Vanished Meadows

Brooklyn, NY
Spring 2020

Vanished Meadows examines the lack of media representation and urgency surrounding missing Black women and girls in America. Historically, there has been a clear disparity in how cases involving white children and children of color are treated. This imbalance dates back to the early stages of the missing persons crisis, which gained national attention following the disappearance of a young white boy.

As part of my research, I explored the history of missing children featured on milk cartons and the role media exposure played in recovery efforts. Today, the recovery rate for Black children stands at only 24%, a statistic that reflects disparities in resources, coverage, and public empathy. When considering these realities, I was struck by the understanding that if I were to go missing, the response to my case could differ significantly from that of a white peer.

The milk cartons in this project serve as a visual commentary on the longstanding bias in missing persons coverage in the United States. The women featured on the cartons include myself and several of my peers. The fictional brand name, Vanished Meadows, symbolizes those who have disappeared, while “meadows” evokes spaces that exist across urban, suburban, and rural environments—suggesting that this issue spans all communities.

This project consists of multiple three-dimensional works that reinterpret and subvert the traditional missing person milk carton. The “nutrition facts” panels present statistics related to the crisis, emphasizing the low likelihood of recovery for Black individuals. Currently, Black children are twice as likely to remain missing. This work is both a critique and a call to action.

Although the participants come from different backgrounds, we share a common identity as Black women—an identity that society has repeatedly shown it undervalues. Each carton also features quotes from participants, amplifying voices that are too often overlooked. By including these personal statements, I aim to center the perspectives of those most affected and bring visibility to stories that frequently go unheard.

Ultimately, I hope for a future in which media coverage is equitable, where no life is prioritized over another, and where Black lives are valued universally—not only within our own communities, but by society as a whole.

Brief History

Throughout history, there has always been a discrepancy between the treatment of minorities and white people. When it comes to the missing person epidemic, it all started because a 6-year-old white boy named Etan Patz went missing in 1979. His picture was the first to be displayed on milk cartons, as a part of a campaign run by the National Child Safety Council to increase the spread of missing faces. Obviously there were people missing before this but this white boy was a priority and from it came more media attention. Authorities started to realize that the best way to spread the word of people's disappearance was on the side of a milk carton because it was published with more frequency. A police commander Joe Mayo said “Their faces will be there at the breakfast table…. People will have to think about it.” This started a major trend of tunnel-visioned media towards missing white Americans. But as time continued America's focus drifted from young white boys to young white girls. This pattern has continued until today with television broadcast, Amber Alerts, and laws and legislation that prioritizes missing white females. Two of the most popular missing people cases are white women that are in their late teens or early 20’s, Natalee Holloway and Maura Murray. These women and other missing white women have gained such presence in the media ranging from conspiracy theories to Netflix docuseries. Young women of color disappear at a disproportionate rate yet their stories never get told simply because of the color of the skin. Regardless of where they come from, the skin tone determines the way in which authorities and media support the families in their troublesome act of finding their children. Black children only make up 7% of media references and when mentioned in the media it is after a ton of push back. An example of this would be The Missing DC Girls Movement. It gaged media presence because people were demanding for authorities to help the families through the #MissingDCGirls.

Most of these women are labeled “runaways” causing them to be overlooked by the system and increasing the likelihood of them being sex trafficked and/or murdered. The disregard for these young women has always been present and continues to be as indigenous, black, and Latinx women become the targets of countless crimes. The question is, when will we give a voice to those communities who are frequently targeted.

Interviews

I wanted these interviews to be an opportunity for young Black women to talk about a topic that affects us the most. These interviews were enlightening and shine a light on new and powerful experiences and perspectives about my topic. These are only quotes from hour long conversations that ranged on many topics. I wanted the interview portion to be open ended because I didn't want them to feel as thought they were being interrogated or that they had to know a lot about the topic. I wanted it to be an opportunity to have an impactful conversation between black girls.

Kia, NY

“ I was thinking about how, you know the recent Barnard thing that was too close to the Central Park 5. I was thinking about how they thought that two 14 year old boys murdered someone and left them on the street and raped her like, f*ck! People can accept that but they can’t accept that 14 year old girls are probably going missing and not being accounted for.”

“In media Black people are always treated as the predator and when they’re given the chance to be a victim they always find a way to make them look like some sort of predator”

“ Especially in New York City every girl has to go through having to worry about if it’s late at night.. like I’ve many times looked behind me to check and see if anyone was following me or if I hear a noise, let me clench my fist and prepare myself. Which sucks.”

Sekai, NM

“Albuquerque is a dangerous place and the crimes you hear about are insane. And I had an experience last year where I was really close to getting sex trafficked… Think about that and looking at your project, if it was a situation where I did go missing, I wouldn’t have the access or resources for my story to even be told because of my race and because of my economic status. It would have been a situation where it was just another missing person. Almost like I would have been dead instead of being looked for.”

“Being a woman, you’re already scared of being venerable in situations and I feel like people can always feel like they can prepare you for those moments of, you might be taken advantage of, but then there's another factor there of being black, where it’s if you are taken advantage of and you do end up in that situation you’re not gonna have the resources then to get help.”

“ I always think about these two types of differing kind of sides that I’ve had from growing up. With being biracial, and having a white family and also a black family. With the white side of my family it’s always been this idea where, they are very free spirited people and so their tactics to raise me has also been the same. In terms of wanting your children to be free spirited and go on their own path. That’s their mentality for raising me is just like you’ll fall and you’ll get back up and you’ll be free…. But with the other side of my family, like the black people that raised me, of course they want me to be free spirited and have the ability to feel like I have freedom in the world to make my own choices but it's also this mentality that as a black woman, you can’t always, you don’t have the privilege to be free and relaxed all the time. And because you are black you have to be more aware and cautious just of your situations and you have to be prepared and in some situations it’s impossible to be free. Because being black and everything that it means with being black means you have to be more careful. So this free spirited mentality of raising children can’t unfortunately always apply when you are a black child”

Zivi, NY

“The amount of media coverage that missing girls get really varies so much based so much off of where you live, where you’re from, how much money your family has, where you’re white or not. Girls in the projects and girls that live in low government households go missing every single day and we don’t hear sh*t about it. But white girl from Connecticut goes missing and there is a national headline. And I’m not saying that it shouldn’t be a national headline because I think that it is so important … but there is no reason for the girl in the project to get as much coverage as a white girl from Connecticut or Delaware.”

“There is nothing that separates the black kids from the white kids. It’s not that they are harder to find, it's just that people put less effort into finding them.”

“If I didn’t go to a predominately white school, like if I went to the public school down the street and went missing that I would get a lot less coverage. I know that the only reason that people would give two shits about me going missing besides my family and the people who love me is because I go to a very high profile school... Without that school I’m just another brown girl that is just middle-lower class.”

“If you go missing you get a lot more coverage if you’re pretty and you’re skinny. Think about the pretty black girls going missing vs overweight girls from the projects. They are… it’s easier to plaster your face everywhere.”

“I always have the alerts on for when people go missing in my area and you see people missing since 2014 and you just feel so helpless.”