You cannot miss what is not seen. Black women are often made invisible; thus, when we go missing, the public outcry is muted at best and absent at worst because we were never there in the first place.

Northeastern University’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion welcomes Dr.  Julia Jordan-Zachery from Wake Forest University for a Missing Persons Day discussion about the societal response to these “shadow bodies” of missing Black girls, femmes, trans people and women, rendered invisible by the lack of media coverage about them and the larger societal response to race-gender violence, which is deeply grounded in the institution of slavery.

After Dr. Jordan-Zachery’s presentation, Cecilia Akuffo, who holds an MA in Journalism from Northeastern University and serves as the Director of Communications and Events for the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will facilitate a discussion.

Jordan-Zachery’s interdisciplinary research focuses on African American women, public policy, and self-actualization. She explores the intersection of gender and race and the politics of missing persons, with a specific focus on Black girls, femmes, trans people and women. She encourages us to think of how politics of missing persons is deeply grounded in colonialism, slavery, and neo-liberalism.