Support Nikki’s prayer to keep the Center growing in numbers and strength here!
Nikki Schumpert, one of our special guest speakers at the December 5, 2025 Grand Opening of our new and first storefront Liberation Center, delivers a moving speech about her experience with the Center through thick and thin, and why you should help the Center continue to grow and expand. You can do both at this critical time by donating to help us finish your new liberated territory, the only one in our city. After listening, watching, and/or reading Nikki’s testimony, go here to donate and share!
Nikki Schumpert speaks at our Grand Opening
Lightly-edited transcript
I am Nikki Schumpert. I got a little excited over there because I was like, “Oh, they gonna skip me.” I was excited. I had to come here tonight and I did write a little something down. I’m not like the youngsters.
I had to come here tonight to help celebrate this amazing organization. I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to everyone at the Liberation Center who all have been a big inspiration in my life this year because on February the 25th, 2025, my son Adam Sykes was tragically taken away from me, leaving behind a gorgeous, beautiful little girl named Avery, who was battling leukemia since she was seven. And now she’s nine, and we get to ring the bell December 12th. So, thank God for that.
A 24-year-old rookie cop played God that morning and took my son’s life. Never did I imagine, raising children, adopting children, and fostering children for over 20 plus years that one of them would join the list of names like George Floyd and Indiana’s own Michael Taylor, Eric Taylor, or Dreasjon Reed, and so on, who were killed by cops. The people that we pay to serve and protect us.
I’ll admit that I was totally lost and didn’t know what to do when I got that call. There was no clergy reaching out to me, no kind of Black coalitions, nobody calling me or my phone with a plan of, nor suggestions, to help me fight for Adam. Nobody but the media, and I didn’t want to talk to them.
But thankfully God led me to the Liberation Center.
And on March the 10, I contacted Stephen, who set up a meeting and there I met Ben, Noah, and Derek. And by the end of our meeting, I could have swore that they were all some kind of superhero private investigators armed with such knowledge, compassion, and they had a commitment to justice for Adam: a man they never met, knew nothing about, but seen him as a victim and more importantly, a human being.
As IMPD took 30 days to share the body cam footage, which they edited in their favor, the Liberation team had already started a petition, made flyers, knocked on neighbors’ doors where the incident occurred, held press conferences, and carefully listened to neighbors’ ring cameras where we heard the cop tell the rookie cop to “f***ing kill him,” which led to three bullets entering my son’s body.
There was many times that I felt my inner strength dwindling and my mental health and heartbreak took over a toll on my body. Yet in those moments of weakness and feeling defeated, the Liberation group kept the movement going. I recall the Justice for Adam march and I was so deeply moved to tears and gratitude as there was more people from the Liberation Center than it was my own family and friends. I was uplifted by the powerful voices of Destiny, Lexie, Stephen, and others…especially Riley. And all who spoke with convict all who spoke with such conviction and passion. I was even able to stand in solidarity with Miss Kim [Gray] Taylor, a mother who shares the same heartbreak of losing her son to IMPD in 2023.
Now, here I am nine months later and the Liberation team still continues to empower me beyond our shared fight for Adam, as many of the individuals come to my line dance classes weekly, and others have shown up to support me at other community events that I’m a part of.
Again, I am overwhelmed with gratitude to everyone. I pray that the organization will continue to grow in numbers and stronger in the fight and bigger and uniting injustice for all the people. And I thank you for that. And I thank you so much.
Support Nikki’s prayer to keep the Center growing in numbers and strength here!
Featured photo: Nikki Schumpert speaks at the December 5, 2025 Grand Opening of our new Liberation Center at 1619 Prospect St. Credit: Indianapolis Liberation Center.