I wrote this blog for work back in July after attending Orangewood Foundation’s Sex Trafficking Forum. The contents of that education still haunt me and I don’t want its lesson to be lost over time. It’s not old news because we haven’t found the solution.
We live in an imperfect world and bad people will always find a way to inflict harm on their victims, but this doesn’t mean we throw in the towel. We fight.
Please take the time to read the forum recap below and listen to Oree’s story. She led the forum discussion that night and I couldn’t begin to describe the amount of strength this woman holds. Orangewood Foundation asks to please help spread awareness to help end the growing pandemic of sex slavery, we can all do our part.
Last night the Marconi Staff attended Orangewood Foundation’s Forum on sex trafficking in Orange County. The moving dialog from a survivor stirred up a fiery determination to do more in each staff member’s stomach.
The Marconi Foundation for Kids did recently donate $3,000 to the Orangewood Foundation, but it’s not nearly enough and there’s plenty of work to be done; we want to do more! The number one goal Orangewood has in regards to its sex trafficking program is to bring more awareness to this sensitive issue.
With the need for awareness on the brain, here is a recap of what was learned and spoken about on Monday night’s gathering.
Disclaimer: This post will use potentially alarming vocabulary to promote awareness about sex trafficking. Viewer discretion is advised.
Sex Trafficking Statistics:
100,000 – 300,000 American children are victims of sex trafficking per year.
1 out of every 3 runaway girls in the U.S. is approached by a pimp within 48 hours of running away.
Almost 400 victims of sex trafficking in Orange County have been identified in the past 10 years and almost half of them were children.
In the past two years 1,277 victims have been identified in California.
50-80% of sex trafficking victims in California are or once were in the foster care system.
There were 145 victims in Orange County in 2014.
Q:What is sex trafficking?
A: The use of violence, threats, lies, debt bondage and other forms of coercion to compel adults and children to engage in commercial sex acts against their will. Also known as: sex slavery, human trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC).
Terminology:
“In the life”: involved in sex trafficking
“John/Trick”: child molester; the buyer
“Bottom bitch”: the pimp’s head girl
“Wifey”: the girls who work with you and your pimp
Q: Who are these girls?
A: These girls are the regular “run-of-the-mill” children. It can happen to anyone.
Victims are predominately young females who are insecure, questioning their self-esteem or looking for a way out of an abusive family.
Listen to Sex Trafficking Advocate and Survivor, Oree Freeman, tell her story in the video below.
In addition to Oree telling the forum’s crowd her story, she shared numerous survivor stories, or in her terms, her “survivor sisters” stories.
“My survivor sister grew up in South County and like most young girls in Southern California, dreamed of becoming a model and walking the runways for the fashion world’s most elite. But, early on her dreams were crushed when she didn’t have the support from her parents. Determined to make it in the industry, she got in contact with a reputable agent who continually booked her in successful events that advanced her career.
Until one day, the gigs stopped and she had no money to support herself and didn’t want to ask her parents for help after they had previously voiced disapproval regarding her career choice. The agent became her pimp, even though he spent time furthering her career, turning her over was always his end goal.”
Kinds of pimps:
This kind of pimp (in above story) is considered a CEO Pimp; the character who has all the opportunity to give out and uses it to lure in victims.
A Romeo Pimp will wine and dine you for however long it takes until sold into the ring.
Women pimps are referred to as Madams and have usually been former workers “in the life.”
Recruiting Spots:
Any area where a large group of children frequent, i.e: bus stops, malls, skating rinks, group homes and the Internet.
Oree told the crowd she once walked into a skating rink during the afternoon and saw her ex-pimp and “bottom bitch” scouting out the mobs of kids, looking for the weakest link.
Girls’ Expectations:
One pimp’s formula his women must make:
$600 to eat
$800 to sleep
Didn’t collect the money from the John, punishment was sleeping with the next man without a condom.
