African American Policy ForumVarmennettu tili

Sheri Shuster is a documentary film director + producer interested in advancing intersectional + moral conversations about race + power. An Iranian-American and L.A. native, her commitment to human rights drew her into the world of public policy + storytelling. #HerDreamDeferred

Leah Albright-Byrd (@leahjonet) is a speaker, author, + social-entrepreneur. In 2011, she founded Bridget’s Dream, a nonprofit that provided services to child & adult survivors of human trafficking. She received the MLK Difference Maker Award for her activism. #HerDreamDeferred

Holly Joshi (@HollyJoshi1) has been a leader in the anti-trafficking & gender-based violence movement. She is a senior research consultant with the Bright Research Group, developing anti-trafficking prevention & intervention strategies. She previously served as the ED at MISSSEY.

"There are always people that take hits at the forefront of revolutionary movements and conversations. And so I knew there was some sacrifice that came with [advocacy work], and I still stand on the fact that it's worth it,' says @leahjonet. #HerDreamDeferred

The media “didn't want to talk about root causes. It didn't want to talk about my observations around the racialized nature and the disparities in terms of who was being victimized,” says @HollyJoshi1. #HerDreamDeferred talkback following STILL I RISE

“I thought, 'Well, why aren't Black girls voices and experiences being centered here, when they're the majority of people who are impacted by this crime?’" says director Sheri Shuster. "Again, it comes back to: victimhood is racially coded.” #HerDreamDeferred

In Los Angeles County, 92% of girls in the juvenile justice system identified as trafficking victims were African-American. https://rights4girls.org/wp-content/uploads/r4g/2015/02/African-American-Girls-and-Trafficking.pdf …

In King County (Seattle), WA, 45% of child victims of sex trafficking were African-American. https://humaninterests.seattle.gov/2019/12/27/talking-about-human-trafficking/#:~:text=Their%202019%20report%20shows%20that,general%20population%20of%20King%20County ….