kahra Buss, the Center’s Executive Director, said Perkins is “a community responsive arts organization” that hosts art-related events year-round, relying on community feedback to guide their programming.

“So that means a lot of the work that we’re doing is really geared toward amplifying the voices of the community around us and really digging into the rich cultural communities that exist here in South Jersey,” Buss said.

For Tuesday’s open mic night, the NAACP contacted the Center, asking if they could use their space.

In the main room, attendees could join the list of presenters or simply come to enjoy others’ thoughtful performances.

Marcus Sibley, Vice President of the Southern Burlington County NAACP and the emcee for the night, did it all. Also known as Walkin Contradiction, Sibley is a spoken word artist, musician, and advocate who uses art for activism. Throughout the night, he switched between introducing presenters and performing his own work, echoing rhythms and sounds of hip-hop and soul.

More than once, Sibley called the event “therapy,” emphasizing its significance to the community.

“We are here because art is a form of protest. So we want everyone to exercise their right to free speech tonight,” Sibley said, as he introduced the event. “We don’t have enough Black people using the outlet of art. Art is an outlet. We have to get things out. So I encourage you, whether you’re a poet, writer, singer, please feel free to share. This is a safe space tonight.”

Performers included poet and activist Reet Starwind, students from Burlington County Institute of Technology Medford’s Black Student Union, and others from the surrounding area. People told stories, laughed, shouted, and connected with each other. Maya Angelou, Nina Simone, and James Weldon Johnson are just a few of the Black artists and trailblazers whose work and legacy the performers honored.

Young people played a dominant role in shaping the event, which, according to Sibley, was intentional. He wanted to “pour into” young people.

“‘Children are our future’ is just like a tagline, but we really believe that. Our future is tied to what our young people know, what we expose them to – so they’re aware of the struggle – and their investment in the people,” Sibley said. “So I wanted to start off the night bringing up a young person to get the energy up but also to show them that ‘we trust you.’”

The night started with a song and ended with a shout: before leaving, everyone in the room, led by Sibley, raised their fists in the air and chanted “fight the power!” three times.

“The reality is, we [as Black people] need to express ourselves. We need to take walks, we need to be out, be active, we need to share, because just harboring all of those emotions tied to the way we are treated, it kills us, so we want to provide an opportunity to be able to share, and that’s what we did tonight,” Sibley said.