Courthouse Square vigil

To the Editor:

My parents taught me that actions speak louder than words.

One man acted. He disgraced his parents. He traveled to Buffalo, NY. He walked into a grocery store, and began shooting. He killed 10 people: Aaron Salter, Roberta Drury, Margus Morrison, Andre Mackneil, Geraldine Talley, Celestine Chaney, Heyward Patterson, Kat Massey, Pearly Young, Ruth Whitfield — all shopping for groceries on a quiet morning. Most were seniors. They were active in their churches, in their neighborhood, busy with families.

On a peaceful night in Sonora's Courthouse Square, 30 people gathered around portraits of these innocent victims. Our locals paid respect with prayers and silence while one woman read the names of the 10, and told of their lives and work. The group took turns expressing sorrow, asking how to act in the midst of more loss. They sang a hymn, “Amazing Grace.”

Two people stood near the street with “Black Lives Matter” signs. All those murdered in Buffalo were, in fact, Black American citizens. A few cars drove by, offering support. But others shouted, “F— Black lives.”

What about the life of a man buying a birthday cake? Or the life of a woman going home from church? Or the life of a man who gave someone a ride to the market?

What about Pearly Young, age 77? For 25 years, Pearly ran a food pantry in Buffalo and fed people in a local park every Saturday. Pearly loved dancing and singing. She was a mom, a grandma, a devout Christian. Didn't her life matter?

That man lived in a quiet, rural town, and like ours, predominantly white. Did that town's people think they had no racism? But they did. Their delusional shooter's loud actions committed another American tragedy of senseless gun violence.

Please, remember them, and change our words and actions. BZ Smith

Sonora