Walnut Park East’s Hood Day Brought the Party to O-Block

Hundreds of residents of St. Louis' Walnut Park East neighborhood shut down the intersection of Thekla and Oriole avenues on Saturday to celebrate their Hood Day.

Celebrated across St. Louis, Hood Days are marked by each hood’s block numbers; in Walnut Park East, that's 5400, hence May 4 as the day of festivities. The all-day block party featured cookouts, music video shoots, bounce houses, blunts, booze and neighborhood hangs.

The origins of St. Louis' Hood Day celebrations are mysterious, but for lifelong Walnut Park East resident Brick Deuce, they don’t matter. To him, Hood Day is about what it is today: family.

“It’s just family shit, coming together without no death, have fun, just kickin' it,” Deuce says. “Everybody has a good time, families, friends, kids. It’s for everybody."

The event kicked off in the afternoon and ran through the night. All along Thekla Avenue, residents set up places for people to get food, listen to music, relax and enjoy their neighborhood. Show Me Peace Violence Interrupters set up a tent where they handed out T-shirts and food, kept an eye on potential conflicts and interacted with the community. Inside the neighborhood corner store, Regal Meat Market, residents piled in for fried foods, snacks and blunt wraps.

Most of Walnut Park East's Hood Day celebration took place on St. Louis’ own O-Block. O-Block is a reference to the Parkway Garden Homes, a housing project in Chicago popularized by rappers King Von and Chief Keef. But in Walnut Park East, it's Oriole Avenue.

“We in Walnut Park, Oriole to be exact, in the middle of the trenches. It be good when muhfuckas be comin' together and there ain't no B.S.” Deuce says.

Hood Day is also a space where community members can uplift those who came before them — and honoring the people who have lost their lives to the streets. According to data from the Trace, from 2014-2023, approximately 406 shootings have occurred within a mile from Walnut Park East, 202 of them fatal. Their names are memorialized on T-Shirts, necklaces and tattoos. Their neighbors honor their lives by glorifying the neighborhood where they were raised.

“Just really keeping them alive, keeping them in spirit,” Deuce says.

The uniquely St. Louis tradition of Hood Day highlights the abundance of uniquely local culture found throughout the city. These celebrations aren't paid for by brands or pushed by city leaders. Instead, Hood Day is the embodiment of community: People coming together with a shared experience and love for where they come from.