In response to this latest act of white supremacist violence, we join with Black communities in Buffalo and around the world in grief, rage, and resistance to the legacy and ongoing reality of anti-Black violence in this country.

We honor the lives and mourn the loss of ten people, and the wounding of three more, who were targeted and killed in this deadly act.

The murders in Buffalo were a crime of white supremacy, part of a long legacy of anti-Black killings and white supremacist violence that has permeated the U.S. since its founding. This is part of an organized backlash against the struggle for Black liberation and an inclusive democracy that recognizes the human rights of people pushed to the margins by a white democracy.

On Monday, Buffalo Food Justice Advocates wrote, 

Because of the history of redlining and ongoing disinvestment in East Buffalo, there are very few grocery stores, leading many Black residents to rely on one neighborhood grocery store for their day-to-day needs…Yesterday’s terrorist attack at that one grocery store most certainly highlights…the root problem in Buffalo – and Buffalo’s food system – is white supremacy. 

Although we know this kind of anti-Black violence is not new, this tragedy is also a direct result of racist ideologies peddled by conservative politicians, their allies in right wing media, and amplification by social media companies, all of whom have based their business upon amplifying fear and hatred.

Today, we lift up and support the individuals and community organizations that are defending and promoting the lives and well-being of Black communities in Buffalo and across the country. 

Among those organizations is Black Love Resists in the Rust, a membership-based Black-led abolitionist organization. 

Through solidarity, we will not only dismantle the systems that oppress us, but together advance our collective pursuit of community safety and healing.

“Buffalo victims may their memory be a revolution” Image by Jen White Johnson @jtknoxroxs.