Garcelle Beauvais Returns to Lifetime, Sharing an Important Message with "Black Girl Missing"

Given the disparity in public awareness concerning missing people of color versus their Caucasian counterparts the film had special meaning for Beauvais who worked closely with the Black and Missing Foundation throughout the production quotThe important thing about this for all of us was bringing awareness and making people see what goes on in terms of the disparity between if somebody Black or Brown goes missing versus someone blonde and blueeyed who becomes America39s sweetheartquot she explained while recently promoting the project quotWe just want equality and to be seenquotIt39s really about making sure that people are awarequot she continued quotWhether it39s via social media or going to the local news station It39s putting up pictures and it39s having a conversation Have you seen them Where were they before What were they wearing All those things are importantquotquotI echo everything Garcelle saidquot noted Derrica Wilson of Black and Missing who worked as a consultant on the film quotAwareness is key Educating the audience about this pandemic that39s affecting the minority community is so important It39s our hope that the impact of this movie shows that everyone has a responsibility to do a part when someone in our community goes missing That39s also law enforcement the media and the communityquotquotBeing a mom I39m always nervousquot Beauvais explained quotMy kids now want to be able to take Ubers and I worry about that a lot I found myself crying a lot during production even if I was just in my trailer I think it was because of the frustration That39s what I took with me It39s frustration from real life to playing this character It39s the frustration that we want to be seen We want to be heard and we want to be taken seriously We want to be validated I mean we carry that with us throughout our lives So the frustration was something that came easy because I already felt it in everyday lifequotquotIt39s very important that we showed what it really looks like when you don39t have the same help as everybody elsequot added Mosley who portrays Cheryl39s youngest daughter quotEvery single day is hard when you don39t have that one person at the table and it39s a very very difficult process Imagine having to do that alone You do have to find your own resources for this impossible situation So we must let people know how hard it really is going through this alonequotAn important element of the story is that very often missing people of color are considered runaways or simply missing by choice so action is largely delayed or dismissed quotFiling a police report is critical and crucialquot explained Wilson quotDo not allow law enforcement to turn you away You have to champion your missing loved one and then enlist the support of organizations like the Black and Missing Foundation We want to help you We want to utilize our expertise to help bridge that gap with law enforcement and with the media and then rally our community members Those are some things we can do at the grassroots levelquotIn addition to exploring the aftermath of a loved one39s disappearance and how to deal with it the cast is hopeful that by highlighting the issue prevention might also be a takeaway quotWe have to understand the systemic issues of why our people are going missing in the first placequot Wilson asserted quotWe wanted to take that proactive approach They39re going missing for human trafficking mental health issues homelessness and the list goes on We also need to change policy with law enforcement and how they handle casesquotWe know the first 24 hours are the most critical momentsquot she continued quotBut law enforcement wants families to wait 24 hours When it39s a missing Black or Brown person in our community the wait is even longer because our cases are not taken seriously They39re not receiving Amber Alerts and there39s no sense of urgency Regardless of race or zip code these families matter They all deserve coverage and resources from law enforcement and the mediaquotAccording to Beauvais this project ranks high on her list of achievements quotI got to executive produce and help bring this story to lifequot she proudly stated quotHaving this platform to bring awareness to things that are important to me and my community For that reason alone the message the story and hopefully the ability to change something makes it rank pretty high with everything that I39ve done I am thrilled to be a part of it and always ready to do something that39s going to give back to our communityquotI wasn39t aware of the Black and Missing Foundation before meeting Derrica at the Ebony Power eventquot she added in closing quotNow I follow them on social media It breaks my heart every time I see a new post and it just makes it that much more powerful for us to bring awareness to this moviequotBlack Girl Missing will be telecast Saturday March 4 at 8 pm on LifetimeClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and 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Garcelle Beauvais Returns to Lifetime, Sharing an Important Message with "Black Girl Missing"

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Garcelle Beauvais Returns to Lifetime, Sharing an Important Message with "Black Girl Missing"

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