Why are so many Black boys going lacking within the Larger Toronto Space (GTA) and what’s being completed about it?
These questions have been on the coronary heart of a digital city corridor assembly hosted by Brampton’s Black Empowerment Unit final Friday that was attended by representatives of a number of GTA police forces, in addition to neighborhood leaders and dignitaries.
The assembly was prompted by viral social media posts highlighting the circumstances of a number of Black boys who stay lacking.
Over 500 individuals joined the web assembly, with one other 400 sitting within the digital ready room.
These in attendance expressed anger, worry and hope that issues can get higher.
“The voices of the community spoke loud, which compelled us to create an atmosphere and a platform to bring the community together,” Gwyneth Chapman, Senior Advisor, Black Empowerment Unit, stated of the social media posts that prompted the assembly.
The remark sections on the posts present the worry and confusion surrounding the problem.
“Many young Black people are missing and no one’s doing anything about it,” one individual stated, whereas one other requested: “What are the police doing? Where are these young boys and why are they all missing?”
Based on statistics shared by Toronto police detective, Shona Patterson, greater than half (110) of the 200 youth between the ages of 12 and 17 that have been reported lacking within the Metropolis of Toronto in 2024 have been Black.
Most of them have been discovered. Up to now, 4 stay excellent.
David Mitchell, Senior Advisor for the Youth Affiliation for Teachers, Athletics, and Character Training (Yaaace), stated the explanations they go lacking might be troubling and complicated.
“One of the things we know in the space of missing young people is that young people are running to something or running away from something, or it could be a mental health crisis,” he stated.
Through the assembly, Mitchell additionally cited abuse, neglect, bullying and cultural and way of life conflicts at dwelling as different contributing elements.
He additionally stated there’s one other insidious challenge taking part in a component.
“And that’s young people being corrupted by older people, to go to different parts of this province to sell drugs where they’re paying them,” he stated, noting Sudbury and North Bay as areas they generally find yourself in.
And it’s not simply Black boys.
“On a yearly basis we have several women, and a significant portion are Black women, who go missing and are ending up in human trafficking,” he stated.
Psychotherapist Marci Grey says there’s extra to the story.
She says our methods are failing Black youth — whether or not it’s the psychological well being, healthcare, prison justice, or the training system.
“We have these statistics that tell us that they are having all these challenges (in all) these systems. And so now it’s a matter of looking at each of these systems and figuring out how do we now make things better for them?”
Brampton mayor Patrick Brown attended and spoke briefly on the assembly, saying it begins with shining a light-weight on the problem.
“The fact that this was happening, and you didn’t see it in any newspaper, or any TV station, and yet it was terrifying the community.”
