Seattle Stands in Solidarity With Buffalo | South Seattle Emerald

by Susan Fried

Content material Warning: This text accommodates dialogue of gun violence.

Editor’s Be aware: It appears incomprehensible that whereas nonetheless reeling from the Buffalo, New York, killings on Might 14, one other tragedy happened yesterday when 19 elementary college youngsters and two lecturers had been slain in Texas. The epidemic of gun violence and the focusing on of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Individuals of Shade is without doubt one of the most devastating and horrific parts in our nation. The Emerald acknowledges these harrowing occasions and acknowledges the problem in reporting on what appears like a relentless cycle of tragedy. 

After not too long ago wrapping up our partnership with the Beloved marketing campaign, which examines gun violence as a public well being disaster, we’ll stay dedicated to masking this subject of essential significance to our native communities and past.

Per week after an 18-year-old self-proclaimed white supremacist shot 13, killing 10 Black, largely aged individuals in Buffalo, New York, Seattle held two vigils on Saturday, Might 21, to honor these whose lives had been taken.

Within the early afternoon, a number of dozen individuals gathered at Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights Memorial Park to say the names of the victims and let the individuals of Buffalo know that individuals 1000’s of miles away in Seattle, Washington, honored the lives of the Buffalo 10.  

Stand in Solidarity Seattle was organized by the Rev. Harriett Walden and featured speeches by group members, honoring the victims of the Buffalo bloodbath.

Every speaker was given a person sufferer’s title to spotlight that individual’s life and contributions to the group of Buffalo. Dr. Linda Smith spoke in regards to the oldest sufferer, Ruth Whitfield, 86, who had stopped on the Tops Pleasant Markets grocery retailer after visiting her husband at a nursing dwelling. Her husband had been within the nursing dwelling for eight years and he or she nonetheless stopped by to assist reduce his hair, bathe him, and enhance his room for holidays. 

The Rev. LaVerne Corridor identified that though lots of the victims had been aged, they nonetheless had a lot to contribute and that they had been beloved members of their household and group. Interim Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz, the Rev. Carey Anderson from First AME, Michael Ramos from the Church Council of Higher Seattle, and Alison Holcomb with the ACLU of Washington, together with a number of group activists, spoke on the occasion.

Not removed from MLK Park, following a day of celebrating the lifetime of Malcolm X, a shrine with the photographs of the victims of the Buffalo bloodbath and dozens of flickering candles was arrange in entrance of the stage at Jimi Hendrix Park. As individuals gathered round it and Edd Hampton with the Blaq Elephant Celebration stated a couple of phrases, a rainbow appeared over the gathering. The group stood in silence for a couple of moments to honor the lives of the individuals misplaced in Buffalo on Might 14, 2022.

Those that had been slain are: 

Roberta A. Dury, 32, Buffalo, NY
Margus D. Morrison, 52, Buffalo, NY
Celestine Chaney, 65, Buffalo, NY
Geraldine Talley, 62, Buffalo, NY
Katherine Massey, 72, Buffalo, NY
Pearl Younger, 77, Buffalo, NY
Andre Mackniel, 53, Auburn, NY
Aaron Salter, 55, Lockport, NY
Heyward Patterson, 67, Buffalo, NY
Ruth Whitfield, 86, Buffalo, NY

Those that sustained accidents and have since recovered are: 

Christopher Braden, 55, Lackawanna, NY
Jennifer Warrington, 50, Tonawanda, NY
Zaire Goodman, 20, Buffalo, NY

Susan Fried is a 40-year veteran photographer. Her early profession included weddings, portraits, and business work — plus, she’s been The Skanner Information’ Seattle photographer for 25 years. Her pictures have appeared within the College of Washington’s The Each day, The Seattle Globalist, Crosscut, and plenty of extra. She’s been an Emerald contributor since 2015. Comply with her on Instagram @fried.susan.

? Featured Picture: Amia, 14, lights candles on a shrine at Jimi Hendrix Park on Might 21 to honor the ten victims of a white supremacist assassin in Buffalo, New York. (Picture: Susan Fried)

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