- I Be Black Girl has launched its "Bring Her Home" campaign, calling for a study to improve how missing persons cases involving Black women and children.
- In Nebraska 700 Black women and children go missing each year.
- U.S. Department of Justice data shows Black women are 6 times more likely to be murdered than their white peers.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I Be Black Girl is calling for a study to improve how missing persons cases involving Black women and children are reported, tracked and investigated.
Today Ai'Yauna Young graduated from high school, she paused her own celebration to speak about her mother, Camisha Hollis, who went missing from her Omaha home in 2018 and was declared dead in 2025.
"When you see a missing person on the news, it might be a total stranger to you. But like what these individuals said, their daughters, their sons, their grandmothers, they are somebody to somebody," Young said.
Hollis is one of the 700 Black women and children who go missing each year in Nebraska, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.
Ai'Yauna's father, Marvin Young Jr., was convicted of manslaughter, 3 counts of child abuse, and tampering with evidence for the 2018 death of his girlfriend, Camisha Hollis.
"He had thrown her into a coffee table, and I watched this glass broke everywhere, and it shattered," Young said.
According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 45% of Black women have experienced physical and sexual abuse. U.S. Department of Justice data shows Black women are 6 times more likely to be murdered than their white peers.
Though Hollis was legally declared dead in 2025, her body has never been recovered.
"As I stand here today, I'm crying out of frustration that they couldn't find her, and that they couldn't give her a proper burial," Young said.
Senator Ashlei Spivey said the campaign aims to put a human face on the data.
"There are stories that we want to tell and put humans behind this," Spivey said.
Joy Kathurima, Legal & Policy Counsel for I Be Black Girl, said the organization hopes the study brings greater visibility to these cases.
"We will be making sure that their stories are elevated, so that we can bring beloved members of our community home," Kathurima said.
I Be Black Girl dedicated a brick in honor of Camisha Hollis, giving Ai'Yauna a place to remember her mother.
"I don't have, um, a memorial to go back to to really, like, um, celebrate her when it's her birthday or, uh, celebrate Christmas and stuff. So, I think having this brick means a lot to me," Young said.
