Following the death of George Floyd during the summer of 2020, and the global outcry that followed, Anya Dillard – our founder, took part in organizing the first-ever public Juneteenth Celebration in West Orange, NJ, in partnership with the West Orange Youth Caucus. Over 1,000 people came out to Colgate park for the event, and got to watch the notorious house DJ – DJ Ameer – and performance groups like The Nu Theta Omega Girls Step team perform and do what they do best. The following year The Next Gen Come Up and West Orange Youth Caucus collaborated to bring Juneteenth back to Colgate Park a second time, lending the stage to members of both the Nu Theta Omega Girl's Step Team and AB-Salute Boys Step Team, local up-and-coming rapper Kahlif Simmons (also known as King Artist), and spoken word poet Emily Cardona (also known as Bratz Boetry).The Next Gen Come Up has plans to continue celebrating Juneteenth annually in the community and look forward to collaborating with other organizations to do so.