Homeboy Homeboy Homeboy Homeboy Brothers, there's only one blood Cuz there ain't no sense in us Traveling on the stones It's us, down, down to the bone Blood is thick Waters were known well Cousins were kept apart Mothers were often memories Fathers were not favorites on the farm For he could do some harm He could wreck them and have to ski For he, brothers, could dream Homeboy Your mama ain't no saint Your daddy died in a shallow stream But your uncle, Dr. King Did have a dream, my brother And what is your real excuse Why can't you study your lessons And stay in school Why can't you study your lessons And stay in school School Free love and sex Homeboy Ain't nothing but a game Don't never last Try hope Take a chance on love Register to vote Money ain't everything But you could buy her a ring Listen to little blackbird sing Buy you a record of a yardbird With wings Get into the swing of things Homeboy Buy some tenderness for a change Home is where your history is And it's not the end of the world Homeboy Homeboy Homeboy Your uncle, Dr. King Wrote a book called Why We Can't Wait Homeboy Homeboy By Sunchi Ali Welcome to the Combram Report May the peace and blessings Of the life-giving creative spirit Be upon you and upon your family My name is Melvin Ishmael Johnson Coming at you live from Skid Row Studios And I'm in the studio with my co-host Earlene Anthony I'll call in them as 1-800-825-7000 893-9562 Now this week on the Combram Report We will talk about sex trafficking In Los Angeles With my special in-studio guests Faye Mandel Shari Farmer And Kim Sanders And Terica Woolfolk But first I have on the line I would like to talk about The statewide coordinated action To end solitary confinement For the people of Los Angeles Which starts today Monday March the 23rd 2015 And would happen on the 23rd of each month This date emphasizes The 23 or more hours every day That people are kept in solitary confinement And I'd like to play a short one-minute clip From Herman Wallace Who spent over 40 years in solitary confinement It's so small until you're alone And I can only make about four steps forward Before I touch the door And if I turn in an about face At any place in this cell I'm gonna bump into something It's really smaller than anybody's bedroom This is smaller than an outhouse In the countryside somewhere But I'm used to it And that's one of the bad things about it From the unit that I'm on The only thing that I can see outside of that window Is a big hill with trees So there's no life movement out there at all I'm in the cell for 23 hours a day And a lot of times 24 hours Because I don't come out I have to spend a great deal of my time Catching up, reading and writing So many people Hundreds of people That are coming out of the cellar And I'm used to it And I'm used to it And I'm used to it And I'm used to it And I'm used to it And I'm used to it And I'm used to it And I'm used to it And I'm used to it And I'm used to it And I'm used to it and abroad as well. It helps me to maintain what little sanity that I have left to maintain my humanity and dignity to fight back on what these people are attempting to do to Albert and I from a mental perspective. Okay, that was Harmon Wallace who spent over 40 years in solitary confinement, Angola, Louisiana, and he died three days after he was released last year. Now we have on the phone Annie Griggs and Marie Levin who's going to talk to us about the statewide coordinated action to end solitary confinement. Annie and Marie, welcome to the QMRI report. Hello, thank you. Okay, let's start off with Annie first. Annie, can you introduce yourself, tell our viewers. And tell us about the project. Yeah, my name is Andy Griggs, as you've mentioned. I've worked with the interfaith communities United for Justice and Peace. And of course, I've worked with you. You and I compiled a theater piece called If the Shoe Fits, Voices from Solitary Confinement, which is a piece that I wrote about the! We've presented throughout the Southern California area, and we're hoping to present it again later this spring. And this coordinated action came because over the last several years, out of the hunger strikes that people who have been in solitary started four years ago. Some action took place and some progress has been made. But it's time to ramp up the actions again to make sure that our elected officials are aware that we're not going away. People inside deserve better than the new treatment they're getting. Okay, so — We're going to be there in five years. We're going to be there and keep on hammering our way at this. Okay, so you're going to do an event on the 23rd of every month to call attention to solitary confinement? That's right, and it's happening across the state. There were about at least eight or nine events that I was aware of today, today down in front of the Reagan building. We had about a dozen, 15 people there with signs and lots of literature. And I know up in Oakland they had events throughout the state, as I said. And, of course, there are going to be other events planned on the 23rd of each month. Okay, let's move over to Marie. Marie, can you introduce yourself and update us on the prison hunger strike also? My name is Marie. I'm 11, and I am a part of Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition, which is PHSS, as well as California Families Against Solitary Confinement, CFAS. I am an FCFASC. I am also a family member of a prisoner, Sitawa Natambu Jamaha, who has been... He's been in solitary confinement for 34 years. Excuse me, in prison for 34 years, in solitary confinement for 30 of those years. And when they opened up Culleton Bay, that's where he went. He's currently housed in Tehachapi State Prison. Solitary confinement is torture. And as Andy was saying, we started this... this... We started this statewide coordinated action to end solitary confinement based on the prisoners wanting us to do something continuously on the outside. And this was something that they requested that we put together to, you know, to make noise, continued noise for the public to know and for the world to know. Mm-hmm. And, yeah, so... And I always... Anyways... I always wanted to know the cause. I always wanted to know the cause. I always wanted to know the cause. I always wanted to know the cause. I always wanted to know the correct pronunciation of your brother's name. You know, we used to say... How do you pronounce it again? C-Tower. Mm-hmm. Oh, oh. C-Tower Natambu Jamaha. