SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — On Monday, the Massey Commission convened a meeting and included guests to assist in their planning for community changes.
The commission is nearing its first anniversary, with the report deadline for enhancing equity in Sangamon County quickly approaching. Everything needs to be submitted by October.
“We were established following the death of Sonya Massey at the hands of a former deputy from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office,” JoAnn Johnson, co-chair of the Massey Commission, stated during the meeting. “We persist in expressing our condolences to her family and the larger community as we grieve her loss, while striving for justice, accountability, and significant transformations.”
In addressing some of their pressing questions, they invited three representatives from Forward through Ferguson, a nonprofit that was created after another commission disbanded following Mike Brown’s shooting in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014.
They recommended including numerous calls to action. The Ferguson Commission’s final report included 189 recommendations.
“Our approach is to propose as much as we can,” Bethany Johnson-Javois of Forward through Ferguson explained. “We all understand and believe that something will have an impact, but we can’t predict what it will be. Often, the things you expect to work don’t, and what you least expect ends up being effective.”
The Forward Through Ferguson leaders also recommend working with as many organizations as they can.
“We ended up mapping the work that we all did and realizing that it was complementary, not competition, and that the type of work this organization did is the type of work that this organization always turns down and the type of work this organization does is actually a great first step before you go to that organization,” Nicole Hudson, another representative with Forward through Ferguson, said.
The members said starting to recruit the next generation of activists is also essential.
“Start cultivating your own champions that don’t exist today but we need ten years from now, starting now,” Johnson-Javois said.
They also urged the commission to remember the original reason why they were formed.
“You never let people forget that at the end of the day, a family lost Miss Massey,” Johnson-Javois added.
