******Trigger Warning ******

Sonya Massey was a cherished member of her community, who found joy in hairstyling and treasured moments with her family. Tragically, on July 6, her life was cut short by the very police she called for help in Springfield, IL. Concerned about an intruder, she reached out to law enforcement, only to be met with fatal violence instead of protection. Her family laid her to rest on July 19.

Despite initial misinformation from local authorities seeking to blame Sonya for her own death, the body camera footage released on July 22 revealed the devastating truth of how a call for help ended in her execution by Sangamon County Deputy Sean Grayson.  Local organizers have created healing spaces for Sonya Massey’s community to begin processing this immense loss. 

We must acknowledge how disability plays a role in this murder. This moment highlights a critical systemic issue: as extensively documented in Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color, Black women who call for help are all too often killed or harmed by police. Indeed, according to research by Washington University in St. Louis, Black women are the demographic group most likely to be killed by police when unarmed.  

At In Our Names Network, we are committed to fighting for a world where Sonya Massey would still be with us. Our mission is to support and amplify network members’ calls to action, resources, and local campaigns to prevent and demand accountability for individual cases and systemic police violence against Black women, girls, trans, and gender nonconforming people. We leverage our collective power through nationally coordinated campaigns that drive systemic change.

The current system of policing is a source of death and danger for Black women, queer, and trans people, not a source of safety. The indictment of Sangamon County Deputy Sean Grayson on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct will not stop this cycle of violence. Previous prosecutions in cases where Black women like Atatiana Jefferson, Yvette Smith, and Bettie Jones have been killed by police responding to calls for help have shown that they do not prevent future tragedies. 

We stand with the community of Springfield, IL, and we are dedicated to realizing a world where Sonya Massey would still be here. We believe that true safety from all forms of violence for Black women, girls, trans, and gender nonconforming people lies in a world without policing. We envision a world where all needs are met accessibly and abundantly; in which our communities are not just a place, but a way of being committed to violence prevention, intervention, healing, and transformative justice. It is where we can nurture a luscious imagination rooted in abolition and live in the maintenance of safety, liberation, and freedom. 

We stand with the community of Springfield, IL, and we are dedicated to realizing a world where Sonya Massey would still be here. We uplift and support the work of network members, local organizers, and groups nationwide working towards this vision by developing and supporting community crisis response that could have saved Sonya Massey’s life, including the Anti-Police-Terror Project, Interrupting Criminalization.

We must emphasize that prosecutions and reforms, including the misnamed “Justice in Policing” Act, that would give millions more dollars to police departments like the one that killed Sonya Massey without doing anything to prevent her killing, leave the fundamental nature and daily operations of policing intact and will not protect us. As one of our co-founders Andrea Ritchie, highlighted in #NoMorePolice, we advocate for DEFUNDING and ABOLISHING the police, not merely reforming them—because the system, as it stands, is irreparable.

Our theory of change is rooted in the belief that by bolstering and echoing our network members’ calls to action and local campaigns, we can prevent and demand accountability for both individual and systemic police violence. By leveraging our collective strength through nationally coordinated campaigns, we aim to drive significant systemic change.

Join our call to action to prevent and demand accountability for individual cases and systemic police violence against Black women, girls, trans, and gender nonconforming people like Sonya Massey by joining our #GrievingSonyaMassey actions and creating commemorative sites and community altars and memorials to honor Sonya Massey’s life both locally and virtually in the coming weeks. Check out our toolkit for more details on how you can get involved and support this vital work.

We also invite you to stand in solidarity with local communities working to build non-police crisis response programs and create community ecosystems of collective care so that the next time a Black woman calls for help, she is met with care, compassion, and resources, not violence. 

In Solidarity,

Lauren Williams Batiste
Executive Director, In Our Names Network

 

Sydney Kesler 

Rapid Response Organizer & Campaign Strategiest, In Our Names 

 

Network Members  

 

Andrea J. Ritchie 

Co-founder, In Our Names Network and Interrupting Criminalization

Tamika Spellman

Executive Director, Grammy's Place

 

Sydney McKinney

Executive Director,  National Black Women's Justice Institute
 
Janae Bonsu-Love 

Director of Research and Advocacy, National Black Women's Justice Institute

Jennifer Dillon  

Managing Director of Communications, Advancement Project

Jasmine Harris  

Housing Organizer, Black Lives Matter Louisville

Tammaka Staley  

CEO of YASÉ & Healing Justice Rep for In Our Names Network

 

Bianca Gomez

Co-Executive Director,  Freedom, Inc. 

Ayanna Maddox

Janiah Miller

Rachel Williams

 

Allied Organizations & Individuals

Chicago Volunteer Doulas

Chicago Quilombo

Family of Keara Crowder

BYP100 Chicago Chapter

Melonie Griffiths

Co-Executive Director, Freedom to Thrive

Alejandra Torres

CEO&Founder, Casa Galenia PLLC

Nathaniel Moreau

Field Director, The Black Collective

 

Juanisha Saunders

Director, Helping Hands Of Love

Luz Marquez Benbow

Founder, IamNegrx

Justice Gatson

Executive Director/Social Justice Doula, Reale Justice Network

Vanessa Green

Co-Creator, Call BlackLine®

Angie Garner

Organizer, Buddhist Justice Collective

Céshia Elmore

Community Organizing and Engagement Manager, New Voices for Reproductive Justice

Jill Morrison

Director, Georgetown Law

Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari
Co-Executive Director, Alliance for Quality Education

Pamela Cook
Chaplain, Sojourner Truth Community

Dani Padilla
Co-Director, Resource Mobilization, Buddhist Peace Fellowship

Idil Abdillahi
Assistant Professor, School of Disability Studies, Toronto Metropolitan University

Khalilah Collins
Director, DOVE Delegates

LaTanya Bell
Co-Executive Director, Wisdom Institute

Jamarah Amani
Executive Director/ Midwife, Southern Birth Justice Network

Jae Shepherd
National Organizer, Abolishing Patriarchal Violence Movement for Black Lives

Marion Clarke
Assistant Vice President of Advocacy & Data, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio

 
Tarshia Green-Williams

Savannah Shange

Deanna Robertson

Kashia Knight

Damala Denny

Reagan Dunham

Nia Oden-McCann

MawuLisa Thomas-AdeyemoParisa Naini

Rae Wright Ingram

Patricia Rodney

Shaeeda Mensah

Catron Booker

Kate Topping

Paige Mitchell

Quanice Floyd

Patrice Franklin

AA Valdivia

Project Hajra

Krystal Leaphart

Sherrill Futrell

Sojourner Rivers