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Commentary: Frontline Healers See Human Trafficking Increase Since Coronavirus Pandemic

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“They’re just children,” is a statement repeated over and over by several local agencies working against the scourge of human trafficking, which include Regina’s Door, Nola Brantley Speaks, MISSSEY, House Full of Black Women and Dreamcatchers.

“They are just children, they are our children.”

COVID-19 has provided a tragic opportunity for exploiters, the pimps and the Johns, to not only flourish but escalate trafficking where the average age of the girl or boy is 15.

“With closed businesses and empty streets, exploiters have become more violent and expanded their territory,” explains Amba Johnson, executive director of Dreamcatchers.  “The ones coming to buy children are oddly indifferent to COVID, asking their victims if they have hand sanitizer and masks.  The problem is Johns don’t care if they are children.”

“We see 12-year-old girls out on ‘The Track’ being sold into being raped every day,” said Regina Evans, founder of Regina’s Door and a member of Oakland Front Line Healers. “The average age of entry into sex trafficking for girls in Oakland is 13-15 years of age.”

Evans continues, “While violence is a major factor in coercing girls into sex trafficking, the most prominent way is via emotional abuse, emotional coercion, and preying upon a girl’s lack of self-awareness.

“A major catch line for innocent children is ‘you are beautiful,’ something they haven’t heard from parents or caregivers.  We, as a society, have failed these children horribly and then we blame them by not even acknowledging their existence.  We pass them on the street, refusing to make eye contact.  We don’t even give them the benefit of a greeting when these babies need our love, Evans said.

Child trafficking might seem a remote problem but in reality, it is the barometer of American society and how we raise children.  A media-driven society, with oversexualized images of girls, and overtly violent men portrayed as the ideal masculine model is a major cause of the flourishing sex trade.

“We raise our sons to not show emotion, as to do so is associated with weakness,” says Amara Tabor-Smith, co-founder, House Full of Black Women. “We force our boys to follow a model that eventually bottles up rage that is then condoned by our society when manifested in violence.

“We raise our girls to serve others, to put the needs of others before their own, Tabor-Smith continued.  “This patriarchal society paradigm and how we raise our children has got to shift if we are to see any change in the streets.  We have to start raising boys who can be loving in a healthy way.  Right now America is raising wounded men.”

“Gender response to poverty and hopelessness shows up differently,” says Amba, “Boys revert to toxic masculinity and girls are taught to serve the person who says they love them.”

According to Rashida Chase of Regina’s Door, “We have to… question our perceptions and misconceptions about the underbelly of sex trafficking and how people end up homeless.  We treat homelessness and sex trafficking by blaming the victim instead of seeing how society created this environment, and the sad thing is, it’s set up for things not to change.”

Nola Brantley conducts online workshops on Human Trafficking and they are available to the public. https://www.eventbrite.com/o/nola-brantley-speaks-14372168841

Activism

LA to the Bay: Thousands Protest in Mission District Against Immigration Raids, Travel Bans

Activists and allies alike gathered outside of the 24th Street Mission BART Station and City Hall to denounce the increased immigration raids happening in L.A. and Donald Trump’s decision to send hundreds of National Guard members to control protesters.

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Protestors walking the streets of San Francisco’s Mission District. Thousands of people walked in a protest against the increased immigration raids across the country and unrest in Los Angeles. Photo by Magaly Muñoz
Protestors walking the streets of San Francisco’s Mission District. Thousands of people walked in a protest against the increased immigration raids across the country and unrest in Los Angeles. Photo by Magaly Muñoz

By Magaly Muñoz

Thousands of people walked the streets of San Francisco’s Mission District Monday evening in protest of the recent ICE raids across California, and the escalating tensions brought by military intervention in Los Angeles over the last week.

Activists and allies alike gathered outside of the 24th Street Mission BART Station and City Hall to denounce the increased immigration raids happening in L.A. and Donald Trump’s decision to send hundreds of National Guard members to control protesters.

San Francisco non-profit Mission Action announced the protest plan Sunday night and led the amped crowd in cheers against anti-immigrant hate.

“La gente unida, no será vencida!” and “Move ICE, get out the Bay” chants were heard for a mile from 24th Street to 16th Street Mission BART and back around towards Valencia Street.

District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder attended the evening protest and applauded the community for their resilience in the streets over the last two days.

 

Protestors holding a Mexican flag for a rally in San Francisco. Thousands of people gathered at 24th Street Mission BART Station to participate in a protest about the increased immigration raids across the country. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

Protestors holding a Mexican flag for a rally in San Francisco. Thousands of people gathered at 24th Street Mission BART Station to participate in a protest about the increased immigration raids across the country. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

“It’s up to every single legislator [to stand up for the community], but first and foremost, the people, you all are gonna be the ones to make sure that Trump, ICE, and the military do not set foot in the Mission,” Fielder said to the crowd.

Fielder, along with two other Supervisors, also spoke at a press conference earlier in the day in front of City Hall with other officials and community leaders about the travel ban that went into effect last Wednesday and the immigration arrests from the week before. Speakers also denounced the more than 150 arrests made by local police during a protest Sunday night.

District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton said it was the public’s moral obligation to disobey unjust laws.

A protester holding an upside-down American flag at an anti-ICE and travel ban press conference in front of San Francisco City Hall. Thousands of people marched through the Mission District to protest against the increase in immigration raids across the state. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

A protester holding an upside-down American flag at an anti-ICE and travel ban press conference in front of San Francisco City Hall. Thousands of people marched through the Mission District to protest against the increase in immigration raids across the state. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

“The systemic oppression that has taken place now in the U.S. to remove our constitutional rights to assemble, to protest, to fight against moral and unjust rules and policies is put in place to tear us apart and to promote fear in everyone,” Walton said.

Around 15 people were detained by ICE at the immigration court last week, and at least half a dozen more by the time this story was published, immigration lawyers reported.

A new travel ban has also barred people from 12 countries, mostly from Africa and the Middle East, because the Trump administration said they “pose a very high risk to the United States.”

Community leaders said this action is continued discrimination against Black and Middle Eastern immigrants who are seeking opportunities in America.

An immigration lawyer urged people at the press conference to stay calm and meet peacefully because federal officials were going to be looking for reasons to escalate the tensions and arrest residents for simply attending protests.

“We have to remind ourselves; we all have a history. Our families survived discrimination before,” she said. “We will survive this, too. So long as we don’t let them divide us. Let’s fight this together.”

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 11 – 17, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 11 – 17, 2025

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

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