Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” performed Sunday at Delaine Waring A.M.E. Church, set the tone for the hourlong, special Black History Month service attended by five surviving families of the 13 people killed or wounded on May 14, 2022, by a white supremacist at a Tops supermarket on Buffalo’s East Side.
“It’s been a long/A long time coming, But I know/A change gon’ come/Oh yes, it will,” sang Jaylah Rouse, with organist Vernell Bradley and drummer Kelly Funderburk accompanying her.
“The song ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ means something to them just like it means something to me,” the Rev. Earl Perrin Jr. said after asking the family members to identify themselves. “Because I know that people like them are willing to stand up, and not run and hide for fear something like that will happen to them. These are my heroes.”
With that, the families of those killed were given a round of applause.
Rouse and Bradley switched off on vocals for Mariah Carey’s “Hero,” with the lyrics, “So when you feel like hope is gone/Look inside you and be strong/And you’ll finally see the truth/That a hero lies in you.”
“Those lives were not lost in vain,” said State Sen. Tim Kennedy, one of several politicians or their representatives in attendance. “I know that because of the change that has been driven by these incredible families seeking justice, seeking a better community, seeking a better nation, like the ancestors whose shoulders we stand on.”
The vocalists took turns singing verses on Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready,” with the chorus, “People get ready/There’s a train a-coming/You don’t need no baggage/You just get on board/All you need is faith/To hear the diesels humming/Don’t need no ticket/You just thank the Lord.”
That song amplified the message of hope and positive change as Assistant Pastor Leonard Williams, at times in a soaring voice, recalled the historic role of the Black church in pressing for social justice. Perrin cited the…
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