Buffalo Unveils Nation’s First Black Veterans Memorial
By Melvin Bankhead III
On Saturday, September 24, 2022, the African American Veterans Monument was unveiled at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park at Buffalo’s Canalside. It is composed of twelve black pillars, each representing a war in which African Americans fought to defend a freedom that was, historically, often denied them.
“This is the dedication, the unveiling, of not just Buffalo’s first, not just New York’s first, but our nation’s first African American veterans’ monument,” said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. “… We go way back with this story. … The Boston Massacre, the very start of our fight for freedom (from British rule). The very first casualty of that was a (Black) man named Crispus Attucks, and he died, the first one to die in our fight for freedom.” The tops of the pillars—each 10 feet tall and 3 feet wide—are lighted, to represent “the light in the window” that loved ones would burn as they waited for the servicemember to come home.
“The military heritage of African Americans is long, as long as the history of a Black presence in North America,” said Brenda L. Moore, Ph.D, an associate professor of sociology at the University at Buffalo. “The fact is, African American men and women have always been an integral part of the U.S. military, even though they were not always recognized for their service and often denied the very human rights they fought for. This monument gives us an opportunity to not only commemorate but also to educate ourselves and future generations about the contributions and sacrifices African Americans have made to the American ideals of freedom, liberty, and justice not just for some, but for all.”
Though located in Buffalo, the monument is intended to be national in its focus and representation. At ground level, there are 5,000 gray-and-black bricks, crafted to resemble the “dog-tags” issued to servicemembers. Each brick is intended to bear the name of an African American who served this nation in war. Of those, 550 have already been inscribed.
"There's not a war this country has ever been in that somebody who looked like me wasn't on the frontlines. Not ever,” said Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, who is credited for having the idea of building the monument in Buffalo. “And they're going to understand that because school children are going to take visits to this monument not just from Buffalo and Western New York but around the world.”
The longitudinal positioning of each column is designed to correspond to the location where a given conflict began, while the spacing between them represent times of peace.
The monument was designed by artist Jonathan Casey. Rep. Brian M. Higgins described Casey’s inspiration as follows: “For Jon, this wasn’t about war. It was about peace, it was about people, it was about seeing each other more clearly. … Jon believed his artistry could help us, and heal us, to see the truth and to see each other more clearly.” Casey died in 2020.
The pillars, according to the monument’s website, are “are placed in a chronological sequence, corresponding to the dates that each of the country’s 12 military conflicts took place. The matrix’s longitudinal coordinates represent the location where the war began. The spacing between the pillars represent peace times between each war.”
The funding for the $1.5 million monument came from various sources: $800,000 in grants from New York State; about $200,000 from the Buffalo & Erie County Greenway Fund; $100,000 each from Erie County, M&T Bank and Delaware North; about $100,000 from the City of Buffalo; and $50,000 each from Catholic Health and HSBC Bank USA. More funds were raised by selling memorial bricks.
A large crowd was on hand for the September 24 dedication of the monument.
“Having this monument is very important as many of our Black soldiers were not able to enjoy the fruits of their labor and this monument will keep their heroism and sacrifice that they gave to our country alive,” said Erie County Legislator Howard Johnson. “Their bravery paved the way as they fought for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the very principles that this country was founded on.”
Placed around the perimeter of the monument are interpretive plaques detailing the contributions of African Americans in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the American Indian Wars, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War and the Global War on Terror.
Warren K. Galloway, chairman of the monument’s board, credited the work of the late Fern E. Beavers as being key to the memorial’s creation. Beavers, 78, a registered nurse at the VA Western New York Healthcare System for nearly 50 years, died in 2019. “Fern was a major force behind the idea and the building of the monument. She and her organization (the Links) spearheaded the idea to Assemblywoman Peoples-Stokes, and she was an active member until she got sick,” said Galloway.
Beavers, manager of the Minority Veterans Program at the Buffalo Veterans Affairs Medical Center, “had always fully supported FULL recognition of African Americans in the military,” said Terence McGuire, the VA hospital’s public affairs officer. “Fern was amazing, and she taught me a lot about African American military history as it pertains to the first World War, and how a lot of our soldiers at that time could not fight alongside their White counterparts but they had to be assigned to French units and they distinguished themselves very well there.”
“Our mission at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park is to honor, educate, and inspire, and as well as preserve,” said McGuire, who is the board chairman of the Naval & Military Park. “And today, in perpetuity, we will do just that for our African American brothers and sisters in arms.”
