Community Meeting: Kensington Expressway 3/4 Mile Coverage Plan

By Anola McAllister

Fifty-six years ago on April 4, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King was in town to support the sanitation workers’ strike. The gruesome death of two workers on a sanitation vehicle sparked outrage leading to the strike for better working conditions and higher wages through collective bargaining.

Just as the strike was about economic justice and safety, a meeting was held at the Frank E. Merriweather Library on April 4, 2024 to honor the legacy of Dr. King through the juxtaposition of the environmental crisis over the years caused by Buffalo’s route 33 and plans to fill in a portion of the expressway as a remedy to supposedly bring black communities together. “What Would He Say About the Kensington Expressway Project” was the heading of the agenda. The Honorable Betty Jean Grant, former member of the Buffalo Common Council opened the meeting. Ras Jomo Akono presented insights from Dr. King’s final book published in 1967 entitled, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? Sherry Sherrill, Covington Associates Consulting discussed and emphasized “Environmental Racism Vis-a Vis the Kensington Project. Dr. Jennifer Roberts, Associate Professor School of Public Health, University of Maryland presented her research, From Negro Removal to Non-Highway Removal: Understanding How Environmental Racism Continues to Shape Buffalo.

  Members of the community were able to voice their concerns regarding health and economic stability. The audience expressed their gratitude for the presence of University Councilman, Rasheed N.C. Wyatt.    

Sherry Sherrill, Covington Associates Consulting

Betty Jean Grant, former member of the Buffalo Common Council

Ras Jomo Akono

Dr. Jennifer Roberts, Associate Professor School of Public Health, University of Maryland