With one listening session under its belt, the newly formed PURPLE Coalition is beginning what its members hope will be years of advocacy on behalf of Blacks and other chronically disadvantaged people in the Springfield area.
Tiara Standage, president of the People United for Reform, Power, Liberation and Equity Coalition, said the organization was born out of frustration surrounding a lack of progress in resolving longstanding racial inequities in economic opportunity, public safety and law enforcement.
“We just see a lot of talking in our community, honestly, and a lot of the problems that are in the community, especially on the east side, are still present,” Standage told Illinois Times after an Oct. 14 news conference announcing the coalition’s formation.
Made up entirely of volunteers and organized as a limited liability company, the Springfield-based coalition will “bring our community together, not through fear or division, but through understanding and community,” she said. “We will keep listening, keep organizing and keep pushing until justice, transparency and compassion are the standard, not the exception,” she said.
Standage said the group’s name is an “ode” to Sonya Massey, the 36-year-old Black woman who was murdered in her home in Woodside Township, just outside the borders of Springfield’s east side, in July 2024 by former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson. The acronym formed by the coalition’s name was Massey’s favorite color.
Grayson, 31, was found guilty of second-degree murder in Massey’s death on Oct. 29. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 29.
Massey’s death spawned the creation of the Massey Commission, a grassroots group financially supported by the Sangamon County Board that held months of public meetings and recently issued 26 “calls to action” for the community.
Massey Commission Managing Director Kelly Hurst said the commission’s funding from the County Board runs out at the end of the year. The commission is looking into options for creating a new group to continue the commission’s work, she said.
The commission plans to issue a formal report by the end of 2025, according to Hurst, the equity and inclusion strategist for Southern Illinois University School of Medicine’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
The PURPLE Coalition plans to push community leaders to adopt the Massey Commission’s recommendations but will be free to pursue its own agenda, according to Ken Pacha, the coalition’s media director. Many coalition members already are community activists and have spoken frequently in front of the Springfield City Council and to other local governmental bodies.
The coalition’s members include Ray Massey, an uncle of Sonya Massey, and Massey Commission member Calvin Christian. The coalition also includes Sangamon County Board member Reggie Guyton, a Springfield Democrat representing District 21, Shatriya Smith, Lesa Johnson, Vanessa Knox and Izayah Thomas.
The coalition’s LLC status will allow it to endorse candidates and become politically active in ways that nonprofits can’t, Pacha said.
He said at the news conference that the coalition doesn’t need to be concerned with “keeping donors happy.” Instead, it will work to “make our city a model for what reform and equity look like,” he said.
“Springfield has been punished by the failures of previous generations to foster equity, speak truth to power, ensure liberty and demand reform,” Pacha said. “That failure will no longer be overlooked, brushed aside, ignored or left for someone else to clean up. We will challenge institutions, yes, but we will also collaborate when possible.”
The coalition’s first listening session, held Nov. 3 at Springfield’s First Presbyterian Church, 321 S. Seventh St., attracted about 50 people. The second session is scheduled from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Nov. 17 at the downtown church.
More information about the coalition is available on Facebook or by emailing thepurplecoalition25@gmail.com.
Dean Olsen is a senior staff writer with Illinois Times. He can be reached at dolsen@illinoistimes.com, 217-679-7810 or www.x.DeanOlsenIT.
This article appears in November 13-19, 2025.
For a state that believes race is merely a social construct, it sure does advocate heavily on behalf of a certain segment of supposedly imaginary social constructs.