The Chicago pharmaceutic rep for Eli Lilly has been missing since Tuesday.
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25 comments
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September 21, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Parting Shots / Stereohyped
[...] Parting Shots • Missing black woman alert. You probably won’t hear about her on the news, so read about Nailah Franklin here. [RR] [...]
September 22, 2007 at 10:38 pm
chughes
How very sad.
i hadn’t heard a thing about this until now.
Why?
September 22, 2007 at 10:40 pm
nearlynormalized
WGN cable had the report–did she have sample drugs with her? Did they find her car? Were there drug samples in the vehicle?
The candles are lit and we hope she is found alive…God Bless.
September 22, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Kmoney
i heard about this on the CBS early morning news today, 9/22. I know any press is good, but why Saturday morning instead of a weekday?
September 23, 2007 at 12:15 pm
Niecy
I received an email from Sorority sisters on Thursday evening. On Friday evening I saw the story on Nancy Grace, which airs on CNN at 8p.m. and 10 p.m. EST. There was a whole segment on Nailah missing. So, it’s hitting national news. MSNBC has been reporting this as well.
September 23, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Beth Straley
I am praying for Nailah and her family. If there is a perpetrator/s I pray they will come forward, quickly. I think “nearlynormalized is very possibly on a smart track to discovery of the cause.
I think your website is perfect for what I wanted to express. I watch Fox cable news. From what I could see, more caucasin, and others’ faces should be at that prayer vigil! This beautiful young woman and her family deserve multiple race representation! I know there are thousands praying. I am one of them. Thanks for the opportunity to say what was on my mind.
September 26, 2007 at 2:28 am
bfwo
The purpose of erecting the website for Black Women for Obama was to bring important issues to the fore; we knew from the onset that those issues would not always relate directly to the election season, and today’s message to you, Dear Readers, has nothing whatsoever to do with the Election of ‘08. Here goes.
Over the weekend, Chicago’s local media began issuing reports regarding a missing young woman by the name of Nailah Franklin. Nailah is a 28-year old drug sales representative from Chicago who was reported missing after sending a vague text message to friends and family. She had apparently been receiving threatening phone calls from someone she used to date before she disappeared. Nailah Franklin, as you can see from the photo above, is a young black woman.
So I’m sitting in front of my television as I watch the coverage just shaking my head, because I know that like so many other stories involving missing black women, the public outcry for her safe return will never come; the vigils outside her mother’s home, the tearful interviews on Good Morning America begging for any news on her whereabouts – will not happen. And it just pisses me off beyond belief.
I have always been bothered by the way the American media obsesses over non-minority women when they go missing. It says something really disturbing about our society that we put less value on a human life if that life is not wrapped in a package that we think is befitting. I’m bothered because I’m certain that beautiful, intelligent black women are abducted all the time unfortunately, and yet we rarely if ever hear about their stories, except as some passing news item on the network and cable news channels. And maybe even some not-so-beautiful, not-so-educated black women have been lost to their families and loved ones as well – God help her if she lived in an inner city. But let a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian college student come up missing, and the “cable news earth” stops revolving. Major news events are preempted to get the word out, people appear out of nowhere to assist the family and help garner support from their communities, money for rewards start flowing like a river – it’s ridiculous!
I want HOURLY updates on the Nailah Franklin case – I want consistent coverage on the progress of the search for her and I want it to go on forever or until she’s found, which ever comes first. In other words, I want her to get the same chance at the oh-so important exposure from the news media that any Natalee Holloway look-a-like would receive. In a nation that prides itself on its multi-culturalism, and that wants to believe it has left the specter of racism behind, why is it seemingly impossible for the media to give fair and equitable coverage to the missing/exploited minorities in this country?
As a professional black woman, with a family who loves me, and with a gaggle of female nieces, young cousins, and friends that I cherish dearly, it pains me to know that if one of them were suddenly gone without a trace, the only hope my family would have of garnering any attention to their story would be a blurb on the local news channel for a night. Meanwhile, the young, white, and attractive that disappear (no matter what the circumstances) end up captivating the ENTIRE world for months and sometimes years on end. Where is the equity in that?
