‘Abducted at an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing’: Movie Teaches Valuable Lesson
Over 95,000 Black women were reported missing in 2022; Lifetime looks to bring awareness to the disparities in media coverage.
(Chris Reel via Lifetime)
According to the 2022 NCIC Missing Person and Unidentified Person Statistics, more than 97,000 Black women across all ages were reported missing. Many of these cases don’t get the same publicity and media coverage as those with other races making it hard for people to know about them nationally.
Lifetime has curated a movie series highlighting various disparities, stereotypes and views that all work against Black women being found in a suitable time, and showcases the horrors that can happen when there is a race against the clock.
“Abducted at an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing Movie” is the second movie in the series and stars Naturi Naughton and is executively produced by Garcelle Beauvais.
Naughton plays a college counselor (Ellen) who helps new transfer student Shannon (Tanyell Quian) navigate the HBCU campus. While living off campus, shy Shannon is struggling with her new life and does not have family support.
While she tries to fit in by joining clubs, she feels left out due to imposter syndrome. Her fellow classmates come from high income/class backgrounds in comparison to hers. In addition, she spends her free time looking for work to pay the hefty HBCU tuition ticket. Looking to make friends and putting herself out there, Shannon unknowingly trusts the wrong guy and becomes a sex trafficking victim.This allows her to go under the radar of many people on campus, including her professors.
But Ellen notices when Shannon is missing, she informs faculty, the campus police department and staff. Authorities shrug off Ellen’s concerns and believe Shannon may have dropped out, did not want to be there or just did not care about her education. Ellen, frustrated, knows all those options are wrong and she plans to find out what happened to Shannon. She sees herself in Shannon and knows what it is like to not be seen.
Relentless Ellen finds Shannon just in time before she was sold and uncovers a sex-trafficking ring. In this fictional tale, Shannon was fortunate. Think about how many girls, in real life, do not have someone in their life to look for them, file missing person reports and not give up on searching for them.
This movie highlights the importance of advocating for others rather than nothing, but also how important it is to let somebody know where you are going. Rather it be giving a friend your location or just telling someone when you are on the way to meet up with someone new.
Viewers took to X to share their thoughts on the film as well as the lessons the movie taught.
That’s why you never leave your drink unattended and you don’t fool with people showing up to a campus who don’t go there. They don’t mean you no good as Big Mama used to say #AbductedatanHBCU pic.twitter.com/ggdHTzjCBP
— Sheila Taylor Clark (@SoShaydee) July 21, 2024
Shannon is a straight A student and her professors are not concerned of her absence! #AbductedAtAnHBCU pic.twitter.com/EnajoabQiu
— Senior Mama (@mama_senior) July 21, 2024
Shannon is a straight A student and her professors are not concerned of her absence! #AbductedAtAnHBCU pic.twitter.com/EnajoabQiu
— Senior Mama (@mama_senior) July 21, 2024
I’m GRATEFUL someone is looking for her because these folks at the school ain’t looking for NOBODY!#AbductedatanHBCU pic.twitter.com/sBLXbaAAYf
— CutieWithACane ✨ (@CutieWithACane) July 21, 2024
Ariyana Griffin is a graduate student from Morgan State University. She is a California native and also a graduate of Clark Atlanta University. Follow her on X: @Ariyanaaganee and Instagram: @ari.yana.g.
Edited by Nykeya Woods