THE DEATH OF SONYA MASSEY IS A REMINDER THAT OUR POLICING SYSTEM IS BUILT ON VIOLENCE AND COMMUNITY DISTRUST
Pittsburgh, PA (July 23, 2024) - Newly released body camera footage out of Springfield, Illinois reveals the brutal murder of Sonya Massey, a 36-year old Black mother of two children who was fatally shot by police in her own home earlier this month. The body camera footage is sickening, painful, and a continued reminder that police officers often inflict harm in the form of fatal and non-fatal violence, on those they are charged with protecting and serving.
On July 6, 2024, Sonya called her local police because she suspected that a prowler was outside her home looking into her windows. When police arrived and started walking around her home, she invited them in and asked if they needed any other information from her. Within the next three minutes, standing at the stove in her kitchen, Sonya’s life was mercilessly taken by the responding Deputy Sheriff due to an unwarranted escalation in response to a trite exchange that resulted in brief miscommunication between Sonya and the Deputy Sheriff. This encounter is a stark reminder of why Black communities throughout the nation do not trust law enforcement to have our best interests in mind, even when we call them for help.
“The interconnectedness of white supremacy and policing is detrimental to our livelihood(s),” says New Voices Executive Director, Beulah Osueke, “Time and time again, Black people who call the cops seeking help are met with undue suspicion, aggression, and life threatening and/or ending violence. How are we supposed to trust a system that kills us when seeking help? Black women and folks who feel unsafe, in any given situation, shouldn’t live in perpetual fear of our lives being taken from those enlisted to support us.”
There is no reform for a system that is working as intended. Sonya Massey was robbed of life, and stripped from her family, friends, and community at the hands of state-sanctioned violence.
Lastly, New Voices calls on news outlets and journalists to stop sharing the body camera footage in articles related to Sonya Massey’s murder. It is possible to honor Sonya’s life and highlight the ills of police brutality without glorifying violence against Black folks for engagement.
For those communities interested in enacting community monitoring measures, the Safety and Justice Challenge has an in-depth toolkit that helps guide communities through the safety plan process. We stay safe when we keep each other safe. Learn more here.
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About New Voices for Reproductive Justice
New Voices for Reproductive Justiceis a multi-state organization based in Pennsylvania and Ohio that supports and builds power for and alongside Black women, Black queer folks, and Black marginalized people through leadership development, community care, resourcing, and mutual aid. Founded in Pittsburgh in 2004, our priority issues include Black maternal health, abortion access, voting rights, and Environmental Justice. New Voices advocates at the national, state and local level for Reproductive Justice - the Human Right of all people to control our bodies, sexuality, gender, work, reproduction and ability to form our families. Our long-term social impact goal is that Black women, femmes and girls live long, healthy and joyful lives.