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Now, also, when we perform If the Shoe Fits, I know either I direct or Andy is supposed to direct the piece. We would love for you to come out when we present this piece. We're planning on running it. Oh, oh. And maybe a couple weekends or something like that. Okay. Okay. Just let me know in advance so I can get out there. Okay. So, thank you very much. So glad to have a chance to meet you. We hear so much about you. I know you're part of the play also. You know, some of your words and your comments. Yeah. Oh, okay. I didn't know that. Yes. Well, any final comments and contact information? Well, people can look this up. They can go to the website, which is, and correct me if I get this wrong, it's PHHS.org, Prison Hunger Strike Solitary SC.org. And you can find out about events happening throughout and also just get information and lots of different things. Okay. Different activities that are going on and ongoing actions that aren't just the 23rd. There's lots of information on that website. There are other websites. There's the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, NERCAT.org. And in the next couple of weeks, there are a couple of legislative bills coming up. The people should be aware of and getting ready to take action and contacting their state legislatures about including one which would limit, I don't know if the listeners know that they also put children in solitary confinement. And this one would limit juveniles to be held, how long they could be held in solitary confinement. Mm-hmm. So as Marie mentioned. This is torture. And we want people to get involved. Okay. And then. Can I just give you the correct address? Yes. The correct address is PrisonerHungerStrikeSolidarity.wordpress.com. Thanks. Okay. Thank you. PrisonerHungerStrikeSolidarity.wordpress.com. Okay. Thank you, Andy Griggs and Marie Levin. Marie and Andy, I'm looking forward to getting the both of you into the studio so we can talk about this subject in depth. Okay. Okay. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Thanks, Marie. Bye-bye. Okay. That's Andy Griggs, Marie Levin talking about the Prison Hunger Strike. Now, I'm delighted to have with us in the studio, Faye Mandel, Shari Palmer. Shari Palmer. Shari Palmer. Kim Sanders. Hey. Terica Warfog. Welcome to the Coon Round Report. Look, before we get into our discussion, and I meant to include this because I heard something on the news. One of the reasons that they was holding up the, what was that, the confirmation of the Attorney General, and they had something, they wanted the President to sign a sex trafficking bill. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I don't know anything about that. Yeah, that's what the Republicans is pushing. They're pushing to say, unless you sign the sex trafficking bill, we're going to hold up the confirmation of the Attorney General that's taking over for Eric Holder. Eric Holder. Oh, wow. Yeah. I had no idea. Okay, let's go around and introduce yourself. Can you tell us a little about your background and how did you get interested in this subject? Let's start off with Kim and go around. Well, my name is Kim Saunders. I'm a licensed marriage. I'm a family therapist. And I've been involved with the National Association of Black Social Workers on and off for about 10 to 12 years. And I just recently rejoined with the Association of Black Social Workers in Los Angeles, which is one of the most powerful organizations for African Americans in the country. I mean, it's anonymous with some of the movements and organizations in the 60s as far as the advocacy and activism work that they do. And when I went to the first meeting, I was informed that they were going to be doing a symposium on sex trafficking. And I'm very passionate about helping children. The client population I work with is children. I thought the information needed to be exposed even more. And so I thought I'd speak to these ladies here to see would they be interested in coming to do a radio program about it. Okay. Let's move over to Faye. Hi, I'm Faye Mandel. I'm Faye Mandel. I'm Faye Mandel. I'm Faye Mandel. I'm Faye Mandel. I'm Faye Mandel. And I am a licensed clinical social worker, and I primarily provide psychotherapy services. I have been in nonprofit agencies for most of my career working with delinquent and at-risk youth. So I've spent the majority of my career working with this population. I'm also associated with the Association of Black Social Workers. I'm also associated with the Association of Black Social Workers. I'm also associated with the Association of Black Social Workers. The way that this came up for me was in terms of chairing this forum. Our forum that we had last Saturday was entitled, Our Children Not For Sale, Ending Child Sex Trafficking. And we had this. It was well attended last Saturday, actually, in Exposition Park. So it came from a conversation that I had with Valerie McDonald, who is the daughter of a child sex trafficker. And she was the daughter of the late Congresswoman Juanita Millinder McDonald. And she somehow brought it up, the kinds of things that her church, Second Baptist Church, was doing. And