Jovani Patterson: Human Trafficking — Does “Black Lives Matter” Really Care?

The Black Lives Matter organization uses hashtags and generalizations to manipulate, and gain popularity among, people who want to see a nation that fully embraces diversity and practices equality.

Sadly, BLM is not in the business of healing and helping African American communities is as much as it is out to destroy the democracy and capitalism that is the bedrock of the nation.

For those willing to see past the charade that is the Black Lives Matter organization, it is obvious that one of the central focuses of the group is to destroy the fabric of America, even if it means the dismantling of the nucleus family in the African American community.

Last week, I wrote a blog on the issues in education. I highlighted rampant issues in urban schools and the problems that minority children face in schooling.

It remains clear that BLM does not promote the need for education reform nor does it provide financial support in addressing the glaring needs of some Black and Brown students throughout the country.

In this blog, I will make it apparent that BLM continuously shows that it is not actually for the betterment of Black lives because the true issues that face the African American community do not align with the goals or mission statement of the group.

Like limited educational resources, human trafficking is a detestable issue facing many urban communities.

Human trafficking, in its truest definition, is any time a person is either sold into the sex slave trade or “voluntarily” joins the sex slave trade for one of several reasons.

People (men, women, boys, and girls) regularly prostitute themselves for money, drugs, a place to live, or for some other matter that is important to them. This issue is a glaring problem in Black communities and yet members of BLM never address it.

There are horror stories in which some people are also forced to perform sexual favors so that someone who has power in that individual’s life gains something he or she finds valuable.

Although the following story is anecdotal, the story is true none-the-less. It is heartbreaking and is more common in urban communities than one would care to admit.

Several years ago, a teacher for Baltimore City schools notified Child Protection Services of a mother who was trafficking her for drugs.

Apparently, the eighth grade female student had a truancy problem and had been absent more than a third of the school year.

One day, when attending school, a teacher asked why the girl was absent so frequently. The teacher mentioned the girl’s academic gifts and potential. The student confessed that any day she was not in attendance, her mother was forcing her to have sex with men for drugs.

Although this anecdote is a specific case study, the horrors of human trafficking in Baltimore and other metro areas is widespread.

Leaders and members of BLM are not ignorant of this horrendous lifestyle and yet to help solve this issue is not part of its purpose.

Again, I pose, how can Black lives truly matter for BLM when the organization picks which Black lives are worthy of its attention?

I also contend that instead of BLM fully helping Black individuals they push the problems onto the community at large, claiming that it takes a village to raise a child.

This motto is extremely dangerous since it does not take a village to raise a family, but a strong family nucleus.

Instead of strengthening Black families, the actions of BLM promotes single motherhood, absent fathers, and (too often) neglected children.

If villages were strong at raising a child, human trafficking — especially incidences involving children — would not be the destructive force in African American communities that it has become.

There is no real village better at raising Black children and protecting Black women than a strong Black family. BLM does not speak to this.

By actively strengthening the nucleus, BLM would further reduce the minimal number of cases of unarmed police shootings and would weaken itself in being the divisive faction that it is.

Jovani, yours truly, is a candidate for City Council President for Baltimore City. To see my platform and support the campaign, visit my website and be sure to donate.