"To: CNN, Fox News, MSNBC
While this started as a drive to get cases of missing African American Women and other women of color more air time on cable and news it is now a mission to get missing women of every ethnic group, race, or religion more air time by asking Cable Stations to devote just 30 seconds of air time per hour to the story of a missing woman. That would be 168 woman a week and 8736 women a year that would get at least some coverage on a national level. Please help me do this by signing my petion which wil be sent to CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. The may ignore 1 or 100 but they can't ignore thousands.
Sincerely,
(George Cook)
The Undersigned "
Sisters and Brothers, unless you have personally experienced having a loved one suddenly disappear from life without a trace, you can never, never, ever know the pain and torture.
This past fall my 19 year-old-cousin did not return home from work one night. She was a really good girl and I am not exagerating: no drugs, alcohol, etc., and she was planning to become a pediatrician having recently graduated from high school.
Well, she went to her part-time job on Sunday, August 30, 2008. She was due home by 11 and so when she had not returned by Midnight, her mother began making calls looking for her only child! The night wore on and by Noon Monday, desperate pleas were being made for anybody to locate my cousin.
Monday turned to Tuesday and one of the most painful times in my life was watching and knowing my cousin's mother was dying rapidly with grief, worry, and torture.
The most agonizing phase of this tragedy was receiving NO official help from news media or police. Franticly and exhaustively friends and family searched for my cousin, Shneara Boone. On Thursday, I contacted Mr. George Cook and sent him the necessary information and details and photo. On Friday, my cousin's body was found in another county. She was strangled on Monday it appears. She had visible defensive wounds so she fought for her life.
This is still very painful and I won't go over the details, but I want to say this:
1) We have to stop walking past posters of missing black women and children because we may be the only ones seriously looking for our own!
2) We must get in the practice of reading e-mails, etc. and taking a moment to see if we recognize somebody in our daily passing. NOBODY in my family ever dreamed of looking in another nearby county and WITHOUT official help, it is impossible to travel the country placing posters everywhere. Therefore, it is very very important for us to be diligent and forward e-mails and look at posters, milk cartons, etc. when a black woman or child is missing.
3) We have to transform our behaviors of tolerance and take a zero tolerance stance about the disappearance and exploitation of black women and children.
4) There is NO time for judgment! NO life deserves to be taken by the hands of any individual! NOBODY!
5) We live in a society that needs to pull together to end the way missing black women and children are ignored by mainstream media. Mr. George Cook cannot accomplish this alone and so I ask that we help him achieve his goal of mainstream attention of missing black women and children by signing the Petition.
6) Each minute a black woman is missing, she is closer to being murdered. Each minute we ignore pleas to help find her, we become a part of the tragedy. Can we commit to becoming part of the joy to finding our missing black women and children?
The Petition can be signed by visiting
www.letstalkhonestly.com. I am sorry I could not get the direct link, but please take just a few minutes now while it is on your mind to sign the Petition.
Also, the website Let's Talk Honestly at
www.letstalkhonestly.com maintains a national list of missing black women and children. Currently, there is a young black girl with special needs missing. Please visit the site and look at the pictures of all the missing black women still not found. Unfortunately, some of the women listed have been found murdered. Let's help to stop this tragedy. The pain of a mother who loses a child this way is unimagineable. My cousin will never be the same again and she is constantly in and out of the hospital struggling to live without her only child who lost her life needlessly. It still hurts deeply for everyone in my family and Shneara's friends. The pain in this circumstances seems so much uglier than if we lose a loved one due to disease or illness, etc.
Visit
www.letstalkhonestly.com and sign the petition today.
Agnes B. Levine
Posted By: agnes levine
Saturday, January 10th 2009 at 11:09AM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
