(CNN) Hundreds danced to hip-hop and '80s soul music Sunday and listened to local African-American candidates make their pitches. But this cookout in Oakland, California, wasn't just any spring festival.

The event, dubbed "BBQing While Black," was one community's powerful response to what many perceived as yet another example of everyday racism.

It all started on April 29, when a white woman reportedly called police on a few black people who, she said, were using a charcoal grill in an area where it was banned, according to CNN affiliate KRON . Oakland police arrived; no one was arrested. But the 25-minute episode was captured on video, then posted to YouTube and viewed more than 2 million times.

"It was disgusting and infuriating. Also, very offensive," Jhamel Robinson, a graphic designer who helped organize the "BBQing While Black" event, told CNN. "But the video also inspired us to take action to show the togetherness in our community."

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