ALIVE’s First Pillar
By hosting and/or collaborating in large and small-scale events, ALIVE educates communities of color, and society at-large, about the urban experience in the sex trade.
Sensitivities to the harsh realities of victims in the sex trade typically do not represent Black and Brown women and girls. They are depicted as over-sexualized at early ages and therefore it’s portrayed as acceptable to hold accountable for their own victimization and not their racial counterparts.
The Victim to Victimizer “Pimp” evolution and connection between survival sex and other hustles are not told from the people who lived it. Therefore, it is critical to have “Lived Experience Experts” and their allies deployed locally, and across the nation, to share the “Real Hood, Not Hollywood” experience, connecting the dots from the corner to the criminal justice system, and far too often the casket.
Collaborating with the faith-based community, which is the backbone of communities of color, we seek a new beginning.
We will partner with those impacted by the sex trade with respect and dignity, walking side by side in mainstream society. In doing so we will connect the dots from the corner to the community center and to the Capitol.
We will be in the neighborhoods carrying our truth while offering services in smaller venues such as health fairs, resource fairs, and financial literacy settings, to name a few.
For example, bringing healthcare professionals in mobile units to underserved areas to offer COVID 19 vaccinations will be a key opportunity to make positive contact with so many in the community who may not, or are unable to due to circumstance, seek the vaccine due to homelessness and sexual exploitation.
This unprecedented global pandemic has impacted the Black community at higher rates of positive cases and death, due to existing health disparities, yet many are hesitant to get the vaccine because of historic national scourges like the Tuskegee Experiment. They were told they were getting free healthcare from the United States, when in fact they were human guinea pigs to test the impact of untreated syphilis and were not offered a treatment when penicillin was found to be a cure.
We plan to use large-scale events, such as sporting events and technology conferences as opportunities to partner with law enforcement, NGO’s, and philanthropists to ensure the Black community is included in planning, enforcement and victim-centered service provision.