May 17, 2021
Dear SSW Community,
I’m writing on behalf of all of us to acknowledge and decry the senseless act of hate and anti-Black racist violence that took the lives of ten people at the Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, NY just earlier this week. This shooting was perpetrated by someone who made a choice to travel hours to this market, to target it specifically because it was located in a predominately Black neighborhood. Our collective hearts and minds are with, in the deepest of sympathy, solidarity, strength, and power, the families and loved ones of those who were senselessly murdered in our own state of NY. Their names are:
Roberta A. Drury, 32, of Buffalo
Margus D. Morrison, 52, of Buffalo
Andre Mackniel, 53, of Auburn, New York
Aaron Salter, 55, of Lockport, New York
Geraldine Talley, 62, of Buffalo
Celestine Chaney, 65, of Buffalo
Heyward Patterson, 67, of Buffalo
Katherine Massey, 72, of Buffalo
Pearl Young, 77, of Buffalo
Ruth Whitfield, 86, of Buffalo
We see them and acknowledge them and all of what their lives have been.
While words are deeply important and have enormous meaning, they are never enough in the face of this kind of hate-filled act of violence that targets people for who they are. There have been other violent acts of hate, informed by bias against difference, that have led to tragic loss as well over the last couple of days. It seems that we are living and participating at a time when we will find ourselves looking at, seeing, experiencing the devastating outcomes of division, broken systems, and people making choices to activate their fear through violence propelled by ignorance and hate. We acknowledge and see all of the lives lost and others forever changed by these acts.
As a School of Social Welfare, our words matter, but there must also be more than words. It is our responsibility and ethical mandate to stand against racism, violence and bias against groups of marginalized people, structural inequity, policies and laws that obliterate people’s right to be who they are and to have the same access to safety, freedom, rights, and choice as all others. It is our opportunity and our mandate to translate words into action through advocacy, on-the-ground practice, standing in the values of our profession to work tirelessly to, through collaboration and community, create the kind of positive change our society and world needs.
We are also specifically mindful of members of our collective community who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or Persons of Color and all others of minoritized social identities. I encourage us to come together and stand in unity, and provide the kinds of strength and support that comes from our sense of collectivism. As change agents we are better when we come together. I invite you all to take care of yourselves and each other, and in taking care to consider how we best use ourselves as a community to live the values of our profession and work toward defining and enacting a more just and more equitable society.
For a message from President McInnis, please follow this link – in it she includes a list of resources available to our SBU community
https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/pres/from_president/message_051522.php
In solidarity, strength, and community,
Shari E. Miller, PhD, MSW
Dean & Professor
School of Social Welfare
Stony Brook University
