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What was meant to be a day of celebration and empowerment turned into a tragic end on March 19 during the 16th annual "Hood-Nic" event held by the Delta Neighborhood Empowerment Youth Organization, an event held to promote nonviolence.
DUMAS, Ark. -- The small city of empty storefronts and vacant lots that is Dumas has seen its population drain away steadily over the decades. But each spring, people of the diaspora have made their way along two-lane country roads, driving through cotton fields and catfish farms and finally into Dumas for Hood-Nic, the community's big "neighborhood picnic," which serves as an informal homecoming.
A man accused of having a role in a shooting that killed one person and wounded 26 others is free on bond as details from the March 19 incident at a Dumas car show have emerged.
Dumas, Ark., has been shrinking steadily, but the diaspora returned each year for a festival that united scattered friends and family. Organizers say its future is now uncertain.
DUMAS -- In the same location where six days earlier a person was shot to death and 26 others were wounded, pastors and community leaders united Friday to share their plans for curtailing violence.