Lauren LaRosa (4:55)
places, who needs the platform and who needs to be checked in on. So we're going to do that for her and not for us lowriders. And I know you guys will understand that this conversation will not only shake the room, but I hope that it turns lights on in a lot of rooms. I spoke to Lizette Rice. She is a mother from Wilmington, Delaware. You guys know I talk a lot about Delaware Homeless podcast because it is where I'm from. Lizette's daughter, her name is Aisha. August Bent Khudifa went missing on February 22, 2026. Now, I've been in contact with Lisette for some weeks. I've been, you know, just trying my best to just repost flyers on Instagram, on Facebook, whatever it is that I can do. But I honestly don't feel like I'm doing enough. And, you know, I don't know if our interview in our conversation will be the answer that she needs to help bring her baby girl home. But I want to add, I think that it's important information throughout this conversation as well, too. You are going to hear from a mother who is distraught, who has not seen her baby girl in over 38 days. A black mother who you know is a fighter and has the will and determination to not give up, who is up every day, literally kicking indoors after she receives tips about where young women and young black women may be being held as they're being trafficked. You're going to hear from her throughout this episode. But I want you guys to understand what we are up against, because one thing that Lavette echoes a lot in our interview is that it's not just her daughter that she wants to help bring home. There are so many young black girls in the city of Wilmington alone. In the last several weeks, I've come across at least like, oh my God, four to five Facebook groups who are posting daily, sometimes every 20 minutes, a new young woman, young man, baby, grown adult, elderly person that has gone missing in the city. But one of the big conversations that we are having right now are about our young black girls, our young black kids in these inner cities. According to, according to Black and missing, according to blackandmissinginc.com which is an organization that helps to bring platform and voice to children. Black children who are missing and who are going overlooked. In 2023, there were over 563,000 persons reported missing in the United States. Now, of that over 563,000 people, 57% of those people were white, including Hispanic people. 40% of those people were minority. 40% of missing persons are persons of color. Yet black people make up only 13% of the population. And that's via census.gov Thousands of people are reported missing every year in the US and not every case gets media widespread attention. But the coverage of white and minority victims are far from proportionate. Now, blackandmissinginc.com goes on to talk about why there's a disparity in media coverage around black and brown children, Black and brown people as we go Missing. The number one reason is runaways. A lot of minority children are initially classified as runaways and are as runaways. And as a result, they do not receive an Amber Alert. You will hear from Ms. Levette in my interview, talk about her daughter and how she had to fight to get an Amber Alert. The second reason being listed as criminals. Missing minority adults are labeled as associated with criminal involvement, gangs and drugs. Desensitization is the third reason. It is believed that missing minorities live in impoverished conditions and crime is a regular part of our lives. And I say, Ira, because I'm from the same city that, you know, Ms. Lavette's daughter went missing at, literally blocks away from where this young girl was last seen by her mother and by her family. I grew up. My family's there. My niece is there. This is our problem. This is not just her and her family's problem. This is our problem. And when I say our, I don't just mean me because I'm from the neighborhood. I mean that. To say, this could be your daughter. This could be your niece. This could be your cousin. This could be you. This could be. I mean, I saw Savannah Guthrie, you know, go back to work today on the Today show, you know, and national news coverage around that, the FBI, the president involved in that. There's a celebrity element there. We get it. She's a white woman. They're a white family. We get it. And we want everybody to return home safe, but we have to look at what's happening here and lack thereof. So this is everybody's problem, not just those who choose to care about news coverage, not just now. Your baby's missing, and you're trying to figure out how to go about it. White, black, brown, green, purple. This is everybody's issue now. When it comes to missing people reported by gender, 50% of missing people across the US within that 563,000 number I said are female. 53% of them are under 18. 40% of them are African American. 162,000. Over 162,000. So let's get into this interview now. Let's talk to Ms. Levette. Let's help her bring home her baby, and let's have a broader conversation about what we can do to help, who you can get in contact with, and how we fight back against things that aren't happening. I do also want to mention that I've reached out to the Wilmington Police Department, which Ms. Levette mentioned several times throughout this interview, and her upset with them and what they are not doing in her eyes, what she alleges that they are not doing. There are a few things that she brings up that she alleges happens or has not happened when it comes to their investigation. I've reached out several times to the woman police department, left two messages over the last two weeks, but have called several times and have not heard back. I've reached out to the mayor's office in Wilmington, Delaware as well too, who is now trying to put me in contact with someone. So, you know, this is part one. I am praying that by part two we have, you know, more communication with the Wilmington Police Department and the law enforcement there, you know, and just get some things going for this family and also for the other families that Ms. Levette, you know, now wants to try and help that are all important. Let's get into the conversation.
