“The Grim Sleeper: The Lost Women of South Central” by Christine Pelisek details the investigation that led to the arrest of Lonnie Franklin, a serial killer dubbed the Grim Sleeper. At the time, South Central was a neighborhood that grappled with low incomes, employment instability, drug addiction, and the crime that often accompanies those social issues. Deaths did not receive the same level of attention or scrutiny as they might have in other communities. For decades Franklin took advantage of that neglect as he prowled South Central Los Angeles attacking and murdering Black women with seeming impunity.
Tag: <span>true crime</span>
“Black and Missing” is a 2021 documentary in part about Black and Missing Foundation, Inc (BAMFI) a Maryland-based non-profit founded and managed by Derrica and Natalie Wilson. But it’s also about the sobering fact that every year in America, hundreds of thousands of people go missing. Of the missing, a disproportionate number are people of color and in particular, Black. Yet, while this should be regarded as a major issue, a lot of people are largely unaware. This is due in part to several factors, some of which are related to racism and/or income levels.
A review of “Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children”, a 2020 five-part HBO miniseries about the Atlanta Child Murders. Following the 1973 election of Maynard Jackson, Atlanta’s first Black mayor, the city launched an effort to rebrand itself. Adopting the tagline “The City Too Busy to Hate” Atlanta tried to reposition itself as being focused on commerce and progress rather than upholding racist traditions. But for two years, spanning 1979 to 1981, approximately 30 Black children and young adults went missing and were found murdered. The string of murders brought attention to the city but for all the wrong reasons and shed light on how little things had changed for many Black residents.