This math equates a need to make $208,000 a year and work 16 times a day for 5 days to achieve it. This means one woman experiences 4,160 rapes a year to be able to eat and sleep.
Other facts to keep in mind:
Orange County is a number one destination location for sex trafficking because of its high prospect to make money.
Sex trafficking is almost as lucrative as drug hustling because gangs are becoming more interested in selling kids than selling drugs, it’s “safer.”
Recent reports have shown pimps come from violent upbringings and/or have experienced sexual assault while growing up.
Sex trafficking victims often get mislabeled as prostitutes.
The Good News:
The Orangewood Foundation has been working for nearly 35 years to care for abused and at-risk youth. The foundation has numerous programs to aid children in need.
First responders are being taught how to recognize a sex trafficking victim and what questions to ask.
The creation of a new program called The Lighthouse Program, by the Orangewood Foundation.
The Lighthouse Program is transitional housing for young women who have left “the life.” It’s a house with 24/7 care for women aged 18-21 (minors are generally placed in foster care) that will help a survivor recuperate and plan for their future, and stay as long as needed to become successful.
This program will work in tandem with other Orangewood programs which offer help with basic needs, independent living skills, employment and education.
As the first kind of home/program in the Orange County and L.A. area, the foundation needs our support. Below is a list detailing how YOU can support The Lighthouse.
If you are interested in attending a forum, the meetings happen every second Monday of every month from 6:30-8:00pm. Plan to be a part of the discussion on August 8th and September 12th at 1575 E. 17th St., Santa Ana.
Awareness is the first step in stopping the problem.
Helllloooooo again WordPress I haven’t forgotten about you, but I will admit I have forgotten about how to enjoy the parts that make me me.
Sidebar: You ever watch a movie that makes you rethink the way you’ve been operating lately, or in entirety? I watched one of those kind of movies tonight. Ugh — fine, it was The Intern.
Damn Robert De Niro playing a sweet old man. When did he change from an everyday mobster to a kind older gentleman? Maybe that’s the secret to old age, or movies. Anyways …
I’ve been through a lot of change in the last three months, and I think inadvertently let the things that make me me, slip.
I haven’t read a good book in ages. I haven’t written about anything that wasn’t expected of me. I began to think I didn’t have a love for words, or communicating with the masses.
After finally moving into my own place (again) and diving deeper into my new (awesome) job, I watched The Intern and immediately felt like I’ve let myself slide.
Another curse to my being. I’m too hard on myself.
I’m tired and transition takes time.
You ever feel all the change that’s happened over time hit you in one moment and it knocks you on your own feet?
Or keep yourself so busy you forget to take a deep breath and remember what’s really important.
It’s hard to remember life is short and you have to enjoy it.
So why am I feeling sappy?
Because of Ben (De Nero).
He’s a widower — married 42 years, was a business man for half his life and is trying to navigate retirement. He sees a flyer for a “senior internship” program and applies because he still wants to learn and despite his perceived loneliness, views life through an optimistic spread of light.
I know, it’s a movie. The point is about how it got my wheels turning.
I hope I can always remind myself I’m never too old to learn.
I’m never too tired to let my passion slip, and I’m never too discombobulated to remember I’m only human.
So, hello from the other side — learning life after landing a career.
Musicians don’t retire, they stop when there’s no more music in them – Louis Armstrong
Thanks to Netflix I have been re-watching one of my favorites, That 70s Show. After the Hubs gets home from work and before he leaves for school we watch a few episodes together; squeezing in time for each other before it’s time to say goodbye for the night.
We recently watched an episode where the audience learns ‘Donna’ likes to write and wants to possibly pursue a career in journalism. It got me thinking about how many characters in my favorite TV shows were or wanted to be journalists.
