Black Lives Matter Rhode Island PAC and PSL host vigil for Sonya Massey

"...when we look at the history of the civil rights movement, it was about building the power of the community...”

The Black Lives Matter Rhode Island PAC (BLM RI PAC) invited the community to join a vigil in honor of Sonya Massey at the Rhode Island State House on Sunday evening. The event was held in cooperation with the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). Around 120 people attended in the light rain. On July 6, 2024, Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, was shot and killed in her home by a deputy from the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office in Woodside Township near Springfield, Illinois. You can watch the entire video here:

“We come together as a community to mourn the death of Sonya Massey, but also to celebrate life as a community coming together to ensure that things like this do not happen here,” said Harrison Tuttle, President of the BLM RIPAC, introducing the vigil. “What we know about police brutality, what we know about violence, particularly when it comes to the police, whether it results in death or emotional or physical trauma, it happens here in Rhode Island.”

“When the news about Sonya Massey came to me,” said Mocorah Lewis, a sociology major at Howard University, acting as emcee. “I [decided] I want to do something. I'm tired. Breonna Taylor. Sandra Bland. It can't keep on happening. We Black women keep getting disrespected and abused and I'm tired of it.”

“The life of Sonya Massey [was] cut too short by a man who represents the racism and ableism the system of policing this country perpetuates and was founded on,” said Anya Arroyo from the Providence Student Union (PSU). “We see, time and time again, the bias and prejudice that floods our law enforcement and forced into our communities that lack privilege or power.”

Eugenie Belony read a poem:

“My son suffered at the hands of police brutality. 2013, March 5th - My birthday,” said Suzette Cook, an organizer with Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE). “And from that day to this moment, every year, one night after another, people are dying at the hands of the people who are supposed to serve and protect us. They're killing us. I struggle with that...”

“Some things have indeed shifted since 2020,” said Michelle from the Party for Socialism and Liberation. “Things are changing because of our power because of the power of the people. Before 30 million people marched to convict the officer who murdered George Floyd, police officers were almost never indicted, never mind convicted. Even this officer would never have been charged without the people of Illinois and the United States taking to the streets.”

“Most of you know that I'm speaking during the most tragic chapter in my people's history,” said Loubna Qutami of the Palestinian Feminist Collective. “Since October, 186,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered. And that slaughter only fuels my, and my community's passion to fight the genocidal regime that is governing land and life in my homeland...”

“All social transformations that have been achieved, such as civil rights movements, were successful because those directly affected were in the leadership,” said Isis Grafals, Secretary of NAACP New England Area Conference Youth & College Divison. “Many people have reduced the notion of racism into individual bigotry to make changes to people's morals, but when we look at the history of the civil rights movement, it was about building the power of the community...”

Zainabou Thiam with a poem:

Richard Addison, 83 years old, shared the story of his recent arrest at the hands of the Pawtucket Police. His story differs from the story told by the officers on the scene.

“Sonya Massey, a woman whose life was taken far too soon, lived with paranoid schizophrenia, a condition that deserved understanding and compassionate care, not to be met with violence,” said Reilly Shivers from the BLM RI PAC. “Her murder serves as a reminder of the systematic failures that perpetuate such tragedies...”

“Sonya Massey was a 39-year-old African American woman, a mom, a daughter, [and] a child of God. Her legacy reminds us that the struggle for equality is still ongoing,” said Diane Holland, a Youth Activist from Pawtucket. “How many more times do we have to say, ‘Enough is enough?’”

Mocorah Lewis closed the vigil with a moment of silence.

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