Racial Justice Toolkit: Buffalo Resources Responding to 5/14/22
The May 14 Tragedy in Buffalo
After the senseless targeted terrorist attack in the Tops market on Buffalo's East Side on Saturday, May 14th, we are all grieving and our hearts are broken.
The links on this page lead to organizations that can assist victims' families and the community, and indicate places accepting donations and looking for volunteers.
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Buffalo, What's Next?
Weekdays live at 10am on WBFO
"In the wake of Buffalo's recent tragedy on the east side, WBFO has launched a new daily program, "Buffalo, What's Next?," that unapologetically confronts what led to the shooting.
Beginning Thursday, May 26, each weekday morning at 10 am, WBFO News Director Dave Debo, WBFO Managing Editor Brigid Jaipaul-Valenza, and WBFO Morning Edition Host Jay Moran, will amplify voices that have historically been marginalized.
The hour-long program will provide a forum for open, honest, and candid conversations about what happened, what’s next, and what role each of us can play in solving the problems that caused it."
The program airs again at 9pm on WBFO. It is also available digitally through WBFO’s website, apps and as a podcast.
Community Resources - Assistance & Donations
- Black Love Resists In the Rust
- Black Love Resists in Rust on Facebook
Community resources for immediate support - Community Resource Document in Response to Tragedy at Tops on Jefferson Ave (Google Doc)
" ...Black Love Resists in the Rust will continuously update this document as additional resources and services to the community become available and publicized."
- Black Love Resists in Rust on Facebook
- Resources & Services for Residents Impacted by Buffalo Shooting (NYS)Local Resources
Financial Assistance & Funeral Payment Support
Transportation
Food Assistance
Mental Health Support
Support Victims & Their Families
State Funding - Community Resources (WBFO, NPR)Includes resources for free/reduced-cost mental health and trauma counseling, local food pantries to either donate food or pick-up groceries, transportation options for those in the neighborhood who may need it, important phone numbers, and resources from PBS & NPR that can help guide your discussions about gun violence, racial inequity, and distressing events with children
- Resources for Educators, Parents, and CaregiversPBS Learning Media & PBS KIDS Resources
- How to help a community rocked by tragedyCharles Skowronski, Buffalo Rising - May 15, 2022
...organizations or resources that are helping... - Resources and support (United Way of Buffalo & Erie County)
In the wake of the tragedy that occurred at Tops on Jefferson Ave. on May 14th, the United Way has put together a list of local resources for those affected to immediately receive assistance, ways to help, and online resources that can be used in the weeks and months to come.
1.Local Resources
Resources for Food
Resources for Transportation
Resources for Mental Health
Victim Assistance
2.Ways to Help
Immediate Community Needs
Giving Opportunities
3.Online/Virtual Resources
Mental Health Resources
Resources for Children
Resources for Teens
Resources for Parents & Adults
General Resources
Resources for Teachers/Education Professionals
4.Helplines - Tops Tragedy on Jefferson: Resource & Donation Guidefrom Partnership for the Public Good
- 2-1-1 Western New York Resourceslist of resources for those in need of immediate assistance:
food, transportation, counseling, financial assistance - Leadership Buffalo - Community ResourcesMonetary donations, Volunteer, Donation of Goods, Resources
- #UBLawResponds Community Engagement Legal Clinic#UBLawResponds is actively engaging with community partners to determine how best to provide legal and policy assistance through our Clinic Student Attorneys. We are learning from on-the-ground frontline workers and those most impacted by the shooting as to how we can best direct our efforts.The Clinic will provide representation and advice to help the community heal and fight for both individual and systemic justice.
Contact Information:
Kim Diana Connolly, Co-Director
Vanessa A. Glushefski, Co-Director
University at Buffalo
School of Law
507 O'Brian Hall, North Campus
Buffalo, NY 14260-1100
Phone: 716-645-2167
E-mail: law-clinic@buffalo.edu - Buffalo Together Community Response FundHere are two ways to financially support our community in moving forward:
-----Support the survivors: Buffalo 5/14 Survivors Fund.
-----Support community needs: Buffalo Together Community Response Fund - The Resource Council of WNYhas coordinated a food distribution effort. And are looking for volunteers to support their efforts by volunteering to distribute food boxes to families in need. They need a lot of assistance.
.SIGN UP AS A VOLUNTEER
The address is: 347 E. Ferry St - Resources and Support for the Victims in Buffalo, New York US Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)May 16, 2022
These resources may be able to help victims, their families, and the community during this difficult time.
Resources are also available to help victim service providers, law enforcement, first responders, and community and faith leaders responding to this tragedy.
The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is one of six Program Offices within the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). - WNY 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge
An opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of how inequity and racism affect our lives and our community.
