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‘I’m not afraid’: after Buffalo racist attack, Black residents remain unbowed by terror [theguardian.com]

 

By Michael Harriot, Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images, May 22, 2022

Less than an hour after the city of Buffalo, New York, took a 123-second pause on Saturday to memorialize the victims of the terrorist attack that shook the city a week ago, June Bloomfield held her own moment of silence.

Standing outside the Tops Market, the only grocery store in the area, where white supremacy stole the lives of 10 people, Bloomfield’s tears were obscured by sunglasses, a mask and her quiet resolve. “It’s not fear”, she said, trying to summon the words that described her feelings. “It’s … All I can say is, I’m not afraid.”

On Saturday, the residents of Buffalo’s East Side took part in the traditional Black gathering ritual that finds solace in music, food and – most of all –togetherness. Throughout the day, a dense, almost palpable fog of grief wafted through Buffalo’s East Side air, sitting on the collective chest of an entire neighborhood, refusing to move. Yet, alongside the alchemy of producing Black joy from pain, there arose one almost unanimous consensus among the unpublished, uncounted victims. If the alleged mass murderer’s goal was to inflict terror, then the man responsible for this trauma failed miserably.

[Please click here to read more.]

To read more about the violent racism experienced by Black people in Buffalo and across the country please from The Atlantic click HERE.

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