6 minute read
Zeneta & Zaire's Book Club
from Vistas 2022
Mass Shooting Survivor Zaire Goodman and Mother Zeneta Everhart, ’08
Making Positive Change
BY KRISTEN SCHOBER
On Saturday, May 14, Zaire Goodman was at work at the Tops supermarket on Jefferson Avenue in the City of Buffalo. He was assisting a customer with her cart when he was shot at close range by a gunman who opened fire on the grocery store, ultimately injuring 2 other people and killing 10 more.
Between 2019 and 2020, Goodman attended Villa Maria College and was enrolled in our Achieve Program for students with learning differences. His mother, Zeneta Everhart, '08, whom he called after the shooter left him for dead, is a 2008 graduate and a current member of the College’s Board of Trustees.
By all accounts, Goodman is creative, talented, humble, and kind. Laura Pietak, director of the Achieve Program, worked closely with him while he was a student.
“Zaire is a great kid,” she said. “He is soft spoken and one of the nicest students to work with. He is open and approachable, and I saw him develop strong friendships with lots of other students. He was always helpful, often putting the needs of other students before his own and he was an advocate for his peers.”
Goodman used his Villa education in the Game Design Program to bring awareness to a topic he felt strongly about -- the global warming crisis. In 2019, he collaborated with other filmmakers and media artists through Buffalo Youth Media Institute to create 1988, a grant-funded film that addresses the climate crisis.
Since the shooting, Zaire’s passion for bringing good to the world has only strengthened. Likewise, Everhart said she felt a strong need to act in order to make the world a better place.
Together, they created Zeneta and Zaire’s Book Club. The mother-son duo put together an Amazon wish list of books that will help educate kids on racism, diversity, and inclusion. "That's what this is about. Put a book in a kid's hand, and you are not only giving them a mirror into themselves, but it's also a window," said Everhart. Since launching the Book Club in July, Goodman and Everhart have collected over 10,000 books from across the United States.
Because Goodman and Everhart are both valued members of the Villa community, the College offered them the space needed to house their impressive collection of books.
“I specifically wanted to do it at Villa because it’s the place where I took my first African American Literature course, taught by a white man, and that was huge for me,” said Everhart. “My parents taught us what they could growing up. We learned a lot about our history. But there were a lot of things we didn’t learn, and I learned that at Villa Maria College.”
“There is no more fitting home for Zeneta and Zaire’s Book Club than Villa,” said College president Dr. Matthew Giordano. “We are even more proud to support this initiative because of what it stands for - informing and enlightening our youth about racism and Black history. It is integral that we remain at the forefront of dialogue that counters disinformation with real education.”
“Zeneta is Villa personified,” continued Dr. Giordano. “She represents everything
Photo courtesy of Zeneta Everhart.
Help support Zeneta and Zaire's Book Club. Shop their wishlist by scanning the QR code.
we believe in, everything we aspire to be and do. As an alum, a Trustee, a parent, and a vital part of our family, she uses her considerable talents and intellect to make our community better, living out our core values each and every day. She is beloved, here and throughout Western New York.”
Making an impact beyond the Book Club, Everhart currently serves the Western New York Community as the director of diversity and inclusion for New York State Senator Tim Kennedy 63rd District. There, she has worked to draft diversity and inclusion legislation and helps to direct equitable resources to the East Side of Buffalo. Outside of her professional work, she established the Single Moms Club of Buffalo, a digital space for single mothers to connect, share, and engage socially.
In June, Everhart testified before the United States House of Representatives about the shooting that nearly killed her son. One of her points of emphasis was education, particularly the importance of an inclusive education that honestly and accurately teaches the history of race in our country.
Villa Maria College has doubled down on its commitment to combating racism and violence within its community.
“As a Catholic, Felician college, as a college of peace, as a college that promotes compassion and respect, as the local private college with the highest percentage of African-American students, as a college that is committed to and works closely with many organizations on the East Side, as a college that has Schiller Park and the East Side as its backyard, and as a college that furthers higher learning, Villa Maria College bears an important and critical responsibility in the days and years ahead,” said Dr. Giordano.
“It is our responsibility to lead. It is our responsibility to actively fight racism, hatred, and violence and to improve the communities that have been most affected
Listen. Learn. Act: Education's Role in Combatting Racism and Violence Panel Discussion.
by these scourges. It is our responsibility to dispel baseless and dangerous conspiracy theories, to counter disinformation with real education. It is our responsibility to foster dialogue and communication,” he concluded.
- DR. MATTHEW GIORDANO -
The College has taken action in many ways: • Villa contributed to and houses Zeneta and Zaire’s Book Club. • Several faculty and staff members have volunteered at the Johnnie B. Wiley
Center as part of the response effort. • We collected food and other goods that were donated to the Stanley Makowski
Early Childhood Center, PS# 99, to distribute to families. • We had a strong presence at the 2022
Juneteenth Festival. • College employees attended the Buffalo Niagara Partnership’s Diversity and
Inclusion Symposium.
In addition, Villa also hosted Listen. Learn. Act: Education’s Role in Combatting Racism and Violence, on campus in October. This event was a panel discussion meant to help educators, students, and community members prepare to deal with ongoing trauma and to create a more inclusive, responsible, anti-racist, communitydriven agenda during the academic year. The discussion was moderated by Ms. Everhart and Dr. Giordano, with panelists consisting of students and professionals in education roles throughout the community. Respondents included Mayor Byron Brown, Senator Tim Kennedy, Dr. Shahla Ahmad, MD, CCFP, and Dr. Katherine ConwayTurner. Learn more about the panel at Villa.edu/listen.
The College also offered Goodman a full tuition scholarship to complete his studies when he is able. The scholarship will be available to him for as long as he needs to complete his degree.
According to President Giordano, more action continues to take place behind the scenes. “We will continue our efforts in the coming years,” he said. “We are in this for the long haul. We must combat disinformation by insisting on the importance of education. We must combat violence by insisting on peace. We must combat apathy by insisting on justice. We must combat racism by insisting on equity.”