CHALLENGE TOPICS:
Day 1: Race and Equity
Day 2: Exploring Bias
Day 3: The Meaning Of Privilege
Day 4: Talking About Race
Day 5: Levels of Racism
Day 6: Trauma to Healing
Day 7: White Fragility
Day 8: Opportunity and Segregation in Western New York
Day 9: Housing Inequity
Day 10: The Racial Wealth Gap
Day 11: How Race Affects Your Health
Day 12: Racial Disparities in Birth Outcomes
Day 13: Early Childhood
Day 14: Education and School-Aged Children
Day 15: Immigrants and Refugees
Day 16: Equity and The LGBTQI+ Community
Day 17: Building a Race Equity Culture
Day 18: Being an Ally
Day 19: Tools for the Racial Equity Change Process
Day 20: Final Reflections
Day 21: Take Action in WNY
UB, Buffalo, NYS, & Federal Responses
University at Buffalo
- Responding to the May 14th TragedyIncludes links to:
UB’s Counseling Services
UB’s Intercultural and Diversity Center - UB encouraging donations, support for community in needCory Nealon, UB Campus News, May 17, 2022
- UB offers support to those affected by mass shooting in BuffaloUB Campus News, May 16, 2022
- A Community Conversation -Racial ViolenceWednesday, May 18, 2022 at 5:00 PM (via Zoom)
Students, faculty, and staff are welcome to participate.
Words are wholly inadequate every time an incident of racial violence occurs. This time the violence struck our community on May 14 when there was a mass shooting at Tops Market in Buffalo. In the aftermath of experiencing or witnessing trauma, it is normal to experience a range of feelings and emotions, such as shock, fear, sadness, anger, helplessness or guilt. As a mental health service, UBCS is committed to affirming and providing care for all of our students who have been directly or vicariously impacted by trauma. We encourage you to contact our office if you (or someone you know) would like support with coping and healing. In response to the mass shooting at the Tops grocery store, we will be hosting a virtual drop-in community conversation that will focus on recognizing and coping with racialized trauma. This gathering will provide an opportunity for the UB community to share how they have been emotionally and psychologically impacted, ways to identify peaceful action, inclusivity, coping and support will be discussed.
Zoom Event Facilitated by Carissa Uschold-Klepfer and Andrea Obah - Op-ed: East Buffalo Needs Community-Driven Structural Investments, Not Fly-In, Fly-Out CharityMAY 24, 2022
BY THE FOOD EQUITY SCHOLARS, U.B. FOOD LAB
East Buffalo is full of existing Black-led groups working to feed and care for its residents in the aftermath of the massacre. And they’ll be doing the same long after the news media has moved on. - How decades of racism have shaped BuffaloCharlotte Hsu, UB Research News, May 20, 2022
Henry-Louis Taylor Jr.'s report “The Harder We Run: The State of Black Buffalo in 1990 and the Present” is receiving renewed attention following Saturday’s mass shooting at the Tops market on Jefferson Avenue.
Buffalo
New York State
- Resources & Services for Residents Impacted by Buffalo Shooting (NYS)Local Resources
Financial Assistance & Funeral Payment Support
Transportation
Food Assistance
Mental Health Support
Support Victims & Their Families
State Funding - Governor Hochul Announces Support for Comprehensive Package to Combat Rise in Domestic Terrorism, Strengthen State Gun Laws and Crack Down on Social Media Platforms that Promote Extremist Acts of Violence in Wake of Racist Mass Shooting in BuffaloMay 18, 2022
"In direct response to the white supremacist act of terror at a supermarket on Saturday in Buffalo, Governor Kathy Hochul today unveiled a comprehensive package to combat the steady rise in domestic terrorism and violent extremism, strengthen and close loopholes in state gun laws and crack down on social media platforms that host and amplify content that promotes and broadcasts violent, lawless acts and endangers our communities...." - Executive Law Section 63(8) ReferralGovernor Hochul sends Referral to Office of the Attorney General to Investigate Social Media Platforms Used by Buffalo Shooting Suspect to Broadcast, Promote and Facilitate Violence
United States Government
White House
- Remarks by President Biden and First Lady Biden Honoring the Lives Lost in Buffalo, New York, and Calling on All Americans to Condemn White SupremacyDelavan Grider Community Center
Buffalo, New York
May 17, 2022
Dept. of Justice
- Raising Awareness of Hate Crimes and Hate Incidents During the COVID-19 PandemicUS Dept. of Justice, US Dept. of Health and Human Services
Appendices A and B of this report list resources - Resources and Support for the Victims in Buffalo, New York US Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)May 16, 2022
These resources may be able to help victims, their families, and the community during this difficult time.
Resources are also available to help victim service providers, law enforcement, first responders, and community and faith leaders responding to this tragedy.
