BUFFALO, N.Y. — The City of Buffalo has announced plans for a weekend of remembrance to mark one year since the Tops mass shooting.
The weekend will include a panel discussion around white supremacy and social media radicalization, a remembrance service at Tops on Jefferson Avenue, as well as a church service featuring Pastor Jamal Harrison Bryant from the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta Georgia.
“The racially motivated mass shooting shook our community to its core. It was a day the unthinkable happened. It happened because the wound caused by white supremacy embedded in our country’s history and fabric continues to fester, not just in Western New York, but across our nation. It also happened because social media platforms and gun laws have gone unchecked for far too long in our country,” said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.
“We must come together as a nation to face this fact, to address racism, and to educate our young people of all ages and of all races, or we will continue to see innocent people killed by individuals filled with hate.”
A reflective light will also shine on the columns of Buffalo City Hall from dawn to dusk the weekend of May 12 as a tribute to the ten lives taken. The color of the light was chosen to represent their loved ones.
A 5/14 Remembrance Committee was established after the tragic event to organize community events to honor those who were affected by the terrorist attack. The committee was also tasked with raising money for a 5/14 Memorial that is planned by a Memorial Commission.
“I am very honored to serve on this committee. It has been a wonderful experience working with the esteemed members of the 5/14 Remembrance Committee. The remembrance weekend will be healing, enriching and will most of all honor the lives impacted by the mass shooting,” Eunice A. Lewin, SUNY Trustee and co-chair of the 5/14 Remembrance Committee said.
Here is the full schedule of events taking place:
- Friday, May 12
- “Educational Day of Healing & Restoration” for school age students hosted by WNED, The Buffalo Public School District and BOCES. The event will feature a Virtual Healing Circle, book readings, uplifting messages from special guests. The public can participate via live stream.
- Panel Discussion: Beyond Hate - The event is open to the public and takes place from 9 a.m. to noon at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, in the First Floor Conference Room. Seating is limited, so be sure to reserve a spot via Eventbrite.
- Featuring: A Conversation with New York Times Bestselling author, professor, and anti-racism activist Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and moderator Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry host of NPR’s The Takeaway. Panelists: The Most Reverend Michael Curry Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States and author of Love is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times, Dr. Helene Gayle, President of Spelman College, John B. King Jr. Chancellor of the State University of New York, City of Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown
- Saturday, May 13
- Community Gathering for Reflection Healing and Hope at Johnnie B. Wiley Amateur Athletic Sports Pavilion. The event details will be released soon.
- Sunday, May 14
- Moment of Remembrance at Tops Friendly Markets Jefferson Avenue from 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The moment of remembrance will be led by Mayor Byron W. Brown and followed by church bells chiming at 2:28 p.m.
- Memorial Service for Healing and Hope at Elim Christian Fellowship. The service will feature Pastor Jamal Harrison Bryant, pastor of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta Georgia. The worship service will take place at 6 p.m. at Elim Christian Fellowship 70 Chalmers Avenue, Buffalo.