she brought this up. And I told her I was very interested in it. So from there, I learned that there was going to be another workshop, another symposium sponsored by the Deltas on this very subject. So I went and heard that. And also, my book club was reading the book Anybody's Daughter by Pamela Samuels Young, which I highly recommend. And so I went and heard them. And they were incredible. There were people who had been trafficked themselves. And there were the people working to help the people who had been trafficked. And then law enforcement as well. So then I brought it back to ABSW. And we talked about it. And thought it would be a great time. And I think it would be appropriate to let the community, give the community more information and education about this subject. So that's why the forum occurred. Thank you. Shari. My name is Shari Farmer. And I am the field deputy and community outreach coordinator for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Victim Witness Assistance Program. Speak louder. I had heard. I've always been involved in it being with the Victim Witness Assistance Program. And I attended a meeting that ABWS had, Association of Black Social Workers, totally unrelated to the subject. And they were talking about their next meeting was going to be, they were going to talk more about human sex trafficking. And I went to that meeting. And from there, they asked me to be on the planning committee for this forum. But my job is all about assisting victims of a violent crime. And that's why I'm here today. So that's why I'm here today. And that's why I'm here today. Because that's the time of which human sex trafficking victims are one category. So this is a part of what I do all day, every day. Okay. Teric. Hi, my name is Terica Wolfall. I'm honored to be here today. I have 15 years experience working with at risk youth and families, particularly in South LA and from Bakersfield, California as well. The last four years, I've actually provided direct services, long term case management to victims of sex trafficking. So that's why I'm here today. And I'm also a certified community trainer in CSEC, which stands for commercially sexually sexually exploit. I'm sorry, excuse me. CSEC, it stands for commercial sexual exploitation of children. Okay, thank you. Look, let's start off by defining sex trafficking. Can you define that for us? What is that? You know, I'm really ignorant about the subject matter. And initially, I would think of sex trafficking from a more international perspective. And I was really just distracted. I was really distraught by the way that something so egregious has been turned into a money making event for Hollywood. And when I when I saw that, I said, we need to find a way to clarify and amplify the idea. What I understand sex trafficking to be is total manipulation of children, women by manipulators, by manipulators, men who use their power to, you know, coerce them into exploitation. But could you please comment on that? The the the sexual exploitation, abuse, misuse of of children or youth. It can be male or female for for profit, for economic profit. We found that we're finding that I've been told that that unfortunately, that the gangs now are not necessarily trafficking drugs. They're trafficking children because drugs can be sold one time and you have to make more drugs. But a child can be sold over and over again. And it even hurts me even to say that. But but it's what's going on now. And it's something that definitely definitely needs to be eradicated. Hmm. Okay. It just remind me. I remember when I was in the Marines doing boot camp before I ever came to Los Angeles. They did this class. On sex trafficking, the war and the little young Marines about coming to Los Angeles. And I never will forget that they explained about downtown Los Angeles. You had Selma Avenue, which was the male prostitution strip. And then you had Santa Monica, part of Santa Monica, which was like the the trans. Transgender. Yes. Transgender. That was all. And then you had a part of Hollywood Boulevard, which was just a regular traffic. But during that time, L.A., the whole state of California was such a sex thing. When I was there, they had the 25 cent movies. They had them all over downtown L.A., all downtown San Diego. I mean, the whole main street and Broadway sex clubs, Hollywood sex clubs and all that kind of stuff. Downtown San Diego. Broad Street. Of course, they've gotten rid of all of that now. I just thought of that. But can you talk about the problem of child sex trafficking? Well, we're learning now that approximately 300000 children are at risk for being prostituted in the United States. Those are very sobering statistics. And the average age of a child to be prostituted or to be used as a child sex. And we talk about it as being slavery because the pimp does not allow the child any freedom. And that the average age is between 13 and 14 years of age. So again, in Pamela Samuels Young book, Anybody's Daughter, she talks about a girl named Brianna. Brianna. She's 13. And how easy it is to be lured into this. At the forum, Miss Young said that, made a powerful statement. She said that the pimp is just knocking on your child's bedroom door in terms of the Internet. And all the child has to do is just turn it on. Just go to that. Just go to that site. Because if the child has an Internet, if your child, your grandchild, your niece, your granddaughter has the Internet, then they have access to be lured. Miss Shari, do you have any thing you'd like to add to the point that was just made about what the definition of child sex trafficking would be? Well, first of all, I think the first thing I would say is that, you know, I think that's the first thing I would say. I think the first thing I need to say is human sex trafficking has been around for a long time. We just used to call it kidnapping because we didn't have a name for it. Now there's a name for it, and it's the crime du jour, if you will. This is the human sex trafficking is just becoming more and more pronounced in different areas. The gangs are definitely involved. It's all about coercion. It's all about using, taking these girls and boys and forcing them to do what they want. And forcing them into a life that they did not wish to be a part of. So there's a lot of coercion going on, a lot of manipulation going on. And these kids, the average age is 12 to 14. 