The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is one of six Program Offices within the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
FBI
Congress
- Sen. Majority Leader Schumer on Mass Shooting in Buffalo (10 min.)C-SPAN, May 17, 2022
- Gillibrand on how she will address guns, hate and social media after Buffalo shootingSusan Arbetter, May 17, 2022
News Sources
- Buffalo Challenger News
Buffalo and WNY’s Premier Weekly Newspaper From The African American Perspective.
Challenger on Facebook
Challenger on Instagram
Historic collection of the Buffalo Challenger at UB
- The Buffalo Criterion Newspaper
Founded in 1925, it is the oldest Black owned weekly newspaper in Western New York.
Buffalo Criterion on Facebook
Historic collections of the Buffalo Criterion at UB
- Buffalo News
Buffalo News on Facebook
Buffalo News on Twitter
UB Folks: more ways to access the Buffalo News and other news sources
- Investigative Post
Local news organization dedicated exclusively to watchdog journalism
latest news
More News resources are located in our Legal Databases by Subject - News guide.
Poet laureate searches for words to comfort Buffalo
Gary Craig, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, May 16, 2022
What We Get Wrong About Food Insecurity in Places Like Buffalo’s East Side
Jeremy Stahl, Slate, May 19, 2022
Unpacking America’s history with “replacement theory” is complicated (audio, 46 min.)
1A from WAMU May 19, 2022
Buffalo’s Black community is reeling after being targeted by a mass shooting (audio, 47 min.)
1A from WAMU, May 17, 2022
The nauseating familiarity of the Buffalo shooting (audio, 12 min.)
1A from WAMU, May 16, 2022
The rise of the radical right in WNY
Jim Heaney, Investigative Post, May 18, 2022
Buffalo, the Tulsa Massacre, and Legacy of Anti-Black Violence
Jason Johnson, Slate, May 21, 2022
Reparations for Racist Violence? A Word … with Jason Johnson (audio, 37 min.)
May 20, 2022
Jason Johnson is joined by Damario Solomon-Simmons, a civil rights lawyer who is leading an effort to win reparations for Tulsa Race Massacre survivors....
How decades of racism have shaped Buffalo
Charlotte Hsu, UB Research News, May 20, 2022
Henry-Louis Taylor Jr.'s report “The Harder We Run: The State of Black Buffalo in 1990 and the Present” is receiving renewed attention following Saturday’s mass shooting at the Tops market on Jefferson Avenue.
THE HARDER WE RUN: The State of Black Buffalo in 1990 and the Present (2021)
By Henry-Louis Taylor, Jr., Jin-Kyu Jung, and Evan Dash
The Other Kind of Racism in Buffalo (audio, 35 min.)
The NewYorker - Politics and More
May 19, 2022 · by Evan Osnos
".... Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor is a contributing writer at The New Yorker and a professor of African American Studies at Princeton. She joins the guest host Evan Osnos to discuss the politics of housing, policing, and education in Buffalo, and how these structural forces relate to the rise of violent right-wing extremism. “We are so enamored with the idea of racism as explicit, as you most certainly know it when you see it,” Taylor says. “But these other manifestations—that mean that forty per cent of Black children in Buffalo live under the poverty line, that thirty-eight per cent of Black adults live under the poverty line, that the quality of housing on the East Side of Buffalo is wood-based and deteriorating compared to the brick houses of the West Side of the city—these kinds of insidious forms of racism are allowed to continue unaddressed for decades.”"
Race for profit : how banks and the real estate industry undermined black homeownership .
by Taylor, Keeanga-Yamahtta, The University of North Carolina Press, 2021
E-book available online at UB
Readings on Racism and Segregation in Buffalo
Compiled by the Buffalo History Museum, June 2022
Everything cited (with links!) is online for free, can be borrowed as a short-term e-book loan, or is available in hard copy through the Buffalo History Museum Library and other libraries.
New Yorker Radio Hour, WNYC, May 27, 2022
With All Due Respect (blog authored by attorney Arthur J. Giacalone)
Commentary on land use and development issues – and the legal system
Guest blog post reprints Dr. Lorna I. Peterson's message sent on May 15 to her colleagues at the Black Caucus American Library Association (BCALA): The Neighborhood Surrounding Buffalo NY’s Racially-Motivated Mass Shooting Site.
Collecting Archives in a Crisis- See: EDIAr Committee LibGuide: Current Issues (from the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism Committee (EDIAr) of the Western New York Library Resources Council)
Links possibly useful for those who will be working with the local community to preserve and archive records created in response to the May 14 tragedy in Buffalo were shared by Dr. Lorna I. Peterson on the electronic listserv of the WNY Library Resources Council, in an exchange with Cynthia Van Ness. The links Dr. Peterson recommended, among others, are included here.
Buffalo’s East Side was a food desert. The shooting made things worse.
Residents grapple with trauma after a hate crime, and the loss of a vital grocery store
Story by Jacob Bogage; Videos by Zoeann Murphy; Photos by Libby March
Washington Post, June 1, 2022