Racial violence towards black and brown bodies, along with a growing social desensitization of such violence, has become more evident in the first decades of the 21st century. Equally concerning is the push towards social action without appropriate regard for self-care, the impact of collective trauma in our communities, the lack of attention to community mental health, and the absence of a sustained conversation on the historical and structural contexts that facilitate racial hatred and its unrestrained brutality on the bodies of ethnic minorities. This crisis warrants communal lamentation.
Individual and collective grief work is necessary for healing. This event will expose participants to the Buffalo community’s lamentations about the May 14, 2022, Jefferson Avenue shooting and its value for dismantling systemic structures of oppression and creating spaces of justice and freedom. All are welcome to stand in solidarity with those who will offer lamentations.