Hmmm, maybe subliminal messaging just turned a new leaf? Where my conspiracy theorists at? Just kidding, #aintnobodygottimeforthat
1. Rory Gilmore – Gilmore Girls
2. Phoebe Halliwell – Charmed
3. Carrie Bradshaw – Sex And The City
4. Clark Kent – Superman
5. Sabrina Spellman – Sabrina The Teenage Witch
6. Robin Scherbatsky – How I Met Your Mother
7. Donna Pinciotti
8. Kermit – Sesame Street
9. Rebecca Katsopolis – Full House
10. Harriet M. Welsch – Harriet The Spy
I’m not sure Harriet counts, officially. But we can categorize her as an investigative reporter in the elementary school department. This movie was one of my all-time favorites growing up. You’d have to ask my Ma how she managed the re-runs.
I’m sure plenty of other kids watched the same television shows growing up and connected with the same characters, and most probably didn’t want to pursue a career in writing. Personally, I can help but feel I might have been drawn to these characters for a reason and if anything, it’s another sign I might need to keep me motivated.
Somewhere in March I received an email asking how much my words were worth. Intrigued, I actually read one of the zillions of emails sent by the university, daily. It was informing students about a nonfiction conference in Grapevine, Texas. You could submit work and if selected, attend workshops with editors, authors and professionals in the literary world.
These selections would also be in the running for cash prizes. As a broke, almost graduated, ever-since-I-was-young-wannabe-writer and student, I submitted a personal essay, why not me. And I was chosen for selection! I was floored, I finally threw out my insecurities and dove in head first and it paid off!
The conference was this past weekend. I don’t think I have the words to craft a proper gauge on how I felt. You know when Hagrid tells Harry, ur a wizard -arry, and Harry begins to understand he won’t have to spend all his time with the Dursleys? Or, when Harry rides his broom for the first time and finds out his father was also a decorated seeker? Or … well I could keep the Harry Potter metaphors going all night … you get it.
The conference was more than just a learning experience. I felt like a grew as a person who loves words and reading/writing stories. Here are a few of the speakers from the lectures I enjoyed the most:
1. Anne Fadiman speaking about her book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Her keynote speech left me feeling full. She emerged herself into a unfamiliar world of Hmong refugees struggling with new life in California. “I believe in accidents, without them I never would’ve wrote my book.”
Happy accidents, this resonated with me. I need to embrace all the humps because those are what put me in the right places at the right time, like this literary conference.
2. Dan Barry and Kassie Bracken speaking about merging the two worlds of journalists and photographers. The importance of collaborating with professionals to tell a compelling story.
“Writing about people of poverty like victims is a mistake. It’s not fair to them as an individual.”
I think it’s easy to feel sorrow for those who aren’t as well off as an “average” human being. But it’s not just about their monthly income, it’s about the story and how people of poverty survive.
3. The panel discussion with Caleb Hannan, S.I. Rosenbaum and Hanna Rosin. Hannan wrote an article about “Dr. V” and her magic putter. The outcome was tragic as the subject committed suicide during the interviews. His candid testimony led us to believe if you feel like something bad is going to happen, then you need to have an open discussion with your editor and vise-versa.
I personally believed he had balls to talks openly and honest about his mis-steps and answering the questions from his panel-mates. You can read the article here, and the letter from the editor here. And Rosenbaum’s after the fact article here.
4. George Getschow’s lecture about the importance of place in a narrative. “I’m always surprised to read an article that misses the importance of place.” Place is like a secondary character and it needs to be just as important as character development. These are the dimensions of place, as explained by Mr. Getschow:
The History- Research it and find out what makes your place tick.
Economy- How does the place survive. Is it an oil, ranching or low income?
What do people wear? What do they eat? How do they communicate?
Weather- It influences peoples mood for the day and how they dress. Using weather can reveal character.
Gestures- How do people greet each other?
Superstitions- paying attention to local legends or tales?
Sights & Sounds
As I sat in a dimly lit lush ballroom with desserts on top of clean white soft linens, tempting guests to eat their cake before dinner, the winners for the top personal essays and reported narratives were announced. The top three in each category were awarded cash prizes, and the top ten would be published in the literary journal Ten Spurs.