I can ask this question because it’s obvious that the spectacle that some of these stories become is COMPLETELY media-driven. We live in a society where we are conditioned to care about, talk about, and believe in whatever the media sends our way. As a sad result, the message that our society is being force-fed is that the value of a black woman’s life, or the value of a Latino woman’s life is not as important as that of an Anglo-Saxon, and their subsequent abduction or murder is hardly worth reporting.
Of course, it doesn’t end there. Missing or abducted younger women are more often reported on than are older women, and most certainly, the more attractive the woman the more coverage she gets.
This is irresponsible on so many levels. How are we as a society going to let the legions of young Black and Hispanic women and girls in this country know that we value them, and that their existence means anything to the future of this nation if we allow such a glaring disparity to continue? I am a college instructor, technology professional, author, mother, daughter and friend to many people who love me dearly. It is so disheartening to know that if I were to ever disappear, the exact same effort that is expended to find young, attractive, white women would not be expended to locate my big, black butt and bring me back to my loved ones.
Remember Latoyia Figueroa? Latoyia was a beautiful young woman who like Nailah was of African-American descent. Latoyia disappeared on July 18, 2005. She was five months pregnant at the time, and was reported missing after she failed to show up to work. At the time, her disappearance did spark some controversy, because all of the major news outlets completely ignored her story, despite the obvious similarities to the Laci Petersen case, and because of their unending fascination with the hot case of the time, Natalee Holloway. However, the controversy was short-lived, and as far as I can tell, no media outlet has been brave enough to lead the charge towards change since. We’ve successfully integrated the work place, schools, and public restrooms – what’s the deal with media coverage?
As a point of illustration, try this. Go to Google (or any other search engine) and search on “Latoyia Figueroa”. You should get somewhere in the area of 22,000 hits. Now – type in “Natalie Holloway” (an intentional misspelling of her name) and search. You get more than double the hits, about 47,000, even with her name misspelled! Finally, type in “Natalee Holloway”, and do a search. You’ll find well over a six-hundred THOUSAND references to her, many of them media references, or sites and blurbs that are a direct result of the mountainous amount of coverage her case has received. The inequality is appalling, shocking really, and I submit that it must change before this country can ever really consider itself racially progressive.
I should state emphatically that it is a tragedy whenever anyone is abducted – black, white, green, or fuschia. But it is equally tragic when a nation like this one so openly devalues one segment of its population so blatantly. I plan to watch the coverage of this story VERY closely, and hold the media accountable for not giving this young woman the same chance to be found, and for not giving her family the same chance at closure that Natalee Holloway’s and Laci Petersen’s families got. It’s only fair, and if the media can’t be fair about something like this, then hell, what can they be fair about?
September 26, 2007 at 4:59 pm
chughes
Megan Williams…
September 26, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Chick in Phoenix
I was reading on another site what was written about the cell phone. I was just wondering if the cell phone was located or missing as well. Alot of times the invesigators can “ping” the phone. Even if the phone is off it can recieve the ping from the cell phone tower. Or they can find out when the message was sent and where the phone was at the time the text was sent out. Just in case the text came from someone other that Nailah.
September 27, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Sarah
First off May God bless and keep Nailah in his loving arms. I think if we are going to look at media coverage we need to compare more similar situations like the coverage between Lisa Stebic and Nailah. I dont think comparing Nailah’s disappearance to Natalie Holloway is constructive. There was a lot of drama involved with it being an international case with a lot of government red tape. Her mother did a tremendous amount of work to keep the case in the spotlight.
The media and people THRIVE on the dramatic and pure human interest as in the case of an individual who just disappears doesnt have as much drama to report on. I am in no way saying that this is ok I am just trying to look at why it happens.
Nailah, unfortunately, may have just been found as they are reporting finding a body after searching the golf course area in Calumet city all night long. God Bless you Nailah you are a beautiful spirit. The world would be better off with more woman like you.
