[Current Events/ Opinion] Find Our Missing: A Scary Reality For Black Teen Girls and Women

The outrage isn’t loud enough for our Black teen girls who are being snatched off of the streets at an alarming rate.

Let’s just get straight to the point, the D.M.V. area has been hit hard with human trafficking and abduction. This isn’t just a new fad that has hit the streets, more attention has been brought to it because of recent abductions. I wasn’t on a heightened alert about it until 16- year- old, Kennedi High was abducted from my hometown, Baltimore City. The news made us aware that Kennedi was last seen at her school on March 8th of this year. As soon as her name hit social media, Baltimore was on it. There were many posts crying out for Kennedi to be found. There were many assumptions about where she could be. We were just hoping for the best outcome. The eerie part about her disappearance was that she was rumored to be in California. I was just wondering how did she end up there so fast if she was in fact in California. There were even screenshots from her alleged snap chat going around and it looked as if whoever abducted her was speaking on her behalf. After days of intense searching and tips being given to the authorities, Kennedi was found and returned to her family. She was actually found in Prince George’s County which is close to Washington, DC where in the past few weeks more than a dozen  teens have gone missing. The Western sophomore was found at an apartment complex, but whom she was found with wasn’t mentioned. Instead, authorities were busy trying to express that the act wasn’t a hoax. Really?

That goes to show how serious the nation is about finding these girls when they go missing. They even declare them as runaway situations or just completely give up on looking for them. When the best advice you have for me is to “Stay home,” I know all hope is lost. There are missing cases that date back to the early 2000’s that still have not been solved. As human trafficking, sex trafficking, and alleged organ trafficking are on the rise, we should be very much alarmed. More effort should go into finding these girls. I have two younger sisters and I am terrified to let them go anywhere. Hell, I’m even hesitant about being outside myself.

Currently, there are 64,000 black women missing in the United States according to  Newsone.com. One thing that I’ve noticed since these sudden disappearances is that no Amber alerts were sent out, in my region anyway. I’m going to keep it all the way real. Anytime a Caucasian is missing, an Amber alert comes to my cell phone. Must I remind you, I live in Baltimore City.I get Amber alerts about them if the go missing anywhere in the D.M.V. area. So it bothers me that I’ve received absolutely NO alerts about these teens. Even when Kennedi was missing, even when Tonja Chadwick was missing, I wouldn’t have known these ladies were missing if it wasn’t for social media and local news outlets. That is a serious problem.

The disregard for black lives is utterly disgusting.

If you know the whereabouts of these women and girls, please speak up! This is not just a D.M.V. problem, this is a global issue! Black women and girls are being preyed upon daily. Black women, and girls please protect yourselves at all costs. Let someone know where you’re going if you’re meeting people from online take someone with you, and parents keep a tight grip on your little girls. This is not to take away from other missing cases, but being a woman of color I had to address home first.

I am livid even having to write this, but no one else is looking out for us.

Visit blackandmissing.org to find out more about the Black and Missing Foundation and to find out about missing cases.