There is a new opportunity for residents to have a say in remembering the victims of last year’s racially motivated shooting at the Jefferson Avenue Tops Friendly Markets.
The 5/14 Memorial Commission is requesting design submissions for a memorial that will honor victims of the tragedy, as well as others who were impacted.
The memorial’s significance is about remembering what was lost, but also the strength of Buffalo’s East Side, said Zeneta Everhart, whose son, Zaire, was injured in the tragedy.
“It's about the larger community who was traumatized that day," said Everhart, who serves on the commission herself. "We want to make sure that we are providing something that speaks to the beauty of those lives we lost, that speaks to the strength of the survivors, but speaks to the resilience of the surrounding community who has dealt who has dealt with this trauma.”
Submissions will be open Nov. 1 to Dec. 1, with a shortlist of designs to be chosen in late January. Similar to memorials in other major cities
A location for the memorial has not yet been chosen, but deciding how close it should be to the original site is a major question being considered, said Reverend Mark Blue, another member of the commission.
"Some (people) would prefer to have it there, but some have not even visited back at that Tops since it happened," he said. "We also know that Tops, they're doing a memorial, so this is not to be confused with what they are doing. And we thank them for the work and effort that they're doing. But we (also) want to make sure that we hear the concerns of our community, and also of the families, to make sure that we do this right."
The 5/14 Memorial Commission also has a survey open until Nov. 1 about memorial preferences, such as a location, and what type of memorial people prefer.
Moving the process along to the next step has been a priority, in order to completely the project efficiently but with cooperation and input from residents, Blue said.
"There's a saying that says 'hurry up, hurry up and wait,' " he said. "We don't want to do that. We want to make sure that we've heard our community — and from hearing our community — this is the next step."
