The 5/14 Buffalo Massacre Community Memory Coalition Confronting White Supremacy

May 13, 2026

Dear Community Partner:

Thank you for making time to attend the Community Conversation hosted by the 5/14 Buffalo Massacre Community Memory Coalition. For those who were unable to attend, we welcome you to participate as we move ahead. The Community Conversation brought together survivors, family members, concerned individuals, cultural organizations, and community partners to reflect on how the history and ongoing impact of 5/14 should be preserved and shared. The turnout and discussions underscored that this work is about remembrance and about building an enduring, community-centered record that honors lives, supports healing, and helps future generations understand the broader systems and conditions surrounding the tragedy.

Participants emphasized the importance of ongoing dialogue, shared stewardship, and cross-sector collaboration. For community members, partners, and funders alike, the conversation underscored both the urgency of this work and the opportunity to continue supporting preservation, education, and relationship-building in ways that are responsive to the needs and priorities of those most affected.

Next Steps

• Continue collecting feedback from community members and organizational partners on priorities for preservation, interpretation, and access.

• Identify opportunities to collaborate with aligned groups and institutions advancing healing, education, and racial justice.

• Periodically inform the broader community about preservation and conservation milestones.

• Clarify current projects, meeting opportunities, and points of contact for organizations interested in mutual support.

• Develop a shared approach to documenting stories, materials, and lived experiences that is ethical, accessible, and community-centered.

• Invite community members, partners, and funders to stay engaged as the work moves from conversation to action.

Thank you for helping make this conversation possible. Friday’s event was an important first step, and the work ahead will require sustained participation, partnership, and investment. We invite you to stay involved as we advance these conversations and work together to preserve stories, strengthen relationships, and turn shared commitments into meaningful actions.

The 5/14 Coalition will host its next work session on Thursday, June 18, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, at the Buffalo History Museum.  Please RSVP your attendance to Danielle Panaro at dpanaro@buffalohistory.org

Sincerely,

Melissa Brown

Dorinda Darden

Kristine E. Kasbohm

Barbara A. Seals Nevergold

Patrick C. Ravines

Ebony White

Garnell Whitfield

Steering Committee, 5/14 Buffalo Massacre Community Memory Coalition

Strategic Framework (2024–2026)

About the Initiative

The May 14th Community Collecting Initiative is a joint effort of survivors, family members, cultural institutions, historians, and community members working to create a trusted, enduring record of the 2022 white supremacist massacre at Tops Market on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo, NY. Our coalition is committed to honoring the victims and survivors, while fostering a culture of remembrance, resilience, and reckoning. Coalition Partners Include: Buffalo African American Museum, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, The Buffalo History Museum, Buffalo Center for Health Equity, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Canisius University, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House, Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor, The Garman Art Conservation Department at Buffalo State, Uncrowned Queens Institute, family members, survivors, and community leaders. 

Mission

To partner with survivors and the impacted community to preserve an authentic record of May 14, 2022, to confront systemic racism, and to inspire resilience and social change.

Vision 

An understanding of the systemic racism that led to the 5/14 Massacre. 

• A community-centered, intentional and authentic record that honors the lives lost and impacted to serve as a tool for reflection, reckoning, and transformation. 

• An inclusive, ethical model for collecting and shared stewardship in partnership with individuals and organizations to preserve memory and advance racial justice. Core Values 

Core Values 

• Integrity - We commit to authenticity, truth, accuracy, and transparency. 

• Community - We center those most impacted, and seek to engage those who may not see themselves as affected. 

• Equity - We confront white supremacy and the systemic racism that led to the 5/14 Massacre. 

• Collaboration - We believe in working together as a coalition, shared stewardship, building trust, and engaging the community. 

• Responsibility - We understand the sensitivity and gravity of this work and its implications for future generations.

Strategic Focus 

1. Memory & Stewardship 

• Develop an inclusive, ethical model to create an authentic record of the 5/14 Massacre and to advance racial justice. 

• Use this model to develop a long-term, sustainable, and shared stewardship approach to preserving materials, stories, and memories related to 5/14 Massacre. 

• Create and implement processes to guide the collection’s care, preservation, use, and presentation. 

