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Black and still missing: Chioma Gray

By Carmen D. on Tuesday, November 25th, 2008, 8:09 am Comments

I had a hard time sleeping last night, I kept thinking about mothers of missing children this Thanksgiving week. My blog amigo Yobachi asked me if I knew anyone here on the west coast who could spearhead an effort to get the word out about Chioma Gray, a beautiful, smart, kind and ambitious young girl now missing for almost a year. I don’t know anyone like that, but I can lend my voice to the effort to find Chioma Gray and to bring her home to her family. Here is some background according to Kevin Myles at the Wichita NAACP blog:

From September 2008 – We are now approaching the 9 month mark since the disappearance of Chioma Gray, the 16 year old high school student who was kidnapped by Andrew Tafoya from her school in Oxnard California. 9 Months have passed… 9 months… and during that time we’ve heard countless cries and pleas for Stacy Peterson, Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, Madeline McCann, and now, little Caylee Anthony.

I grieve for the families in each of these tragic situations; no family should ever have to endure the grinding despair or enervating uncertainty of a missing loved one. But I have a special place in my heart for Chioma… I am pained by her disappearance and disheartened by the apparent limits of our compassion. Can we all not grieve for her as well? Can we all not share her mother’s burden?,

Kevin Myles spoke with Chioma Gray’s mother and here is what she has asked of us:

I spoke with Chioma’s mom yesterday… She told me that she hasn’t received any word, NOTHING, from the FBI since February. She told me that the Ventura Police Department has already stopped looking. There were leads in the case that Chioma may have been spotted in Mexico, but they were never followed up on, reports of various sightings, and she still has no information and no real assistance.

Over these past 9 months, I have come to know Mrs. Black, and I consider her a friend. And it is truly painful to hear the hurt and the pain in her voice as she asks the very simple questions, "why won’t anybody help me find my Chioma?" and to know that there is no good answer…

I ask you to help. Please forward this post to as many people as possible. It doesn’t matter if you think no one you know can help – you never know. Let us do for Chioma Gray’s mother what the mainstream media will not help us do for all of our children.

  • Y.Lowe
    I lifted a prayer for Chioma, her family and friends.
  • Hi Y. Thank you for your comment. I have sent many a prayer myself. Peace.
  • I am saddened by the loss of this child and her family. How sad that the local authorities have done so little to help locate her. I hope her family has be updated on her case or even better, that she has been found alive and unharmed.
  • I need your help. I have submitted a proposal–”Media for Change”– to the Ashoka Changemakers “The Power of Us: Re-Imagine Media” competition. The organization will award $50,000 to a social enterprise and a non-profit for fund start-ups that use media in innovative ways to make sustainable change. I have proposed a non-profit dedicated to using media and community building to bring more attention to missing persons from minority and low-income communities. I’m sure you all could name of number of high profile missing persons cases. How many of those people are Black? or Latino? or Asian? I would guess none. That’s because there is hardly ever any.

    Missing persons from low income and minority groups are rarely given the media attention that Caucasions are given. Often, media coverage spurs investigators and community members to devote more time and energy to finding these missing children. As a result of a lack of media attention, missing minorities receive less attention from investigators, and in general have fewer people looking for them, including volunteer search teams. An organization devoted to spreading the word about these missing individuals is greatly needed. Too often, individuals from minority and/or low-income communities are overlooked and as time passes, they are forgotten. Providing information directly to the media, investigators and community members as soon as individuals are reported missing is essential.

    If you feel as strongly about this issue as I do, please read my proposal and vote! The 16 finalists in this competition will be completely based on community feedback, both on a 1-5 rating system and on comments. That is, the more people who vote for me, the more likely this organization will get started! Negative feedback is also welcomed. If you think my proposal is confusing, lacking or otherwise needs to be revamped, please let me know. The great thing about this competition is that we are encouraged to improve our proposals based on community feedback. Please keep in mind that there are word limitations for each section of the proposal.

    >>>>>Competition Framework<<<>>>My proposal<<<<<
    http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/14377

    My proposal is still very much a work in progress so constructive criticism is truly welcomed. As of now, I am still developing funding options, a budget, timeline and program outline. If you’d like to get involved with this effort, please let me know. The final competition will be held at the We Media conference in Florida in February and I would love to not go it alone!

    Please spread the word!

    LOVE + HUGS (and many thanks!)
  • I'm posting a permanent link to this above my blog roll, Carmen. Thanks for the post and the information.
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