September 27, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Steve
I just left the scene, where a young black womans nude body was just discovered, in a wooded area of Calumet City IL. Hopefully, this is not Nailah, but if it is, my prayers go out to the family.
September 27, 2007 at 4:00 pm
resistance
I don’t know what to hope on this. If it’s not Nailah, it’s somebody else’s loved one.
September 27, 2007 at 4:03 pm
disgusted
I’m disgusted at how anyone of you can take this case and make it into a race issue…ENOUGH!!! I went to school with Nailah and my sister was a friend of hers who went to dances together in groups of MULTI-RACIAL kids!! This isn’t racial..it’s about a beautiful, successful, talented young woman who is now missing and a family is hurting over this as well as friends and community. The reason that you saw mostly black people at her vigil is because it’s a DOMINANTLY BLACK community!!! WAKE UP!!! For once in your life, stop trying to twist this to favor your own political agenda…that in itself is hypocritical and disgraceful. Don’t you see that if you twist this into a race issue (which it IS NOT), you are taking the focus off of what it REALLY needs to be on….where is Nailah and who took her!!!??? That is the subject and MAIN GOAL of this story. I am a devout Christian as is Nailah and I can tell you that she didn’t have a racist bone in her body and when you turn this into a race issue, it’s like slapping the family in the face. I pray that God will relieve you of your hateful ways and open your eyes to see that color is just that….color. Nothing more and that until you can get past that, you will ONLY see black and white while the rest of us are trying to live in color…bright and vibrant and full of diversity and contour. That’s who Nailah is and your drama doesn’t help to find her so stop your selfishness and focus on Nailah!
September 27, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Linda
No racism in Raleigh regarding this case, the news of Nailah’s disappearance was ALL over the news stations and newspapers here. This is NOT a racist issue as “Disgusted” notes. I have just heard on the news this morning that Nailah’s body has been found, my prayers to her family during this difficult time.
September 27, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Karen
Disgusted…….AMEN!!! God is using you as a tool. I will pray for Nailah’s family to watch over them.
September 27, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Renee
Hello,
I just heard that they id the body they found this morning as being Nailah Franklin. Let’s pray for strength for her family. This is crazy and sad. Shame on the fool that took her life. God Bless the Franklin family & her friends!
September 27, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Nikisa
Disgusted??? I dont believe the lady that were talking about racism in the news coverage of missing black women was turning this case on soley race. Today this case has gotten broad awareness on the news, but only because her family and friends pressed the media and the police and her sister has also been on radio shows in Chicago making this story aware. IT IS TRUE THAT NOT ALL MISSING PERSONS REPORTS ARE TREATED THE SAME..PERIOD…THE MEDIA SUCKS WHEN IT COMES TO BEING EQUAL WITH NEWS COVERAGE ACROSS THE BOARD….PERIOD…..I pray for this family that God will give them the strenght they need to get thru this loss…..
September 28, 2007 at 12:21 am
disgusted
Nikisa – Again, stop making this about you and race. It’s people like you that take major attention off of the case at hand (perfect example is the OJ case) and turn it into a political race agenda. ENOUGH! The police were doing what they are trained to do which is GATHER EVIDENCE and FACTS first before getting the media involved and having the media taint the whole case before it is even fully investigated. THANK GOD the police did it the way that they did! The family pressed for coverage which is what EVERY family dealing with loss does…NOT because they were black or white but because they were desperate to find their loved one. If you weren’t so blinded by race, you’d be able to see that the steps that were taken were for the BEST INTEREST of the family, Nailah, and the entire case. FACTS speak volumes and if everyone flew off the edge everytime someone went missing and only went off of pure emotion and NO FACTUAL information, cases would be botched all over the place. That’s the main reasons cases get botched and people never get found. In this case, the police took a couple of days to gather crucial information and evidence in order to make sure that when they DID report it and make it public, TRUTHFUL FACTS would be broadcast which in turn, helps make people informed of what to look for. Without facts, what would the public be looking for???? OPEN YOUR EYES and lean on God for strength to get past your racism…it’s YOU seeing color…not me or anyone else. I grew up in a neighborhood where it was pretty evenly populated with both white, black and hispanics. I grew up around people of every background and color…NAILAH being one of those people. I feel blessed to have grown up in that atmosphere because I can now, as an adult, see clearly and see people for who they are, not what they are. It’s the people that focus so strongly on pointing fingers and separatism that break this world up. NAILAH didn’t see color and she would never want to be associated with your way of thinking so don’t “speak on her behalf” because those are YOUR feelings, not hers OR HER FAMILIES!!! I’ll continue to pray for you and people like you. I hope that people like me can be the light that God wants shone upon you and that one day, you’ll know the God that I know and that HIS Love is all that matters.
