Do Something Southtowns arose directly out of the April 2025 protests at Niagara Square in Buffalo.
Some of the participants from the Southtowns carpooled together to the protests, then stopped at Tony’s Drive-In in Woodlawn on the way back after a very moist and cold event in Buffalo.
The conversation turned to the silent vigils held by women in South American countries to protest the “disappearances” of their loved ones by the brutal dictatorships of the 1970s and ’80s. A thought emerged: Why not do a silent vigil, just holding signs, at the traffic circle in Hamburg where Buffalo and Main streets meet? After all, the Trump adminstration had started “disappearing” people, including citizens and legal residents, almost immediately after returning to power.
Within a couple of weeks a small group of people (and yes, mostly women) was meeting every Thursday at 4 p.m. to picket for an hour (long enough to make a point, short enough to deal with the elements).
We started counting positive responses from those driving by (honks, waves, smiles). We started getting about 120 or more positive responses in an hour (an average of two a minute). We have never counted the negatives, choosing to respond positively with a smile or a wave.
Little by little, our little group has grown. First a dozen people, then more.
By November we realized that with Daylight Saving Time, it was dark by 4 p.m. on a Thursday, so we moved things to 11 a.m on Saturdays. Our numbers grew, and so did the positive responses, reaching well over 200 most weeks.
Then came the murders of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, and it was like a switch was tripped. Suddenly we were welcoming 50 or more people some weeks. People need outlets for their anger and frustration with the actions of our governments.
But it all started with just a handful of people over hot dogs and hamburgers by the lake after those protests.