The 'Black & Missing' Docuseries Is A Wake-Up Call For America

On Tuesday, the four-part docuseries “Black and Missing” debuts on HBO, chronicling the journey of two sisters-in-law bringing awareness to Black missing persons cases ignored by law enforcement and national media.

The documentary centers on Derrica and Natalie Wilson as co-founders of the Black & Missing Foundation, and on their crusade to reunite families and change the narrative regarding missing Black people.

In Episode 2, we really focus on the media, the racial bias and missing white woman syndrome,” Gandbhir said.

There is this incredible pressure that we put on Black women to be the people to hold everything together for their family and community all while under-resourcing them the most.”.

“It’s important to us to find out the ways in which Black people and brown people go missing.

What spurred the inception of the Black & Missing Foundation.

Natalie Wilson: The inspiration behind the Black & Missing Foundation is a young lady by the name of Tamika Huston who went missing from Derrica’s hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina.

We read how her family, particularly her aunt who’s in media relations, really struggled to get national media coverage surrounding Tamika’s disappearance.

When we did our research, we found that 30% of all persons missing are or were of color, mostly Black men, so we decided to do something about it.

With my public relations or media relations experience and Derrica’s in law enforcement, those are the two critical professions needed to help find and bring awareness to our missing.

That’s why the Black & Missing Foundation was created, to be advocates for these families.

A really important thing this series does is debunk that sort of “All Lives Matter” myth that all we as [Black, Indigenous and other people of color] do is complain about the police and don’t take any actions to do anything for ourselves or help ourselves in any way.

Because I am not African American, it was really important to me that my other directors are Black women.

As founders of the Black & Missing Foundation, what does it mean to have your life’s work amplified through this documentary.

We’ve put in a lot of hours and people are noticing, and to have someone notice the impact that we’re making, want to work alongside us, and want to take it to another level, I think it’s awesome and it’s really indescribable.

Derrica Wilson: I echo everything that Natalie said and with the documentary, it’s going to inspire others to take action and want to do more in the community, especially when it centers on our missing Black men, women and children.

I look at the documentary as a call to action because it’s going to give that bird’s-eye view on what the struggles are for families in the Black and brown community.

Derrica Wilson: It’s not uncommon for law enforcement to label our girls and boys as runaways that are under the age of 17.

We really need to change that narrative, that application, and the reporting structure.

We have to do a better job with how these cases are handled, and we really need to get rid of that term: “runaway.”.

We also want to see how these cases are handled because we know that missing persons are not considered a priority, especially when it’s an adult.

Now, it’s 40% missing persons of color yet we make up 13% of the population.

With law enforcement, we really need to challenge them to look at themselves and to see how they’re classifying these cases as Derrica mentioned because these stereotypes are really impacting the urgency in adding resources to the case.

Why do you think media outlets do not respond to cases of Black missing girls in the same manner and with the same fervor as cases such as Gabby Petito, Elizabeth Smart, etc..

What we are doing is advocacy as well where we’re trying to change the narrative surrounding our missing so that as a nation, we can do something and hold the media and law enforcement accountable.

Really, we all have a responsibility to stand up for ourselves and say enough is enough and to hold the media and law enforcement accountable because our missing matter too.

We understand that not every case is going to elevate to mainstream media, but we need to create equality in our coverage.

Natalie Wilson: We’re not picking on the media or law enforcement because all of us have a responsibility to help find and bring awareness to our community.