60 to 70% of them come from foster care. And 80 to 90% of them are African American. I think that goes under the radar, that falls under the radar many times. So I think that we need to do our due diligence with regard to understanding that. We need to do our due diligence with regard to understanding what human sex trafficking is. And we need to find a way to help our youngsters. Because there are a lot of them that are running away. And they run away, they get on a bus, they get off the bus, they look left, they look right. And somebody is watching them, recognizing that they have no idea where they are or where they're going. And obviously somebody, you know, a gang member, a pimp will walk up to them and say, Hey, can I help you? I can help you out. And, you know, it just, it turns into a lot of, you know, it's a lot of work. It turns into a very vicious cycle for the young male or female. Well, how about, you said it's the highest percentage of African American. What is the relationship to out here with Hispanics and the immigration? I guess what I'm trying to say that you would think that you would have a higher percentage of Latinas and Hispanics since they deal with the immigration issue and the African American don't. What's the different dynamics in that? How come it's such a high population with the African American? I think there's a high population as it relates to African Americans because we make up a very large population of the foster care. And there are 60 to 70% of these kids that come from foster care. When you talk about human sex trafficking, you also have to remember there's labor trafficking as well. So oftentimes, you know, there's a lot of people who are in the foster care. So oftentimes, the Hispanics may be involved in the labor trafficking as well. But you also have to think about both domestic and international. So when you think about international, that's where you include Thailand and the Philippines and so many other countries where those girls may come here. They may end up being brought here, but this is not where they're from. And then they have a circuit for these girls because they don't want to keep them in the same place for a long period of time. Someone may catch wind of what they're doing. Right. So there's a circuit. They move them from here to Sacramento to Las Vegas. So they move them around. So we just need to be cautious and we need to be aware. And we need to keep our eyes open and pay attention to what's going on in front of us. Very good question. There was a woman who spoke at one of the other workshops that I attended. And she was Spanish speaking. Someone was there to translate into English. But she was saying it was interesting because she was saying, that she was kidnapped as a child and taken around Mexico, but also came into the United States. And not only was she sexually exploited, she was also exploited in terms of labor. So it wasn't just sex. It was labor as well. So I thought that was interesting. Okay. And you wanted to say something? I was just going to piggyback off of what Shari said regarding the! Domestic minor sex trafficking. I think that oftentimes we see that African Americans are a high percentage. But I believe that especially as it pertains to South LA, Compton and Long Beach, you see that higher percentage. However, it doesn't mean that it's not happening within other race groups. Sometimes we see the African American girls are possibly on the street working. Whereas another culture may do it within a house party or they sell mainly on the Internet. So there are still a lot of children that are going under the radar that we're just not seeing. So I just wanted to state that as well. Okay. And then the so-called green, what was it called? Graham Ripper, the guy who had murdered so many young African Americans. Graham Ripper. Graham Ripper. Yeah. A lot of his victims was caught up in the sex trafficking aspect also. And you want to? Is he the serial killer? Yeah, the serial killer. So basically, we often give that as an example. I believe this is the same person. But he was a serial killer. And what they did not advertise is that a lot of his victims were actually under the age of 18. But because prostitutes are still looked at as, they're not looked at as a victim. And so that was not really portrayed out there. But what we're seeing is that there's a lot of people who are still looking at it. But with, we all know that foster youth are the most vulnerable youth. So many of the traffickers and the pimps, they go after those that are foster youth because no one's looking for them. No one's looking for the foster youth. There's no Amber Alerts that go out for foster youth when they go missing. So they're just caught under, again, they're just caught under the radar. And traffickers and pimps and those that wish harm, like the Graham Ripper or serial killers, they go after those that they know no one is going to look for. And that has, the foster, that has a lot to do with the breakdown of the family unit? Well, I think we need to be careful about that because oftentimes the Department of Children and Family Services don't necessarily take into account that African Americans have their own reality. And they go in and assess families