“Until we get justice for Sonya Massey, we rebuke this discriminatory criminal justice system in the name of Jesus.” These are the words of Ben Crump, a lawyer representing the family of Sonya Massey who was murdered by the police officer she called for help.

Massey’s murder was recorded on a police body camera. After Officer Sean Grayson shot the unarmed woman, his partner said he was going to get a kit to administer first aid. Grayson responded: “She’s done. You can go get it, but that’s a head shot.”

All of that is beyond horrifying, but one can hear the laughter in Grayson’s voice as he says, “She’s done.”

There are not words enough to express the injustice and the outrage and the grief. We too rebuke this discriminatory criminal justice system in the name of all that is good in and among people.

“When we call for help, all of us as Americans—regardless of who we are or where we live—should be able to do so without fearing for our lives,” President Joe Biden said in a statement after Massey’s murder. “Sonya’s death at the hands of a responding officer reminds us that all too often Black Americans face fears for their safety in ways many that the rest of us do not.”

How many times are we going to make this statement before there is real change?

In 2020, the New York Times reported on the murder of Breonna Taylor.

They chose to interview Andrea Ritchie, author of “Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color.” Ritchie is also co-author, with Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, a law professor at U.C.L.A. and Columbia Law School, of the Say Her Name report, which investigates police brutality against Black women.  Ritchie said the fact that the criminal justice system so rarely convicts police officers is a key reason activists should seek structural change.

“This is part of a larger pattern, and if we don’t interrupt the pattern, we’re going to be in this position again and again and again,” Ritchie said. “The system that killed Breonna Taylor is not set up to provide justice or reparations for the killing of Breonna Taylor.”

Here we are again.

The fact that Grayson is being held for murder is something, but how did he become a member of law enforcement to begin with? In response to Massey’s murder, Biden said: “Congress must pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act now. Our fundamental commitment to justice is at stake.”

This 2021 bill addresses a wide range of policies and issues regarding policing practices and law enforcement accountability. It increases accountability for law enforcement misconduct, restricts the use of certain policing practices, enhances transparency and data collection, and establishes best practices and training requirements.

The Stowe Center also urges Congress to pass this act; and especially to examine hiring and retention practices for people who are meant to protect other people. We also urge each and all of us to consider the root cause of the need for this act. Racism, systemic racism and white supremacy. And we encourage action.

The United States could be a country that upholds the idea that all people are created equal and that all people have the right and the opportunity to build a life that is purposeful and helps our many, varied, and beautiful communities thrive. This would not be an “us and them” nation, but a “we the people” nation.

Justice requires hard work. The government should be able to help this nation achieve justice—through fair laws and keeping all people accountable to those laws, but it cannot do so without each and all of us. Foremost, we need to vote. And we need to talk with one another specifically about white supremacy, with openness and with honesty.

Social justice requires action, not just reaction. As individuals we must take the responsibility to search for, identify, study, and strategize to change root causes of injustice. As individuals and as communities we can access empathy and—from that empathetic common ground—we can work together toward positive change.

Harriet Beecher Stowe was a social activist, and she was not alone—her basis for understanding the crisis was dependent on a constellation of Black people who inspired and influenced her. Before Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, she read the narratives of formerly enslaved people, she spoke with women and men who were freedom seekers and self-emancipators. She also spoke with other white people, honing her ideas and accessing strength to say out loud, this is wrong. Stowe made a decision to act in the way she knew she might make a difference, by writing. Through her literary activism, Stowe said Black lives matter.

As author Gish Jen wrote: “Harriet Beecher Stowe reminds us of our obligation to speak out against injustice regardless of our own situation or authorization to speak.” Stowe didn’t get it all right, but she did something.

Please do something now. Write to your representatives, talk to your friends and colleagues. Let’s build a nation that recognizes the humanity in each and all of us and honors that humanity with justice.

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The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center is committed to encouraging social justice and literary activism by exploring the legacy of Harriet Beecher Stowe and all who advocate hope and freedom then and now.

Further reading:

H.R.1280 – 117th Congress (2021-2022): George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

Illinois Police Release Body Camera Footage From Sonya Massey’s Death – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Sonya Massey shooting: Illinois police release bodycam video of fatal shooting of Black woman in her home | CNN

Statement from President Joe Biden on Sonya Massey | The White House

50 Black women have been killed by the police since 2015. Most of the officers who shot them didn’t face consequences. (businessinsider.com)

Since 2015: 48 Black Women Killed by the Police. And Only 2 Charges. – The New York Times (nytimes.com)