When the news about the Tops shooting in Buffalo reverberated around the world, the common narrative was that the white-supremacist terrorist had selected a "predominantly Black neighborhood" in which to inflict his hate. But Cold Spring is so much more than that to its residents. Hear from residents Lisa Wilson, Tyree Lemon, Eddie Colbert, Fred Eckles and Julie Harwell as they describe what the Cold Spring community means to them.
“It’s a vibrant part of this neighborhood and this community so we’re trying to rebuild,” said one business owner on Jefferson Avenue, near the Tops Friendly Market where policy say a gunman shot and killed 10 people – all Black – and wounded three others Saturday afternoon.
Those who live in the neighborhood that adjoins Tops have been trying to fathom why a gunman would target them. But in interviews, they talked as much about pride in their neighborhood than the pain they are enduring.
A meeting originally scheduled to discuss action plans for education equality in Buffalo on Thursday was recast in light of Saturday’s white supremacist mass shooting at the Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue. Community partners and education activists instead gathered to talk about racial and economic justice and held a “healing circle” to spread comfort for a traumatized East Side community.
