Senate approves 'Ebony Alert'; advocates urge House to act

Advocates and lawmakers at a press conference in Olympia urged the Washington House to pass an "Ebony Alert" after senators sent the measure out of the Senate unanimously.

"The Ebony alert started as just a grassroot movement," Latanya Horace Duquois, executive director of the SALON task force, said, describing community-originated efforts to address trafficking and missing-persons disparities. Duquois said outreach, engagement and education will be priorities if the alert becomes law.

Yasmin Wahid, a community outreach and engagement specialist with the SALON task force and founder of Survivors Inspire Solutions, said the African American community in Washington "now has the highest rate of missing in Washington state despite being 4.4 percent of the population," and urged House members to act. Wahid added that the lack of media coverage and law-enforcement resources contributes to disparities and said there are "over 100,000 missing black women and girls" nationally, citing an Urban League–highlighted study discussed at the press conference.

Advocates said the alert would signal that missing Black people are valued and would be accompanied by community-focused outreach. De Grama and other legislators thanked senators who shepherded the bill through the Senate and said they would press for House passage during the session.