It’s a day recognized by many names on social media: Cinco de Agosto; the Battle of Montgomery; the Alabama Sweet Tea Party; Chairteenth; Juneteenth 2.0.; Day of the Chair and, most commonly, Fade in the Water.

They all reference Aug. 5, 2023, when a group of White boaters attacked a Black co-captain at a riverfront dock in Montgomery, Ala., igniting a massive brawl largely along racial lines.

No serious injuries were reported, 13 people were detained and five were eventually arrested. But video footage of the incident took on a life of its own, erupting on social media with memes, reactions and reenactment videos and reviving conversations about racial aggressions, the city’s civil rights history and cultural commentary about Black solidarity.

Now, it’s become an unofficial holiday and national rallying cry among some Black Americans. The day, they say, challenged long-held social critiques about bystander support and intervention when Black people are in need.

“It was a cultural revolution of sorts,” said Imani Scott-Blackwell, a community organizer in Athens, Ga. “People are kind of reframing their relationship with ‘what is my role when I see something happening that is wrong?’ And this moment to me really symbolized that shift of, ‘we’re not just witnessing anymore.’”

After the co-captain, Damien Pickett, was struck, he tossed his hat into the air in a gesture many later interpreted as a “bat signal.” A violent clash ensued. One person jumped from the riverboat and swam to the dock to join the altercation. (The teen riverboat crew member was later hailed as “Black Aquaman” and “Scuba Gooding Jr.”) Another was seen striking two people with a folding chair as scores of bystanders joined the fray.

It’s since inspired songs, paintings and loads of merch — including T-shirts and folding chair jewelry. Whoopi Goldberg notably wore a folding chair necklace during an episode of “The View.” Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph reacted with a rendition of the Black national anthem, singing “Lift every chair and swing.” And in Montgomery, the chair supposedly wielded in the fight has shown up in tourist photos and voter registration drives.

So, how to commemorate the day?

In interviews with The Washington Post, people who are planning to host or participate in festivities have emphasized that they don’t condone violence, but rather they want to recognize the show of Black unity at the brawl.

Scott-Blackwell’s nonprofit organization, Hive Mind Community Investment Cooperative, is hosting a celebration on Monday featuring seafood from Smoken’ Potts Seafood Pop-Up, kids activities, a DJ, props and a photographer for reenactment photos.

“Our team is having way too much fun planning it,” said Scott-Blackwell, 28. “So whether it’s five people or 50 [who show up], we’re going to have a blast.”

Last month, Chrissa Gaines posed the question to her followers on TikTok: “What are we doing on August 5?” She asked. “Are we doing cookouts? Are we having shirts made? Are we playing games? What foods are we having?”

Gaines, 30, filmed the video on a whim just before bed — still in her bonnet and sleepwear. But by morning the post had more than 40,000 views, and Gaines realized there was legit interest. In recent weeks, excitement has swelled as scores of users have entertained ideas and suggestions that include cookouts, games, swimming lessons and riverboat tours.

Dubbing herself the unofficial chairwoman of the effort, Gaines is creating spreadsheets and posting a series of videos outlining ideas for events, music, food, games and attire to help people observe the day.

“A lot of people have a desire to do something and they just don’t know where to start. So I was just kind of throwing out all the ideas that I was hearing and trying to package them in a way that was easy to digest,” Gaines said.

Plans for public events around the country have slowly trickled in. Twitch streamer Pedakin announced a barbecue and water fight at a park in Hayward, Calif., which he said he’ll live stream on his page. “I don’t wanna see any guns, violence, hate, or anything like that,” his post read. “We are here to have a good time, kick it, relax, and be OUTSIDE.”

For months, Cesar Garcia has been making the pitch for Black Americans to recognize the brawl as a day of celebration — going viral for a video in which he dubbed Aug. 5 as Cinco de Agosto, a play on Mexico’s annual May 5 celebration now mostly observed in American culture.

Garcia said he instantly noted the Montgomery brawl’s parallels with Cinco de Mayo, which originated as a day to commemorate the Battle of Puebla against invading French forces in 1862. “It was the first time where everybody became a soldier,” he said. “And that [brawl] had a similar feeling to where there’s one man being attacked yet everybody took a [stand].”

The fight, which broke out at the same dock where enslaved Americans arrived by steamboat, turned a spotlight on Montgomery’s racially charged history. It was one of the major slave-trading cities in the country and later became regarded as the birthplace of the civil rights movement, hosting seminal leaders and events, such as the Montgomery bus boycott.

In observance of the day, Garcia, who is known by his entertainment name Masa the artist, is planning to go live on TikTok on Monday to DJ a two-hour set for people hosting events. “I’m gonna provide a soundtrack for their cookouts and just have this mixture of Black-centric and Hispanic-centric music and just throw a party.”

In Charlotte, 40-year-old artist Cepeda Brunson is similarly using his artistry to commemorate the anniversary.

Last year, he unveiled a painting titled “Fade in the Water,” which captured various moments of the scene on the river dock — the man wielding a folding chair; a swimmer racing over to the action; a mobile phone documenting the chaos.

Brunson said he has sold more than 400 copies with sales spiking on Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Many people, he said, have compared it to Ernie Barnes’s “The Sugar Shack” — an iconic painting depicting Black joy at a vibrant dance club, which has also been reimagined in the context of the Aug. 5 brawl. “That’s an honor,” Brunson said of comparisons.

This year, his new painting, “Fade in the Water Day,” reimagines the scene with celebrations and cookouts — a way for Brunson to reflect on what Aug. 5 means to him. “It represents Black people coming together for a cause — just helping each other out.”

Nika Jeffries, 43, is planning a “Paint and Sit” event at her home in Richmond on Monday where she and her family will decorate their folding chairs with acrylic paints and stencils — an activity Jeffries said she first did on her own last year in the days after watching footage of the brawl.

For Jeffries, the incident evoked stories her grandad shared about facing mistreatment and racial aggression and the need for Black people to look after each other. “We had people that didn’t know each other coming off the docks to help this man,” she said. “And he was just doing his job. So yeah that meant a lot.”

For her part, Gaines is keeping the celebration simple. She said she bought a folding chair, which she plans to feature in a photo shoot with her dog.

“It really started because a Black man was trying to do his job. … Like, we just want to be able to work and do our jobs and go home,” Gaines said. “The celebration is really just about us existing and looking out for each other.”