When 19-year-old Mohamed Mohamed died in 2023 in Concord, his friend Augustine Twite wished he had done more to help him.
The two were neighbors and spent time together in the gym while at Concord High. They weren’t the closest friends because Twite was a few years older, but he never knew how bad Mohamed’s struggle was before he took his own life.
Twite wanted to create a way for people in his community to come together around something positive and feel supported.
Conversations around mental health in African American households are difficult, and generational divides change how the topic is viewed, he said.
“Allowing ourselves to know that everyone matters in our community and if they’re dealing with something that they are afraid to open up to their parents, they have people or friends who they can talk to or get help,” Twite said.
He decided to host a cookout at Keach Park.
Many of his friends’ parents endured war and displacement as refugees. They focus more on day-to-day life and providing for their families than on revisiting the emotional trauma they experienced.
He planned a community event to reinforce the message, especially for young people, that if you need help, it’s out there.
“The best way for me, I figured, is to have a cookout, play basketball, and relieve the stress of little things,” he said.
Twite knows what it’s like to struggle. The former Crimson Tide football player moved on to play for Saint Anselm’s College, but was also heavily burdened by financial stress to provide for the whole family on top of putting himself through school.
Even in social settings, it can be difficult to open up. He hopes that with a stronger social fabric and connection, kids struggling will find a support system.
That’s where the cookout came in. The grill smoke billowed out and above the basketball court as sausages, chicken and burgers came off the flames.
The basketball games were a mix of hype and refined talent as friends made their own teams and faced some talented opposition. Between the tables, DJ Ejide Kabura bumped tunes.
They smiled and remembered their friend Mohamed Mohamed.
Sully Masuku and Sarah Georges ate some food as they sat at a table with information about the Congolese Community of New Hampshire. Credit: ALEXANDER RAPP / Monitor 
Mohamed Sawb splits the defenders Vincent Luca and Nic Oglesby at the Keach Park summer cookout on Saturday, June 27. Credit: ALEXANDER RAPP / Monitor 
Kelly Akimana braids her friend Victoria Ford’s hair during the Keach Park summer cookout on June 27, 2026. Credit: ALEXANDER RAPP / Monitor 
Emmanuel Munyana flips hot dogs to serve to a never-ending line of excitedly hungry kids and adults at Keach Park’s summer cookout. Credit: ALEXANDER RAPP / Monitor 
Ejide Kabura, a DJ from Providence, R.I. was invited to play some music at Keach Park for the summer cookout. Credit: ALEXANDER RAPP / Monitor
If you need help
National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
NH Rapid Response Access Point: If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health and/or substance use crisis, call/text 1-833-710-6477 to speak to trained clinical staff.