and break them up. And then they put them into foster care. And then after a particular age, they just like kind of abandon these kids, which leads to them being without many resources. Now, that's not to suggest that there isn't some tragic event. There are some tragedies that's happening within homes. But the system itself needs to be assessed a little further because as a result, they start off planning to do a good work and end up leaving these children vulnerable to predators, you know? Because after a certain age, they cut them off from any resources whatsoever. And so I don't know if it's always the family. Because I remember when I was back in Michigan, in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area, we worked on a pilot project. We developed a concept called Family Group Homes. And that was based upon the works of Dr. Ibrahim Maskelo, talking about the hierarchy of needs thing. And the group home was made up of individuals who the courts had taken from the families, etc. Families that went to prison. But see, that's what makes these pimps and predators so good. I mean, the Association of Black Social Workers passed out a pamphlet that showed how they used the hierarchy of needs to actually seduce children into sex trafficking. Would you guys like to expound on that a bit? By providing those needs that are missing? Exactly. That's exactly what they were doing. They're providing the needs that these young women, vulnerable, youth are missing. And it just shows the title of it is How to Be a Pimp. And it shows Maskelo's hierarchy of needs. And it just goes from supplying their basic need, their emotional need, and all the way to getting the woman to feel like she's a partner. And also by saying, the pimp saying that, okay, as soon as this happens, we're going to leave this life. We're going to leave it. And promising that. But of course, that never comes. And she keeps on making money for him. Okay. Can you define, what's the difference between sex trafficking and prostitution? Can you talk a little about that? Can you clear up? Or is it just a matter of semantics? That's a good question. That's a good question. Well, I know that. Maybe Terica or Shari can talk about that more. But I just know that we're trying to get rid of the title prostitution for children. Because we see that they're victims. And a lot of times they've been enslaved. And they're victims. And they don't necessarily give consent. So how can they be free to be prostitutes? So, you know, so we're trying to eradicate that term in terms of dealing with children. Do you ladies want to? Yes. And sex trafficking specifically refers to those that are being held against their will. And now we're referring, usually when we're referring to sex trafficking, it is that child that is under the age of 18. When we say prostitution, that is selling your body. But again, we know that children cannot consent to sex. And so they're being trafficked. They're being held against their will. They've been manipulated. You know, the law is that children cannot consent to sex. But yet and still they're being arrested for prostitution related charges. And they're being detained when they are victims. They're going to juvenile hall. They're being charged when they have indeed been a victim. They have been sold by a trafficker who often gets away scot-free while they're in jail, basically. And being punished for what they have been a victim of. And that is abuse. I have a question in relationship to men. I'm a man and I'm concerned about the success rate that men have had womanizing and destroying females and little girls. As a man, what can I or the population of men do to begin to educate these children so they're not so easily seduced by the tricks of men? There was another person at this other workshop that I attended who was a sergeant with the Hawthorne Police Department, Sergeant Williams. And he talked about his work. And he's also an LMFT. He's a licensed marriage and family therapist who went into the police department and wanted to do something about this problem. And he had the best of both worlds. And he had the background to do it. He has the background to do it as well. But he said something very interesting. He said he starts at home. And he tells his daughter, you know, about safety, about personal safety at home. Including anything that she felt was inappropriate that he may do or that the mother may do with regards to her. And he said that the grandparent, the aunt, he went all down, he went down to all the relatives. And he was saying that she needed to tell. And that was just the bottom line. We tend to be so trusting. And I know, you know, we love our family and everything. But me as a psychotherapist, I see so many abuses that's done by family members to girls. And we need to, as a community, we need to become more aware and not just leave our kids with anybody just because they're a relative. You know, that may be very controversial. But I see it all the time. I see 20, 30, 40-year-old women coming in. Oh, my uncle, my grandpa, my stepdad. You know, and they've been sexually abused. We have to be careful. Shari or either one? I would say that. I would say that personally I've been to several empowerment conferences for girls and specifically around this topic. And I would personally like to see more men involved in those conferences. Maybe talking about what is an appropriate relationship with males. Because oftentimes we have mainly women who come and they're the speakers and there's more of a, you know, a love just amongst the women. But these girls and especially these vulnerable foster youth, there's a lack of father usually in the home. There's a lack of a proper male figure. And I would like to see more speakers, more male speakers come and speak to the girls and show that positive role