September 28, 2007 at 12:28 am
disgusted
Nikisa – One more thing….In your message, you made a statement that I wanted to clarify for you. You said, “the lady that were talking about racism in the news coverage of missing black women was turning this case on soley race. Today this case has gotten broad awareness on the news, but only because her family and friends pressed the media and the police and her sister has also been on radio shows in Chicago making this story aware” The word that stuck out to me that proves your complete ignorance and tunnel vision is when you said, “TODAY this case has gotten broad awareness” as if to suggest that today was the ONLY day that any news coverage was based on Nailah. GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!! I live in Michigan and I first heard about my missing school mate from the news…IN MICHIGAN!! She was missing for 9 days total and it’s been covered on the news for the past 4 days!!!!! That’s pretty quick work when you look at the history of ANY missing person. Don’t go twisting facts or coming up with half-truths just to put an interesting spin on your agenda. FACTS are clear and everyone did EVERYTHING they could for Nailah. SHAME on people like you who make light of the hard work and efforts that people of the law and media put into trying to find her safely. How often is it that ANYONE goes missing and is found this soon?? NOT VERY OFTEN. It’s because of hard work and diligence on the side of the family and police and media and most of all…OUR GOD!
September 28, 2007 at 12:49 am
Melvin George II
May God grant Peace & Understanding to the Family surviving this unforseen tragedy. Be still. Have Faith. God Bless.
September 28, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Sue
Disgusted–I am sorry for the loss of your friend. This must be a horrifically painful time for you and everyone close to Nailah.
September 28, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Linda
If anyone has been “racist” regarding Nailah’s disappearance, perhaps it is her employer, the Eli Lilly company. I can’t find ANY references to Nailah’s disappearance and none on her body being found on their Web sites. What a sad commentary, I know my own employer would actively use their Web site if I was missing. Shame on you, Eli Lilly!!!
September 29, 2007 at 4:57 am
disgusted
Linda,
I wouldn’t call that racist because it has nothing to do with color but I would call it Shameful, disgraceful, and downright nauseating!! I looked into what you said and sure enough, not ONE WORD about Nailah!! Not even as much as a tribute to her. You’d think that maybe they couldn’t report anything regarding the case because it’s still in investigation but why wouldn’t they post a tribute?? That makes me sick!
October 4, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Tired
Disgusting,
I truly understand you’re hurt over the loss of your friend..but you’re getting pathetic about the racism issue. Everyone has an opinion and you need to respect that and moveon. Use you’re energy for something positive like praying for the family
March 18, 2009 at 2:07 am
ladyg
I’m researching a paper and found this site. I have been reading about Nailah and I will tell you that here in Denver it got very little coverage.. I received most of my info from my cable station which picks up WGN(Chicago). Getting angy over something that is still definitely a major problem in America (Racisim) is not the answer. Because you were born white you have no idea what minorities go through daily. Nailah’s family and all the families of missing loved ones especially the minorities know that unless they forced the issue their loved ones would not get the media coverage of the JonBenets’ and Natalees’ of the world. It’s not right to focus on that issue but it is alive and well. Every missing person’s case should be treated exactly the same regardless if someone lives in the Hollywood Hills or Compton. CA. We have a president of color for the first time in history but you can’t tell me there is’nt someone out there waiting to take him out because he may be light but he’s not all white. As Rodney King said, “Can’t we all just get along!”. To all media avenues, “Let’s help bring all of our lost and missing home”.