How the Black community in Buffalo came together in support in the aftermath of a mass shooting

• Black community organizers in Buffalo have been working non-stop since the mass shooting to bring residents food and necessities.
• Buffalo is one of the most segregated cities in the US.
• "We are all connected ... in some way to this incident, and with that we're all hurting," an organizer said.

The racially-motivated mass shooting that took place on Saturday, May 14, has left the Black community in Buffalo reeling and searching for what to do next.

"The one thing that has been universal is that there was a sense of shock, of helplessness, and all of the stages of grief," Rene Petties-Jones, of National Federation for Just Communities of Western New York, told Insider. 

On Saturday, authorities identified a white 18-year-old man from Conklin, New York as being responsible for carrying out a racist mass shooting at a Tops grocery store on the east end of Buffalo, New York. The suspect targeted Black people, shooting 13 people and killing 10.

Petties-Jones, said it will take time for Buffalo to heal from this. However, right now she wants to focus on the government and other community partners across the city coming together to find solutions and support.

Buffalo is one of the most segregated cities in the country and structural racial inequity has been identified in the cities schools, housing, and healthcare services.

Petties-Jones said there is institutional and systemic racism in the city that requires a collective response. She would like to see the government at all levels find ways to protect the community. 

"We are all connected to something, to somewhere, in some way to this incident and with that we're all hurting. And we're starting to process, perhaps slightly quickly than some of those who have lost someone, but it is still a process," Petties-Jones said. 

Organizers have been working non-stop since the shooting.

Community organizations, like African Heritage Food Co-op, have been working around the clock distributing food and necessities to residents in the area since the terrorist attack on Saturday. 

The neighborhood where the shooting took place is 79% Black, according to US census data, with the Tops being the only grocery store in the area.  

The poor economic conditions Black families in Buffalo are subjected haven't improved in three decades. Buffalo is one of the top six segregated cities in the country, according to the Partnership for Public Good. 

"I'm hoping that through this, we can really have those harsh realities. People try to act like racism doesn't exist, white supremacy doesn't exist, and that Black folks have an equal opportunity like anybody else. And when you have people that are willing to walk in and kill you, do you think that those mentalities don't affect our housing, that the mentality doesn't affect our schooling? You know, that mentality doesn't affect who gets grants, who doesn't get grants?" Alex Wright, General Manager of African Heritage Food Co-op told Insider.

Wright added that a lot of people in the area do not feel comfortable leaving their homes right now, so he is bringing fresh vegetables and food directly to their houses. Since Saturday, African Heritage Food Co-op has distributed 40 bags of groceries. 

As the area doesn't have another grocery store, Wright said it is important to connect the dots between food apartheid and disinvestment across other aspects of the Black community in Buffalo. 

He said he is working on opening a grocery store about a mile from the Tops that will open in 2023. It will be Black-owned. 

"We have to have real conversations around race,  We have to really look at these policies. And we have to stop with the double talk because the double talk is oh, 'I would love to give to this organization but I just didn't know they existed,'" Wright said. "If a person drives three hours and knows where the Black people are and he is not even from here, you're going to tell me funders, government, they don't know?"