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This Black History Month, we honor the GAME CHANGERS: Everyday heroes whose actions make life better for the people around them. SEE ALL OUR GAME CHANGERS HERE.

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Natalie and Derrica Wilson

Derrica Wilson
Age: 33
Title: Co-Founder & President, Black and Missing Foundation, Inc.
Place of Residence: Washington, D.C.
Natalie Wilson
Age: 42
Title: Co-Founder and Director of Public Relations, Black and Missing Foundation, Inc.
Place of Residence: Hyattsville, Md.

 

 

Why they are local heroes: Tired of not hearing about missing persons cases involving people of color, Derrica Wilson and Natalie Wilson decided to do something about it. Using Derrica’s background in law enforcement and Natalie’s experience in public relations, they created the Black and Missing Foundation to bring attention to missing persons cases involving African Americans.

While Blacks only make up 13 percent of the country’s population, they make up more than 33 percent of those reported missing in the FBI’s database. Given the limited coverage that Black missing persons cases receive, though, one wouldn’t think that was the case. According to the National Crime Information Center, there were almost 30,000 active missing persons cases in the country. Blacks make up almost 12,000 of those cases or about 40 percent. Of the 173 Amber alerts in 2010, 30 percent were for African-American children.

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The disparity in media coverage between Tamika Houston, a young Black woman from Spartanburg, S.C., and Natalie Holloway, a young White woman who went missing in Aruba, is what really motivated the sisters-in-law duo to found their foundation.

Derrica watched Houston’s family fight for media attention while Holloway, though missing in another country, dominated the national airwaves for hours at a time.

“The Black and Missing Foundation, Inc. was born out of necessity,” Derrica Wilson told NewsOne. “The public is mislead in believing that the victims of kidnappings and abductions are blond, blue-eyed and female. In actuality, 40 percent of all persons missing in the United States are of color.”

In a few short years, the pair has been able to create a resource that is helping to make a difference.

“Black and Missing Foundation provides much needed platforms to bring awareness to missing persons of color,” says Natalie,” which is essential in ensuring the safe return of the missing individual or closure for the families. We are committed to providing an equal opportunity for all missing persons.”

In addition to working with the show “Find Our Missing” with TV One and NewsOne, the Black and Missing Foundation has also partnered with radio personality Michael Baisden to feature missing persons of color on his nationally syndicated show, and newswoman Jacque Reid is now the national spokesperson for the foundation.

So far, the Black and Missing Foundation has helped to facilitate 72 reunifications or closures for families. One of the most recent was that of Stacey Nicole English, a bank teller whose body was found in January in southeast Atlanta. Black and Missing worked with English’s family throughout the ordeal.

Although African Americans make up just 13 percent of the U.S. population, we account for 33 percent of the missing in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s database. Cases involving African Americans also tend to receive less media coverage than missing Whites, with missing men of color getting even less attention.

NewsOne has partnered with the Black and Missing Foundation and TV One to focus on the crisis of missing African Americans.

To be a part of the solution, NewsOne will profile a missing person weekly and provide tips about how to keep your loved ones safe and what to do if someone goes missing, while TV One‘s newest show, “Find Our Missing,” hosted by award-winning actress S. Epatha Merkerson, tells these stories in visual form. “Find Our Missing” airs on TV One on Wednesdays.

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How Two Sisters Got America Hunting For Our Missing  was originally published on newsone.com

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