By Queennandi Xsheba PNN KEXU
In recent news there have been several reports of children who have gone missing and in one story two children, Sean Fang, 1 and Winnifred Fang, 4 were found safe in San Francisco after their father was carjacked while making deliveries. Although we are all thankful that the Fang family was reunited, our hearts still hurt for the children who vanished without a trace and have unfortunately slid through the cracks.
Even during the hurricane Katrina catastrophe an exodus of children- especially of color had disappeared and some are still missing to this very day, many did not receive any news coverage and because we live in a biased society where race and class determines the priority of a life we will never know their names. The same could be said with the countless number of kids who were separated from their families and placed into inhumane camps in the attempt to have a better life on the soil of this “great nation”
The December 21, 2020 disappearance of brothers Orson and Orrin West, ages 3 and 4 years old from California City, Ca had hardly any media coverage regardless of the suspicions of foul play being a factor while in the care of their adoptive parents Jacqueline and Trezell West.
Antoine Whitley, the African-decsendant teenager who was put out of a rideshare on the Richmond bridge due to an alleged drug-infused paranoia of being kidnapped has been missing for several weeks now has the “drug-infused” stigma branded on him by mainstream media and the painfully obvious fact that his life will not be a “top priority” but just one less Black kid Amerikkka has to worry about.
14-year old Katlin Gallaread has been missing since Feb 17th from the Fillmore district in which she resided and her family has since protested in front of the police station for the lack of interest in her case. Whether Katlin was taken against her will or ran away from home is unclear but one thing is clear and that is- BLACK LIVES DO NOT MATTER! If our lives did matter then why did most of the fliers of Katlin and Antoine have since been torn down from public view?
We as a community are left to be the ones who prioritize our children’s lives and not allow for those who do not care for their well being to continue to stigmatize our village in a negative form that spearheads the bias reasons why our youth’s disappearances are of no importance.
Going back into time with the case of the Atlanta child murders, it took for several children to be killed and plenty of hell-raising from the community before this “great nation” had decided to take notice. Parents and other adults in the village had taken the “self-determination” route by escorting the children to the school bus stops and standing guard whenever the youth were present. Today, we must follow the same protocols to protect our children by any means necessary from the dangers of sex-trafficking and other elements out in this insane world. We must no longer put all of our eggs in one basket by having faith in an unjust system run by folks with the “complexion protection” who continue to treat us less than humans.
Because we too have the right to protect our children and to see to it that our precious babies make it home.
CR Queennandi Xsheba PNN KEXU