Kat Massey, the mayor of Cherry Street, is laid to rest

In a summary of her life she wrote in 2012 and that was read Monday at her funeral, she told about creating a letterhead for the group, and of sending a letter to then-Gov. Mario Cuomo to complain about the condition of state property near her home. But what the governor couldn't know was, at that time, Massey was the only member of the block club.

Her devotion to her neighborhood and community continued throughout her life, and relatives, friends, clergy and politicians paid tribute to her at her funeral at Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church on Michigan Avenue, around the corner from her beloved Fruit Belt neighborhood.

Massey, 72, was one of 10 Black people shot and killed at Tops Market on Jefferson Avenue on May 14 by a self-described white supremacist.

In addition to writing her own obituary 10 years ago, she made plans for her funeral, including covering her casket with a Kente cloth.

The two-hour service was filled with music and rousing oratory, and more than a few shouts of Harambee! She often quoted the African saying, which means "All pull together," as a greeting and encouragement. 

"We thank you for her being a soldier on the battlefield for the moment. We thank you for her being a soldier in the community, for those people who cannot speak for themselves," said the Rev. Frank Bostic, pastor of Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church.

There were politicians in attendance, such as Rep. Brian Higgins, state Sen. Tim Kennedy, Erie County Legislator April Baskin and Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown. Civil rights leader Benjamin Chavis, president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, former CEO of the NAACP and a leader of the Million Man March, said the best tribute to Massey, who wrote for the Buffalo Challenger and Buffalo Criterion, is to keep her journalism alive.

"Who's going to pick up Katherine Massey's pen?" Chavis said. "Not only does Buffalo need healing, but America needs healing. Racism, white supremacy, all this hatred – God created all of us." 

Those who come after the dynamic Massey will have to be vigilant.

Bostic recalled one time Massey woke him up in the morning, and said he needed to be outside because crews were planting trees. She was outside telling the workers where to plant the trees. 

"They tried to take these new trees and she said 'No, no, no, no. We will put these trees right here. That goes with his house, we'll put the other one here, and that's what we're going to do about it,'" he recalled.

Known for cleaning up her neighborhood and keeping track of her community, Massey was active throughout Buffalo, often attending municipal and School Board meetings. 

"She was called the mayor of Cherry Street. Before that, she was like a governor. And more than that, she was a queen mother of this community," Brown said. "She was a leader, leading with warmth and intelligence and the power of her pen."

Massey wrote a letter to her family Jan. 9, 2012, not because she had been given bad news by a doctor, but because two people recently told her she looked just like her mother. She took that as a sign. She wrote that her sister Patti, and brother, Robert Jr., also looked like their mother before they died, too.

"That shows she was with them," Massey wrote. "I don't know why Patti has to be first, but my prayer is for me to be the next to go. I'm overdue."

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Unity and love are the greatest things, she told her family.

"I told Patti, 'don't let me be a wimp when it's my time,' and I believe she will do so," Massey wrote. "Remember the countless great times and whatever we have shared together. With love big time, Harambee!"

As pall bearers carried her casket out of the church and were placing it into the hearse, her family and friends once more chanted "Harambee, Harambee!"