Initiative to establish an “Ebony Alert” for missing black children and women

BUFFALO, NY — When a child goes missing, the community mobilizes, but sometimes people don’t even know the child is missing. This is especially true in black communities.

It is a real shock for the Griffin family.

“He left and never came home,” said Brian Griffin, Jaylen Griffin’s father.

August 4, 2020 was the last time 12-year-old Jaylen’s family saw him.

“Jaylen always came, no matter what. He called his mother. He was a mama’s boy,” Brian explained.

When he didn’t, they knew something was wrong, but no warnings were issued.

“We waited 48 hours and for some reason he was listed as a runaway,” Brian said.

This means that no Amber Alert would be issued.

“It was a very difficult time,” Brian recalled.

Despite their own physical and mental problems, his family did what they could.

“We drove the streets for maybe a week, a week and a half, almost two weeks straight,” Brian said.

While the community stuck together, the Griffins felt abandoned by the authorities.

“I don’t want to say it’s a racial issue, but I believe race played a role in this issue,” Brian added.

“Because if it was a child of a different color, they wouldn’t be…” added Breana Griffin, Jaylen’s sister.

“Exactly,” Brian agreed.

“We have all these pictures of children who have been missing for years and nothing is being done about it,” says community organizer Dontaya Davis, sitting in front of a table full of missing persons reports.

That’s why Davis is taking action.

“The Amber Alert – there are so many requirements,” Davis explained. “If someone’s missing for more than 24 hours, there’s a car involved and someone’s over the age of, what, 18, then it stops, right? The Ebony Alert would change all that.”

This new report is intended to be issued for missing black women and children between the ages of 12 and 25. This is the area where the greatest disparity in coverage is found.

“If I or someone else just posts on Facebook and says, ‘Hey, have you seen my family member?’ that’s not enough,” Davis added. “Let’s put their face on the screen. Let’s put them on the billboard. Let’s have that (…) alarming sound from your phone.”

For Davis, who is herself a mother and cousin of missing children, this problem comes as a great shock.

“If we do that, the perpetrators will know that they are doing something about it and maybe they will stop,” she said. “Maybe we can find some of the abducted children and reunite them with their families.”

An Ebony alert system went live in California on Jan. 1. Since then, 22 alerts have been issued and 13 of the missing people have been found, according to the office of California Senator Steven Bradford.

“You shouldn’t have to do it alone,” Davis said.

Davis currently has an ongoing petition and is in discussions with local politicians about the Ebony Alert.

A bill by former Senator Tim Kennedy had no other sponsors and was killed when he left office.

“I was told it could take a while,” Davis said.

The faces of the missing people give her new motivation.

“We are at 107 Sheffield where my son Jaylen was found dead in the attic,” said Brian, sitting on the porch of a home in Buffalo.

What happened to Jaylen cannot be undone, leaving the Griffin family with only the “what if” questions.

“(The Ebony Alert) would have made a lot of difference,” Breana said.

“Honestly, I think there was a good chance that Jaylen would come home with us,” Brian added.

As they find closure in a chapter and now continue their journey in search of justice, they believe this Ebony Alert could ease the pain of another family.

“I just hope that it goes through and that it is at least actually considered so that other parents or family members don’t have to go through the grief that we are going through right now,” Brian said.

Buffalo Police officials say a lot of resources have been put into Jaylen’s case and that they take each of these individual cases seriously.