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CHALLENGER COMMUNITY NEWS
Community Mourns Minister Florence
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The founding president of FIGHT (Freedom, Independence, God, Honor, Today), he was the face of Black power in Rochester in the 1960s. He stared down Kodak at the height of its power to obtain jobs for Black Rochesterians, and changed the call for civil rights from a request to a demand.
In a statement, Mayor Malik Evans called Rev. Florence “a giant among giants in Rochester’s proud legacy of social justice and civil rights.”
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BMHA Dedicates Ferry-Grider Homes: Community Room In The Memory Of Shaquelle Walker, Jr.
The Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority (BMHA) joined with Most Valuable Parents of Buffalo (MVP) recently to honor Shaquelle Walker, Jr., by dedicating the Ferry Grider Homes community room in his memory.
The 3-year-old Ferry-Grider Homes resident was riding his bike along Donovan Drive during a family Fourth of July celebration, in 2021 when he was struck by a bullet from a drive-by shooting.
“By dedicating the Ferry Grider Community Room in Shaquelle’s memory, we hope it serves as a lasting reminder of the devastating consequences of gun violence. The Walker and Jenifer family lost a son, and this community lost an innocent young resident because of a senseless act of violence,” said BMHA Executive Director Gillian D. Brown.
"Nothing will ever erase the pain and heartache of losing Shaquelle and many other innocent people to senseless gun violence that has no place in our community. ” Mayor Byron W. Brown stated. “Dedicating the community room in Shaquelle’s memory means he’ll never be forgotten. My family thanks everyone involved for this kind gesture to honor our sweet little boy,” said Danetta Jenifer, Shaquelle’s mother.
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Emotions in the courtroom reached a fever pitch and overflowed when Barbara Massey, sister of victim Katherine Massey, was speaking.
From Scripture to Outrage!
Emotional Testimony Followed by Life Sentence for Racist Killer in Tops Massacre. Shooter Still Faces Federal Charges That Carry a Possible Death Penalty.
Payton Gendron, the White supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday after relatives of his victims confronted him with the pain and rage caused by his racist attack.
Gendron, who is also facing federal hate crimes charges, could still face the death penalty.
The testimony on Wednesday was heart wrenching; the pain still raw as family members struggled through their tears while they remembered their lost loved ones who were murdered in the racist fueled massacre. They spoke of vengeance and redemption
Kimberly Salter, the widow of Aaron Salter, the heroic security guard who was killed trying to save others, was the first to speak. She read several powerful scriptures from the Bible, the pain of losing her husband still etched in her face; resting her case on her faith in God. "You will reap what you sow," she told Gendron.
Speaking on behalf of victim Margus Morrison, Michelle Spight said, “Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord.”
The spokesperson for the Whitfield family called Gendron "a cowardly racist" and said that everyone who helped him in any way needed to be held accountable as well and not protected as they have been.
Emotions in the courtroom reached a fever pitch and overflowed when Barbara Massey, sister of victim Katherine Massey, excoriated Gendron, calling him calling him a “punk-ass” and saying she’d like to strangle him with her own hands.
"We are extremely aware that you are not a lone wolf but part of a network of domestic terrorists...but we are unbreakable." She had to regain her composure when she spoke of "our dear grandmother who taught us the power of love and even in our darkest hour we will ensure that her legacy will be that love."
"You killed my sister!" she screamed. "My sister Katherine Massey was a great person…you come to our city and decide to kill Black people – man you don’t know a damn thing about Black people…we’re human. We'd never go to no neighborhood and take people out…" she screamed.
At one point during her statement, a man who’d been standing beside her charged toward Gendron causing marshals to rush Gendron out of the courtroom and halting the proceedings for a brief time before resuming.
Gendron read an apology to the victims at the end of their testimonies, but few if any bought into it as it was seen largely as just an attempt to avoid the death penalty.
Africa The Home of Human Civilization
Africa provides a comprehensive time line of human development going back at least 7 million years. Africa, which developed the world's oldest human civilization, gave humanity the use of fire a million and half to two million years ago. It is the home of the first tools, astronomy, jewelry, fishing, mathematics, crops, art, use of pigments, cutting and other pointed instruments and animal domestication. In short Africa gave the world human civilization.
•Complete Time Line of human evolution found only in Africa. Chad 7 million years ago Ethiopia 5 million years ago South Africa 3.5 - 4 million years ago
•Oldest Stone Tools: dated back to 2.5 million years ago in Ethiopia and other parts of the Rift Valley
•Oldest Fossils of Modern Man (Homo sapiens, Sapiens) 195,000 years ago in Ethiopia
•Oldest Example of Fishing - 110,000 years ago, N. E. Africa & South Africa
•Oldest Barbed Points & Hook, 70-90,000 years ago, N.E. & South Africa
•Oldest Jewelry Beads, 90,000 years ago, Central & South Africa
