A Note from Aline - May 19, 2022

Terror. An act of terror. Ten people dead in a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York.   

The President, the media call it a terrorist act.  But I fear the word “terrorist” has lost much of its meaning, The word “terror” conjures the horror, fear, and dread felt in this black community of Buffalo and in communities throughout the country.  

What happened in Buffalo is not just another news story. We cannot let it be so.  Black families everywhere cannot continue to live in fear of this terror. When getting strawberries for shortcake means putting your life in danger – that is terror.  

White racist hate groups are in all pockets of the country – rural and urban. White racist hate groups have access to guns. It is easier to get a gun than it is to get a driver’s license, easier to get a gun than adopt a pet, easier to get a gun than to get health care. 

We have to be stronger than the minority that espouses white supremacy, guns, terror. We can do that by guiding our children to stand up and by standing with them – standing against white people in power who are silent about the roots of racism that sow terror. 

When children are in conflict here, they learn to use their words not their hands and feet; they learn to see what brings us together, not what separates us; they want to belong, not exclude or be excluded. This is what sows the seeds of loving households, peaceful neighborhoods, and equitable nations.  We have a long way to go, and our children are depending on us.