model and positive relationship. Okay. Thanks. Just last, I think that the father is the girl's first role model of what a male, who a male is. And so it's so important that the father tell the girl and the boy that, you know, that they love them. They're beautiful. Because if they don't, and if they don't get that affection, that nurturing in the home, they're going to seek it outside to anybody who start, oh, you're nice. They'll be drawn to that person. We have to not only say we love our children, we have to demonstrate it. We have to role model it. And I was just going to say as a good point, I know that Shari brought it up earlier. But as far as coercion is concerned, that is one of the things that I think is important. That is one of the major ways that the traffickers coerce the girls to come with them is telling them that they're beautiful. Acting as that boyfriend, Romeo, you are beautiful. I will help you out. And that is called the grooming stage. So they groom them for several weeks or several months by coming and taking them. And for a young girl that's average age of 12, taking them to McDonald's is special to them. Buying them something. Going to get their nails done. These are the things that. It doesn't take much to coerce a girl, a young girl at that. And so that's what we're seeing. That's where they're doing the trafficking. That's where they're doing their recruiting. I'm sorry. Recruiting is at the middle schools. A lot of girls that I've interviewed, they talk about the trafficker coming to their middle school. We're not talking about high school. We're talking about their middle school, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. A lot of the girls that I've talked to, even though they've come into the system at age 16 or 17, many times they've been in the life, we call it, since they were 11. A lot of them say 11 or 12. So I just wanted to state that as well. Okay. What about sex trafficking in Skid Row, downtown Skid Row area? Because, well, one thing that's common to Skid Row, you mentioned the stats about the high rate of African Americans involved in this. I think L.A. makes up about 11% of the African American population. But Skid Row, it's about. Skid Row is made up of about 90%. And it's a lot of, I know it's a lot of sex trafficking going on down there. Can you, is there any programs in place to deal with that that you know of? Well, the District Attorney's Victim Witness Assistance Program does just that. We assist victims of a violent crime. So we have 36 advocates all over the county, predominantly in L.A. criminal courthouses. That actually sit with any victim of a violent crime that's eligible for the program. And there are a ton of services. Actually, a human sex trafficking victim probably requires more resources than any other victim of a violent crime that we deal with. And I say that because they need so many resources. Oftentimes, when they are trafficked, the first thing that the pimp or gang member will do is they will take their identification. Because they don't want anyone to be able to identify them. So that's the first thing they need is they need their, they need their Social Security number or ID or they need something because they have nothing. So I think that the program, the Victim Witness Assistance Program, we assist victims of a violent crime. So that means that we can assist with paying for medical bills. We can send someone to receive mental health counseling. We can do relocation. We pay up to $2,000 to assist someone in relocating. We can do job rehabilitation. There are a number, a myriad of services that the Victim Witness Assistance Program offers for a victim of a violent crime. So there's a lot of resources out there. There's a lot of shelters. There's not a whole lot of human sex trafficking shelters. But there are a lot of domestic violence shelters that are beginning to welcome the sex trafficking victim in. Because the situations are somewhat similar. So they are beginning to open their doors to human sex trafficking victims. But they need a lot of resources. And there are a lot of nonprofits and organizations out there that are trying to really assist them. Is there a contact number for that organization for a listener that may be hearing this right now? You said the victims of? Victim Witness Assistance Program. Our number is 1-800-381-8888. Our number is 1-800-381-8888. 1-800-381-8811. Wonderful. One other thing. I saw something in there. We do a regular hygiene kit handout at the Church of the Nazarene, which is right in the heart of Skid Row on 6th and San Pedro. And I saw something in there about some of the items that were suggested. What are some of the items? Can you talk about that? What are some of the things that would really be useful? And how can we make that more available to the church so they can have a program when a person needs it? Well, first of all, I think you need to be very careful when you talk about packages, packaging things together and being able to give it to a human sex trafficking victim. And the reason I think you need to be careful is because oftentimes if you've got 50 red bags and you're ready to pass them out to these victims, the perpetrator will begin to realize that these bags are something that someone is giving them. So you need to be real careful about making sure that they all look different, first of all, that different people are passing them out, that they all look different. Because if everybody's got a red bag, sooner or later the perpetrator is going to wonder where all of these red bags are coming from. So I think that's first and foremost. You need to be very careful about that. But I think some of the contents are simple. They're very simple things. Like this. Deodorant. Toothbrush. Toothpaste. Dental floss. Very simple wipes. You know, just wet wipes. Feminine hygiene. I just think that they're very simple things because if you remember, these girls have, and boys, because we keep saying girls, but we really need to include the boys in this as well. But they have absolutely nothing to call their own. So all of those small ancillary things that we think are not important. All of those things that we think are not that big of a deal are huge to them. So because they have nothing. So I think that those are the types of things that you would want to put into some type of package or bag that you would want to hand out. Okay. Let's do a quick community calendar and then we'll come back, open up our roundtable and continue our discussion. This is the community calendar for upcoming events. Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 6 p.m. Drama stage Cone Ron will perform a stage play entitled Nail His. This play is about 80 to 100,000 homeless people living on the streets of Los Angeles. This is a free event and dinner will be served and all are welcome to attend. The location is St. Mark's Church, 3651 South Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, California, 9007. And for contact information about this event, please call 213-479-1764. And we have what is called Tech Talk Retreat every Wednesday of every month. And this Wednesday coming up, April 1, 2015, we'll be having Tech Talk. And this is a workshop for speakers, engineers, and show hosts, and potential show hosts, to help you get started. Thank you. And this is a special show host of Skid Row Studios to come together and talk about ways and means to improve their programs. And this is located at the vortex 2341 East Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, 921. And this is at the corner of Santa Fe and Olympic. And it's a free event. And of course, light refreshments will be served. And there is a time for the Q&A. Contact information is 213-479-1764. Friday, April 17, 2015, from 6.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m., Drama Stage Qumran and the Los Angeles Poverty Department present the stage reading of If the Shoe Fits, Voices from Solitary Confinement. The location is the Los Angeles Poverty Department Museum, 440 South Broadway, Los Angeles, California. And it's on the second floor. After the reading, there will be time for a Q&A. Contact information on this event is 213-479-1764. If you have a community event that you would like announced on our show, send the information to DramaStage1 at yahoo.com. Attention, Earlene Anthony. And a reminder, the call-in number for our show is 800-893-9562. Now back to our host. Okay, can you give some of those contact numbers for those who... Local service providers, CAST 213-365-1906. Servant Entency, 888-373-7888. YWCA of Greater Los Angeles, 877-943-5778. And the Dream Center, 213-273-7000. And you know, there's also a 24-hour human trafficking hotline through the Dream Center. It's 877-632-7234. Right. Okay, thank you for those out there who hear this. Thank you out there alone. Those are some of the numbers that you can call for some assistance. And now we're back with our in-studio guests, Faye Mandel, Shari Farmer, Terica Woolfolk, and Kim Sandus. Let's open up our roundtable, talk about two more topics. What is the relationship of the Internet and porn to sex trafficking? Not everybody. Not everybody. Not everybody speak at once. Not everybody speak at once. Well, they go hand in hand just about because of the convenience. I think it leads to a conditioning process and a desensitizing of, you know, the issue around the exploitation of children. I mean, when you start dealing with that kind of content on such a large scale, it makes you kind of insensitive, you know, to these tragedies. And so I think there's a direct correlation between that and, you know, this issue. Did it change the regular idea that we have of a pimp controlling the finances? Did the Internet make it a little bit easier? They can pretend to be anyone they want. In the book, Anybody's Daughter, this person pretended to be a person named Jayden, you know, and a pimp. Right. And they just, you know, and appealed to this 13-year-old saying how much in common they had, how many things in common they had. You know, it was a way of learning. So it makes it, certainly makes it easier for the pimp. And then how about the porn business? That's a big booming business in terms of using young people in these movies. Child porn and all of that. Yes. And L.A. is known for that. Yes. And L.A. is known for that one of the center porn, center porn business. She had something to say. And I was just going to add to the Internet. It just makes trafficking that much easier. It's easy to get lost into the Internet. And many of my girls that I've worked with have put ads online on Backpage. And there was another one that I can't think of, Seeking Arrangements. So these are the Internet sites that girls can post their pictures on. And get dates, as we call it, from the Internet. So Internet just makes it that much easier for the traffickers to get away with what they're doing and traffic these girls. What kind of advice would you give to, you know, parents and all like that to deal with that? To monitor, monitor, monitor. Make sure that you know what your children are, what Internet sites they're on. As far as my children, I make sure that they're not responding to any ads or responding to a chat. They're not downloading certain things. Just making your children understand what is going on. And not only that, to just monitor what they're doing. And explain to them, hey, make sure that you don't give out your address online. Or you're not sending any pictures to anyone. That you're not talking to anyone. And just letting them know to tell you as the parent if they see some of that suspicious activity. I think that's a very good point. I mean, we tend to say that everything starts at home with the family. I'm not necessarily disagreeing. