As the month of May approaches each year, Marnetta Malcolm is brought to tears — mourning alongside former neighbors still reeling from the racist massacre that attempted to shatter her childhood community in Buffalo, New York. “It starts now,” Malcolm told Capital B in an interview nine days before the third anniversary of the murder […]
Buffalo shooting
Posted inCriminal Justice, Gun Violence
A Year After Tragedy Gripped Buffalo, Its Black Community Waits For Promises to be Kept
The Rev. Diann Holt lived in a food desert in Cold Springs, the Blackest community in Buffalo, New York, for most of her life — until a racist and deadly mass shooting at a Tops Friendly Markets supermarket last year. “I got sick of being deprived of what I should have,” she says about her […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Does Sentencing Day Help Families Heal, or Open Old Wounds?
More than 30 years ago, a news camera was allowed inside a Milwaukee courtroom to capture the sentencing of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. The hearing started with friends and relatives of the 17 victims who chose to give impact statements. One by one, they calmly entered the courtroom and approached a podium several feet from […]
Posted inInside Capital B
These Were Some of the Most Important Stories for Black America in 2022
We launched Capital B in January with a mission to produce high-quality journalism that centers Black voices and helps our readers live more informed lives. With national reporters located around the country and our first local newsroom in Atlanta, our teams reported from communities that mainstream news bypassed and unveiled important stories that others overlooked. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Gun Violence
Racist Buffalo Shooter Pleads Guilty, but Healing for Families Is Uncertain
Buffalo, New York, residents expressed relief that justice will be served in state court after a self-proclaimed white supremacist pleaded guilty Monday to killing 10 Black people in a neighborhood grocery store this spring. But some are concerned that the many lingering questions about the horrendous attack will remain unanswered without a public trial. The […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Gun Violence
The Buffalo Tops Supermarket Reopens 60 Days Later Despite Community Pushback
Tops Friendly Markets has reopened its Buffalo, New York, grocery store where 10 people were killed in a racist massacre in May, a decision that has outraged residents who hoped the location would be turned into a memorial. The predominantly Black community also has expressed dismay that the tragedy has not prompted officials to fulfill […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Gun Violence
The Reading List: How Black Buffalo Became the Target of White Supremacist Hate
The Tops grocery store where a gunman killed 10 people this month is now the site of one of the deadliest acts of racial violence in recent United States history. The rampage targeted a Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, that has suffered generations of segregation, pollution, and neglect. The 18-year-old charged in the shooting […]
Posted inCulture, History
‘Don’t Forget About Us’: Generations of Neglect Preceded Attack on Black Buffalo
BUFFALO, N.Y. — One of this city’s main thoroughfares is crossed by a prominent, white archway marked with large black letters: “African American Heritage Corridor.” Michigan Avenue is home to historic buildings and stained-glass chapels, but the most important one sits beside the arch: a 177-year-old, red-brick church, memorialized as the last stop of the […]