Sonya Massey recalled at historic church on monumental day in Springfield

Even if she didn't know her, Lisa Clanton said she felt a connection to Sonya Massey, who was fatally shot by a Sangamon County Sheriff's deputy in her home on July 6.

"We're Black women," Clanton said before Wednesday's memorial for Massey at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, which was founded in 1895. "She called for help. Unfortunately, help did not come to her. Quite the opposite, she lost her life to someone who was supposed to protect and to serve.

"I see myself reflected in her in that dire situation."

The church, and faith, also connected Clanton, 46, and Massey, 36. She called Massey "my sister in Christ."

Both grew up in the Baptist tradition and Clanton well understood Massey's directive at Sean Grayson—"I rebuke you in the name of Jesus"—before he shot her in the face inside her home after she called 911 for a possible prowler.

"She was rebuking an evil presence that she recognized in the sheriff deputy," Clanton said. "He was confused and didn't understand cultural reference."

About 100 people gathered for the service, which featured civil rights attorney Ben Crump , who also represents the Massey family. Donna Massey, Sonya's mother was present along with Jeanette "Summer" Massey and Malachi Hill-Massey, Sonya's children.

Wednesday also marked the 116th anniversary of the start of the Springfield Race Riot. It was announced earlier in the week that President Joe Biden intended to use the Antiquities Act to make the site, along the 10th Street railroad tracks at Madison Street, a national monument under the National Park Service.

More: Report: President Biden to make Springfield race riot site a national monument

Fittingly, Sontae Massey, Sonya's first cousin, explained to the gathering that the family had ties to William Donnegan, an elderly Black man and one of the city's best-known citizens, whose throat was slit and body hung during the riot.

Crump, reciting a long list of Black victims who had been shot by police or others in authority, cautioned that it was time for Springfield to stand up for Massey.

"We can't be scared," Crump challenged. "We have to speak truth to power."

Recalling a quote from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Crump said the coward will ask the question, Is it safe? Expediency, he said, will ask the question, Is it politically correct? Vanity will come along and ask, Is it popular?

"Conscience comes along," Crump said quoting King, "and asks the question, Is it right? My brothers and sisters, it is the right thing to do to stand up for Sonya Massey. It's the right thing to do to speak up for Sonya Massey. It is the right thing to do to fight for Sonya Massey."

Pleasant Grove pastor, the Rev. William DeShone Rosser, said the evening struck "a 10 out of 10."

"Everything I had in mind came about and more," Rosser admitted. "The choir lifted us and got us inspired. (Ben) Crump preached tonight, and he touched our spirits, touched out hearts."

Clanton said a fallout from Massey's death is that it has brought the Springfield community together, evident at rallies and gatherings supporting the Massey family. Clanton said she took part in a rally at Comer Cox Park on a National Day of Mourning for Massey on July 28.

"She gave her life," Clanton said of Massey, "hopefully to move us forward, to call for reform, everything from the sheriff retiring to reform in hiring practices to transparency in background checks."

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie .

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Sonya Massey recalled at historic church on monumental day in Springfield