It’s been almost a year since 10 Black people were shot to death by an avowed white supremacist at the Tops Market on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo. One of the victims was 86-year-old Ruth E. Whitfield, who had stopped to pick up garden seeds after visiting her husband of 68 years in a nursing home.
Her sons, Garnell and Raymond Whitfield, decided to turn the devastating event into an opportunity to honor their mother and counter hate and white supremacy with civic education. They are starting with an educational conference, “Pursuit of tRuth: May 14 Remembrance, Recovery, and Prevention of Hate,” which will take place on Friday, April 21, and Saturday, April 22, at Buffalo State University.
The conference is open to the public and free to attend, though monetary donations are requested.
Nationally and internationally recognized educators, attorneys, political leaders, and journalists have been invited to participate, including three keynote speakers: Jelani Cobb, dean of the Columbia Journalism School and a regular contributor to MSNBC; Alice Wairimu Nderitu, United Nations undersecretary general and special adviser on the prevention of genocide; and Benjamin Crump, attorney for social justice who serves as president of the National Civil Rights Trial Lawyers Association.
In addition, Eddie Glaude Jr., chair of the African American Studies Department at Princeton University, will speak at a closing gala at the Buffalo History Museum on Saturday night.
“The conference will focus on education and empowerment,” said Garnell Whitfield Jr., Ruth Whitfield’s older son and a former Buffalo fire commissioner. “At a time when people are pulling books off of shelves, denying our history, and expressing apathy, we want to take the narrative back. We also wanted to spotlight the work of Africana studies scholars, including those at Buffalo State.”
The Whitfields connected with Naila Ansari, Buffalo State assistant professor of theater and Africana studies, and John Torrey, assistant professor of philosophy and Africana studies, to organize the conference on campus. Both will participate in panel discussions, along with other members of the Africana studies faculty. Buffalo State’s Africana studies program, Theater Department, and Equity and Campus Diversity Office are sponsors of the event. Tops is providing food for the conference meals.
“Given how the white supremacy propaganda fueling the Tops massacre reached the masses through digital platforms,” Ansari said, “we wanted to explore how we can counter that kind of hatred within a university setting that is also connected to the community.”
The conference kicks off with a video event for students only on Thursday, April 20, at 12:15 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center 425. Students of Marcus Watson, assistant professor of Africana studies, will converse over Zoom with students at the University of Wyoming who are studying with Frederick Douglass Dixon, director of the university’s Black Studies Center.
“Their students are predominately White, while the students in Buffalo State’s Africana studies program are predominately Black,” Ansari explained. “We wanted to see what the conversation would look like between students from the different institutions regarding white supremacy and how hate can infiltrate college campuses.”
Conference panelists include Thomas Beauford, president and chief executive officer of the Buffalo Urban League; Terry Connors, Buffalo attorney and chair of the National Board of Advisors for the University at Buffalo School of Law’s Advocacy Institute, which includes the Innocence and Justice Project; Emmanuel Kulu Jr., founder and CEO of Ancient African Antiquities Research Institute of America (AAARIA); the Reverend Cassandra Gould, senior strategist with the Faith in Action Network; Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union; Fatima Morrell, associate superintendent of culturally and linguistically responsive initiatives with the Buffalo Public Schools; Amy Spitalnick, executive director of Integrity First for America; and Henry Lewis Taylor Jr., professor of urban and regional planning at the University at Buffalo.
Jericka Duncan, national correspondent and CBS Weekend News anchor, will moderate the panel discussions on Saturday.
Garnell Whitfield sees this conference as a catalyzing event intended to launch ongoing dialogues.
“The idea is to develop a digital platform to disseminate accurate information to our community,” Whitfield said. “I also would like to connect academics in Buffalo with one another to focus on what we can work on collectively, to be the change we want to see.”
All conference sessions will be held in Upton Hall’s Warren Enters Theatre, unless otherwise noted. The following agenda was current at the time of publication. Please check the event website for the most up-to-date information.
FRIDAY, APRIL 21
“A Taste of Old-School R&B” happy hour, beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the Buffalo History Museum, will wrap up the day’s events. Tickets are $75.
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SATURDAY, APRIL 22
The conference will culminate with “A Night of Elegant Resilience Launch and Fundraising Gala” Saturday at 6:00 p.m. at the Buffalo History Museum. Tickets are $135.
Guests may purchase tickets to the conference, the cocktail party, and the gala online. When registering for the conference, attendees can indicate an amount to donate or $0.
Photo by Mike Labrum.
