Show Up For Black Women
Yeah that one but also one you aren't talking enough about
I started five separate VP Kamala Harris posts and didn’t finish any of them. Not that they aren’t important—they are— but there are so many people with takes that I am not vain enough to think mine is needed right now. Ain’t nobody comin’ to hear what I got to say on her…
Trust, there will be some pieces at some point. I do want to talk about misconceptions of her record, and baseless racist attacks like saying she is both too Black and not Black and also not a citizen…wut?
But as other people rightfully command the discourse around MVP( READ THIS), I wanted to bring more attention (with what little platform I’m creating) to another Black woman who not only needs us to show up, but needs the story out there even more.
Sonya Massey.
On July 6th of THIS YEAR Sonya Massey reached out to police about fears of an intruder in her home. Yes, in HER HOME. For those who are unfamiliar, this is a big thing for her to do. As a general rule in the Black community we don’t call the police unless absolutely necessary. We don’t call because even when we are the victims, we are immediately given the status of the aggressor. So the fact she called is testament enough to the severity of the situation.
Knowing how we are often treated, when she opened the door to allow police in her first words were, “Don’t hurt me.”
This is telling and heartbreaking that in her moment of need, first instinct was to pacify those who were supposed to serve and protect her safety.
As the police began the process of interviewing her for the report, again SHE WAS SCARED, she nervously rifled through her things to provide documentation they demanded. She also had been cooking when she called the police. As she looked for documents, one officer made a flippant remark about not adding a fire to the situation. While Massey was unmoved, he began YELLING about the potential for fire. Flummoxed, she went to remove a cooking pot from the stove— and her world ended.
In the video released, in that moment former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson upped the ante of the interaction that killed Sonya Massey.
A brief rundown:
Massey went to retrieve the pot on the stove.
Grayson, for some reason yells “You better (expletive) not or I swear to God I’ll (expletive) shoot you in your (expletive) face.”
He then pulled his 9mm pistol and demanded she drop the pot.
Massey said, “OK, I’m sorry.”
In Grayson’s body camera footage, he pointed his weapon at her. She ducked and raised her hands, saying sorry.
Grayson was still in the living room, facing Massey and separated by a counter dividing the living room and kitchen.
Grayson fired THREE SHOTS one into her face.
Prosecutors have said the separation allowed Grayson both “distance and relative cover” from Massey and the pot of hot water.
After Grayson shot her, Grayson discouraged his partner from grabbing a medical kit to save her. He added: “What else do we do? I’m not taking hot (expletive) boiling water to the (expletive) face”
Grayson later said, though not supported by facts or..checks notes..video that she came after him with boiling water.
Unmoved by his retelling of “facts,” Grayson was later both fired and charged in the killing of Sonya Massey.
While this plays out, that brings us to look at yet another unnecessary killing of an unarmed Black person at the hands of law enforcement. That he was charged is of little solace to her family. Little solace to the scores of other Black people in America who have no one to call when we are the victim and in need of help.
The hard part is no one is really talking about this. We have become so accustomed to this in America that this news on July 6 was quite literally just another Saturday.
As we talk about a better America and a possible Black woman as President. We should also speak to the needed change in this country and to the humanity of another Black woman we are not talking enough about.
Sonya Massey.