BUFFALO, New York (AP) – Shenaya Ann Washington and a close friend cleaned a small piece of grass at the base of a utility pole on Riley Street. They dug a hole there and planted a red rose bush. Next to him they leaned 10 prayer candles on the ladder.
Washington said it chose the site to commemorate the victims of last weekend’s Tops Friendly Market because it is closest to the store’s entrance, which it has always used as a part-time employee for Instacart, the Instacart service. food delivery.
Sometimes, as he walked out of the store, Aaron Salter Jr., the murdered retired police officer who worked as a security guard at Tops, helped Washington return to his car with grocery orders, she said.
The shooter, whose racist attack deeply hurt the black community in eastern Buffalo, stole much more than the neighborhood’s only grocery store and the sense of peace many residents felt in the community’s cherished gathering place.
“He took away people who made for the community just because of the color of their skin. This is something that opens the eyes. “It’s a test of reality,” Washington said.
During Sunday’s service, Pastor Russell Bell of the State Church of the Tabernacle of God in Christ, where Hayward Patterson was the deacon, promised his flock that they would celebrate his life. Bell also encouraged his predominantly black herd to lean on their faith.
“We will be winners if we endure to the end,” he said.
Just over a week ago, a white gunman in a bulletproof vest killed 10 black shoppers and workers at a supermarket that was temporarily closed. Three others were injured in the attack, which federal authorities are investigating as a hate crime.
Long before this 18-year-old acknowledged that white supremacy was terrorizing the community, Buffalo’s black neighborhoods, as well as many across the nation, were dealing with wounds that are generations old. The attack has scraped away the scabies hiding Black Trauma and Neglect, which lie just below the surface in the so-called City of Good Neighbors, said residents, business owners and religious leaders.
Healing will require not only an immediate flow of charity, but also systemic solutions, economic investments and mental health counseling that are long-lasting, they said.
“It was great to see the outpouring of support, I have to say,” said Jackie Stover-Stits, co-owner of Golden Cup Coffee, one block from Tops on Jefferson Avenue.
For the past few days, the atmosphere around her store has been festival-like and at times a gloomy space of mourning. Organizations across the country and even several global charities offered food and other basic goods to residents who relied on Tops to meet their basic needs.
“The only concern is that it’s not short-lived,” Stover-Stits said. “It would mean more if we could see on Monday that all those people with funds who came to say how sorry they are, could show it by investing in our area.
Buffalo, with a population of 255,000, 47% whites, 35% blacks, 12% Spaniards and 6% Asians, is one of the most racially segregated cities in the country. The neighborhoods around the Tops market are mostly black and poor.
Earlier in the week, civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton cited racial and socioeconomic inequalities, which have targeted the shooter, who officials say has driven hundreds of miles to find blacks to shoot.
“If there wasn’t just one supermarket in the Black Community, he wouldn’t have gone to Tops,” Sharpton said at a prayer vigil in Buffalo for the families of the victims Thursday.
“If you can figure out how to get millions of dollars for a stadium, can’t you figure out how to get a supermarket,” Sharpton added, referring to a new $ 1.4 billion home area planned for Buffalo Bills that will be heavily funded. from taxpayers.
La’Tryse Anderson of Buffalo SNUG, an organization for the prevention of gun violence, toured the neighborhood around Tops with other volunteers to get an idea of the residents’ needs. Some told her they needed groceries, toiletries, spare parts and even a utility bill.
“I wish I had a magic wand,” she said. “There were so many needs here before (the shooting) happened.”
Without real investment in the areas surrounding the peaks, Anderson said, “I don’t think we’ll ever be completely cured of that.”
Residents will definitely need the option of another supermarket, as some have vowed never to set foot in Tops again, she added. They are too traumatized.
Reshona Chapel, a black therapist and associate professor at the University of Central Florida School of Social Work, said the shock and grief caused by the supermarket shooting is exacerbated when people do not take care of their mental health. Systemic racism is part of the reason too few in the black community seek mental health counseling, either regularly or after a tragedy, she said.
“Every time something like this happens, it opens the wounds again,” Chapel said. “We are not taught to acknowledge feelings that are negative. Those who need help the most will definitely not ask for it. ”
Mental health and grief counseling has led several public benefit organizations to camp around the supermarket for several days. With fenced-in peaks, organizations such as Feed Buffalo, Ramp Global Missions and LIFE Camp Inc. lined the surrounding streets with food trucks, mobile food closets and barbecue grills, serving chicken, burgers and hot dogs.
A trio of masseurs offered neck and back treatments to the families of the victims and other residents. Local Starbucks distributes free coffee to passers-by.
An evangelist baptizes people in a large galvanized tank on the corner of Riley Street and Jefferson Avenue. The local Muslim community offered prayers and chants “We are with you” near the supermarket.
Gregory Jackson Jr., a Washington-based organizer of the Community Justice Action Fund, said he came to Buffalo to help coordinate efforts to help the families and residents of victims who have been too traumatized to they want what they need.
“Many people are still not even close to returning to normal life,” he said. “You get local police, cameras and media from around the world. But the community remained to collect the pieces without much support. “
The shooting at the supermarket also attracted support from activists across the country. On Saturday, organizers of the Black Lives Matter Grassroots, a national band of chapters, held a vigil for Buffalo. Organizers from Boston, Detroit, Virginia Beach, Virginia and Minneapolis attended and vowed to be with Buffalo residents as they continued to recover from the racist attack.
“We can’t have a world that steals our grandmothers’ lives,” said Melina Abdullah, who heads the BLM group and founded its Los Angeles branch. “We have a duty to close this.”
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Morrison writes about race and justice for the AP team on race and ethnicity. Follow him on Twitter:
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