Black Men: Sitting Down To Stand Up For Community
By Betty Jean Grant
Betty Jean Grant
This writer believes there are not too many persons across this country who don’t know about the incident of a Buffalo black female allegedly beaten with a stick by the Bengali own er or manager of a store named Mandella Market.
The stores were con structed and owned by an African immigrant male who opened the first of two so named Mandella Markets stores/ gas stations over the past 20 years. However, unknown by many of the patrons of the establishments, the two stores were leased out several years ago to individuals who had little to no community or cultural connections to the customers who came in and exchanged their hard-earned cash for gas, beer, cigarettes or lottery tickets.
That lack of cultural misunderstanding or insensitivity is partly what led to the big blow up that caused one store to be closed by the city off Buffalo for licenses violations and the beating of the female customer. The other store was temporarily closed by its owner, to avoid any confrontation by overzealous city residents who may forget that both stores have different managers and owners.
So, last Saturday, over 70 men from different generations, socio economic classes and geographical locations, convened inside of a small, neat and welcom ing church on Northland Ave. The church, Cold Spring Bible Chapel, pas tored by the Rev. Kenny Simmons, is rich in the history of famous (and some of them infamous) African American residents who branches out into the Cold Spring/ Hamlin Park neighbor hoods from their original settlement domain near the William, Oak, Elm streets, during the 1950s and beyond.
I was told that the gathering was positive, for the most part, and that this group is com mitted to meeting not only the Mandella Market issue, but other concerns such as homelessness, inability to secure afford able and decent housing, and lack of job or business opportunities facing our communities.
I don’t know how much was accomplished during this initial startup meeting but the fact that so many showed our com munity’s sons, brothers and fathers showed up, is a good start.
Let us women stand back and give our men the opportunity to re- affirm or to regain their rightful place in their neighborhoods and in communities all across this beautiful city.