Right Now, There Is No Money for the 5-14 Memorial for the Buffalo 10. Wow!
By Betty Jean Grant
Betty Jean Grant
Boy, oh boy, the people in charge of the committee for managing the Jefferson Avenue Memorial are saying there is no money at all. This is a plain mess, pure and simple. There is no movement and no money for a Memorial for the Buffalo 10 as of today!
According to a local TV news reporter who interviewed one of the members of the 5/14 Memorial Commission, the city of Buffalo is way behind the process that was successful to the 3407 group that secured the land and the resources to erect a fitting Memorial to those who lost their lives in the fatal airplane crash, near Buffalo, a decade ago.
The politicians or those who are deciding, it seems, everything for this city, are putting people in key decision making places that don’t know how to advocate for the community and its people. It is coming up to the 2nd year of the Jefferson Avenue Massacre. That money should have been in place or at least we should know what agency or level of government is funding this Memorial project.
On second thought, what happened to the people from a national advocacy group who were meeting with the folks in Buffalo and holding community meetings, in schools and libraries last year? I thought people were donating lots of money to the victims and for the monument to be built.
In addition, there are many survivors, their family and friends and regular citizens who have not put aside their decision to not shop at a store where so many were slaughtered. Even if we don’t agree with them, we have to respect their position regarding this issue.
This is what happens when we elect people who put in folks who don’t have the will or the courage to challenge the system or its politicians, to get things done! People spent half of the summer holding meetings, passing out surveys and everything else – except identifying and securing a funding source!
With the problems surrounding this and other community issues, including the idea of putting a traffic tunnel, with no environmental impact statement review, smack dab in the middle of Humboldt Parkway, I think it is time to form a community citizen council to come to decisions and policies that benefit the whole and not the few who are led and controlled by those outside of our city and neighborhoods.