“There are so many missing people of color in the U.S.,” we’re told in the trailer for the HBO docuseries “Black and Missing.” “African Americans remain missing four times longer than white Americans.” Derrica Wilson, one of the project’s main characters, aptly describes that stat as “alarming.”
The four-part doc follows Derrica and her sister-in-law, Natalie Wilson, activists working to draw attention to the racial disparity in the resources and press attention missing persons cases receive, and founders of the Black and Missing Foundation. The non-profit raises awareness around this issue and helps the families and friends of missing persons find their loved ones.
“When a Black person is in distress, missing, it’s not a big deal to law enforcement because they don’t think we have much to lose,” one interviewee explains in the spot. Another reveals, “My sister went missing in 2009. Of all the major news stations, nobody would talk to me.” As Derrica puts it, “If you don’t meet those criteria — blonde hair, blue eyes — your stories are not newsworthy.”
An episode of “Black and Missing” will screen at DOC NYC beginning November 17. The docuseries is from the all-women of color directing team of Geeta Gandbhir, Nadia Hallgren, Samantha Knowles, and Yoruba Richen. Gandbhir and Soledad O’Brien are among the executive producers.
In a soon-to-be-published interview with Women and Hollywood, Gandbhir and Knowles drew parallels between “Black and Missing” and the Gabby Petito case. “There are so many past examples of missing white women who go missing and get an enormous response from the media, and thus the police: Natalie Holloway, Chandra Levy, Elizabeth Smart, etc.,” the filmmakers said. “Recently Gabby Petito went missing and we saw everything at the heart of our series play out in real time – a young pretty white woman tragically vanishes, a media cycle that revolves around her disappearance, a nation obsessed with finding her, and both local and federal law enforcement rapidly mobilized to find her.” They continued, “The result was the recovery of a body within weeks, which every missing person deserves. We just want the same kind of robust care when black people and people of color go missing.”
“Black Missing” will premiere on HBO and HBO Max November 23.