2. Community Engagement 

• Create shared ownership of the initiative. 

• Build trust and deepen relationships with community members, organizations, and institutions. 

• Engage those who may not see themselves reflected in the work. 

• Foster broader awareness, connection, and responsibility.

3. Awareness 

• Support exhibitions, public programs, and curriculums that contextualize the 5/14 Massacre within systems of racism and resistance movements against white supremacy. 

• Develop resources that are trauma-informed, community-driven, and encourage shared understanding and responsibility. 

• Engage young people in learning and storytelling to carry the work forward generationally. 

• Foster an understanding of white supremacy and racial inequity. 

• Inspire action necessary to dismantle systemic racism.

4. Sustainability & Accountability 

• Establish clear roles, responsibilities, and evaluation tools to ensure the Coalition’s progress. 

• Secure multi-year funding to support current and future operations and activities. 

• Continue consensus decision-making protocols and develop transparent and accessible reporting practices

As of 5/2025 Partners

Coalition Partners Include: 

Buffalo African American Museum, 
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, 
The Buffalo History Museum, 
Burchfield Penney Art Center, 
Canisius University, 
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House, 
Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor, 
The Garman Art Conservation Department at Buffalo State, 
Uncrowned Queens Institute, and 
family members, survivors, and community leaders.

Statement of Purpose

In a joint effort from a coalition of professionals, survivors, and the community impacted by the May 14, 2022 Massacre, we are collecting, documenting, and preserving an intentional and authentic record of the horrific event that occurred. We come together to create an inclusive model for shared stewardship to benefit current and future generations. This work is a process of discovery to encourage awareness of systemic racism and inspire actions to dismantle it.*

We are collecting, documenting and preserving an intentional and authentic record of the horrific event that occurred. This collection work will include, but is not limited to, oral history recordings and the preservation of mementos that will create a repository of collective memory.

This collection work will include, but is not limited to:

• preservation of memorials left at the Tops Market site
• oral history recordings
• objects of personal significance to each victim that speak to their lived experience
• clippings (news)
• journals
• photographs
• reflections
• various forms of media

• ---

IMPACT REPORT as of May 8, 2026

Over 1,000 items have been collected from the Tops memorials.

Memorabilia/ephemera collected and now preserved include plastic flowers, quilt squares, peace doves, candles, stuffed animals, artwork, signage, etc. 

700 items( about 2/3)have been cleaned and rehoused.
 

28 acid free boxes have been filled (primarily) with approximately 25 items each- mostly artificial flowers that are now cleaned, photographed, and properly rehoused.
 

Ten Buffalo State University students have helped to support the project working with the Buffalo History Museum.
 

$10,000 is the estimated investment to date in rehousing/preservation.

The Coalition has initiated conversations with victims’ families about the vulnerability of the spontaneous memorials and their wishes for preservation.

The Coalition held 3- community meetings onsite & via zoom at the Frank E. Merriweather, Jr. Branch Library to gauge community support in 2022.

The meetings and conversations led to the Coalition initiated Community Gathering Day on November 12, 2022.

16 oral histories have been recorded.

There are 3 oral history kits avail able for the public to borrow w/a free library card.
Oral history kits contain a digital recorder, headphones, a stand, and can be further supplemented with other supplies for conducting interviews, including microphones, prompts, instructional material, batteries, SD cards, etc.

The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library has developed a mobile digitization lab and Coalition members have attended several community-centered programs surrounding storytelling, remembrance, and memoirs. The Lab be deployed in cooperation with, or to supplement, partner events if desired.
 

#

Coalition contacts:

Object collection and care:

Collections at the Buffalo History Museum, 
 716-873-9644 ext. 402

Oral History:

Susan Buttaccio, Special Collections Manager of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, 
buttaccios@buffalolib.org or 716-858-7144

Communications:

Joy Testa-Cinquino, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, 
testaj@buffalolib.org  or 716-858-7182
Kameron Wood, Buffalo History Museum, 
Kwood@buffalohistory.org or 716-873-9644 ext 316
Learn more and get involved:  716-858-7144 

2024/25 Flyer: 

Oral history flyer produced in September 2025 (pdf) (pdf)