Lighting a path toward better days: how your porch light can honor 5/14 victims

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — In four days, the city of Buffalo will mark the remembrance of the Tops shooting with a series of special events and conversations to honor their memory and uplift the community.

However, there is also something you can do, just outside of your home, and all it takes is the flip of a switch.

There's an old saying you might remember that goes "better days are still ahead." Buffalo historian and author, Dr. Eva Doyle, said she's heard it many times.

"Oh yes I've heard that," Doyle said. "You know, being a senior citizen, I think I've heard it all."

Doyle said when it comes to Buffalo's East Side, sometimes it feels like better days have already come and gone.

"When I was younger and growing up on the East Side of Buffalo," Doyle said, "we had a vibrant community. In the 1980s, we had a supermarket on Jefferson. It was called F.I.G.M.O.S and it was called F.I.G.M.O.S P.T.L. F.I.G.M.O.S stood for "Finally I Got My Own Supermarket. Praise The Lord."

But Doyle said financial troubles ultimately caused the market to close. Now, the Tops on Jefferson Avenue now serves as the sole resource for so many in her community.

Doyle said the stain the Tops massacre left behind makes it hard to see the light.

"How dare this racist killer come into our community and cause this havoc?" Doyle said.

"The pain and the grief is still in our community."

As hard as it may be, Doyle said the community must never forget and must never stop honoring the lives of those we lost. Doyle is encouraging everyone to pay their respects by turning on their porch light.

Doyle is hoping the evenings of May 12, 13, and 14, neighbors will unify and turn on the porch light. She said even if you don't have a traditional porch light there are other things you can do.

"If you have a battery-powered lantern like this that you can hang on your front porch," Doyle said.

She said people can also use old Christmas lights, candles, or just take a moment of silence each night. Doyle shared she's already had several people reach out and let her know they will be joining in and hopes even more will too.

And as far as the better days for a community that has been through so much, Doyle said while they may come little by little and piece by piece, they will come again.

"As long as we have good people working on these things, I believe, I have faith and I have hope that better days are ahead of us," Doyle said.