William K. Donnegan was a prosperous shoemaker in Springfield, Illinois. In the 1850s and 1860s, Donnegan was also an Underground Railroad conductor well-known for sheltering many freedom seekers in his home as they escaped.
In August 1908, a “race riot” was brewing in Springfield and 80-year-old Donnegan, who was married to a white woman, sought police protection. But that protection never came. A white mob broke into his home and lynched him. His murder catalyzed the establishment of the NAACP.
One hundred sixteen years later, his descendant, Sonya Massey, who was living with mental illness, called the police to her Springfield home. Although she was afraid of the police, she thought she heard someone trying to break in. Less than an hour after Massey had called the police for help, Deputy Sheriff Sean Grayson shot her in the face. Donnegan and Massey were pronounced dead at the same hospital.
We have made many powerful changes for ourselves over the past century, but policing hasn't. Anti-Black violence can't be prevented when it's foundational to a system never intended to protect us.
Our people have always deserved long and beautiful lives without the fear of being killed by the police. Let's find ways to keep ourselves and each other safe physically, mentally, and spiritually. We all we got. Rest in power, Sonya and William.