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with that. But I think we should always keep in mind the amount of content and information that's coming into the mind of children when they leave the home, when they're in the home, when they're at the school. I think it's woefully disrespectful to parents to say that if they don't pull it off, that they haven't been good parents. There's a lot of information that's coming to try to dismantle everything that a parent is trying to establish with their children. So we have to have a balanced way of like really looking at that. Okay. How can the interfaith community make an impact? The churches. What could they do to really make an impact into the sex trafficking scene? Or is that one of the major reasons behind it? I think the faith-based community is probably the most important part of ending sex trafficking. I think that there are countless numbers of churches along, you know, especially the main tracks that I've seen. Figueroa and Compton. And, you know, and so the churches want to get involved. And it's not, I think that we need to utilize the resources that are already there. There are many people that want to mentor, that want to be there for these girls. And so just basically working within the community and utilizing the resources that are already there, not reinventing the wheel. So getting these churches to do more outreach programs, getting churches to band together and do outreach. I know you were talking before about providing the bags. And I've heard of programs before and girls talk about, you know, receiving those hygiene bags. And maybe a little loving note within. And I call that just planting a seed. You know, planting a seed and just letting these children know that there are folks out there that care. Because in their minds, they've gone under the radar again, especially with the vulnerable girls. They don't feel that anybody's out there that cares. That they will never get out of this situation. And so if they know that. If they know that there's a church that they can go in for prayer or if there's, you know, folks out there that really care about them, it really makes a difference. Those small steps make a difference. Okay. We're going to go around for some closing comments. We've got about three minutes. Can you give us that hotline number again? Yes. It's 877-632-7234. And that's the 24-hour human trafficking hotline through the Dream Center. Mm-hmm. Okay. Let's go around for some closing comments. We're winding down. We've got a couple minutes to start. I guess I really want to just allot the time to them. I don't have anything to say. I'm here, ignorant, trying to learn. So I'll leave that time for you guys. Okay. Well, as a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and mother, I just say that, for me, I just say that for parents, your task, your challenge is, it's a job to be a parent. And it's important to embrace it. It's important to protect your children. I do parenting classes, and I think parenting classes are so important, because if you were not, if you were raised in a way that you felt was, you know, not appropriate, you know, you were not, you know, you were not, you know, you were not, you know, you were not what you felt was abusive or not nurturing, you need to learn how to be nurturing and affectionate and effective parents. So I think that it's really important to do that. That's just where it starts. Okay. Okay. Take care of the children. I think there's so many layers to this. There's the parent layer, where I think that parents and children really need to have a more open line of communication. You can have a child sitting in their room all day long and never speaking to their parents, but they've been on the internet all day long, and their parents don't know what they're doing. So I think that's one layer. I think that society needs to pull their head out of the sand and pay attention to what is going on around them. I think people see things all the time, but they just don't want to get involved. And they'll stay in the background until it's their child or their niece or their nephew. And I think that it takes a village to raise children, and therefore we all need to accept responsibility when you see something going awry that you need to speak up. And I think that that is true of everyone. I think we all need to take our own level of ownership in this situation and become a part of the solution. And not be a part of the problem. Okay. And I'll keep it short. I agree with the both of them. Just, you know, in showing these girls love and support and just the community banding together and fighting this. Fighting sex trafficking, fighting it within our community, because our community needs to stand up. I know that there's a lot of curriculums out there. And I see a lot of curriculums, but I still believe that the resources out there, we need to utilize what we already have. Okay. I'd like to extend a special thanks to my in-studio guests. Please listen to past shows of the Qumran Report by Googling in Qumran Report. Thank you for tuning in to the Qumran Report. From your host, Melvin Ishmael Johnson, my co-host, Earlene Anthony, may the peace and blessings of the life-giving, creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. I leave you with Homeboy by Sunji Ali. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Brothers, there's only one blood cousin. Ain't no sense in us trampling on the stones. It's us down, down to the bone. Blood is thick. Waters were known well. Cousins were kept apart. Mothers were often memories. Fathers were not favorites on the farm. For he could do some love work. He could do some love work. He could wreck the .