There’s no better way to say this then, I WON! My name is called after the 8-minute mark in the video below and I get on stage after the 9-minute mark. A professor of mine called my name as I walked by to get on stage and I tackled her into a hug. “I didn’t know you submitted a piece! I’m so proud of you!”
There is no better feeling than hitting a home run. Now that I know how it feels I want to do it again, over and over again as many times possible. This was the perfect way to kick me off into the professional world and end my stay with the University of North Texas, Mayborn School of Journalism.
It’s a cliche to say, “follow your dreams,” but it’s true. Many times I was red-inked, felt like a poor writer and told I’d never make any money as an author. My personal dialogue said the same thing. I finally told the voices the shut-it and jumped off the high dive.
It was a rough road. I felt exposed and unsure if I propelled my story with the correct words. I cried reliving certain slices of my life. In the end it all happened the way it was supposed to, why not me.
This conference also added readings to my already to tall stack of books. This list is more for me so I won’t forget, but If you’re looking for something new to read, all the better!
Recently I got an email from the University of North Texas about the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. Every year, unbeknownst to me this conference is held in Grapevine, Texas. There are multiple categories to be entered in, but the ones I’m interested in are ‘Mayborn Writing Contests.’
There are three subcategories in this section are: Reported Narrative, Personal Essay and Book Manuscript. Each requiring a separate application form and fee to enter your writing pieces into competition.
I got the email early in the morning, didn’t delete it, but didn’t think anything of it until later in the night. Why not enter? Why not me? That mindset is the one I need to keep, I’m about to be graduated and I’m looking for the stars, as cliché as it might sound, it’s where I need to be!
The application deadlines aren’t until June, so I have plenty of time, though I will not be waiting last-minute to complete this. I’m also sure I will be entering in two of the categories, personal essay and book manuscript. I’m so anxious, excited and nervous at the same time.
I don’t have high expectations in winning the grand prize, wish differs for each category, but I’m hopeful that I do write well enough to make an impression, which is all I want to accomplish, because who knows, this may rub elbows with the right people and get me headed in a hopeful direction.
Though, winning would be FREAKING awesome. I could be that person who gets lucky, who knows what will be will be, I’m just excited that something has me pushing for what I want and I have a grounded idea of what I want to write about! Always good news!
There are always going to be opportunities presented that you should consider. My own fear should not be holding me back! So here’s to good luck and going out on a limb. I encourage you to do the same! It’s scary but it’s pretty exhilarating!
Sigh-our last full day in Colorado Springs, a bit more than bittersweet, we didn’t want to leave at all. If it were possible to move all our belongings in a blink of an eye, I think we would have.
In the beginning of a trip, that first wake up means the whole adventure is in front of you, so when it ends, it feels like it came and went to quickly. As soon as you book a trip, it takes forever to get there, but when you’re on vacation, it flies by faster than the speed of light.
I’m just grateful I got to spend it with my guy and our two puppies.
After breakfast we headed into Manitou Springs to visit the cliff dwellings. These dwellings were homes to the Anasazi ( The Ancient Ones or The Ancestral Puebloans). The people of this culture lived from 1100 A.D. to 1300 A.D. in the four corners area ( Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico).
These apartment homes were carved into the side of the huge red rocks to protect themselves from invasions by intruders, so their backs were always covered, no sneak attacks from behind.
Cliff Dwellings at Manitou Springs 2015At the entrance of a home inside the Cliffs
The tiny narrow hallways and low ceilings gave you the feel of what it might have been like to live in one of these homes. The stairs were just as narrow and with the sun behind us, it was very dark.
A view from the inside. It was cool on the inside and felt damp.They are so cute, my three ruffs.A better angle of what we were looking at and how each home connects
There was also a museum housed inside a Pueblo. A structure made from clay and hay, because of the cold winters Colorado has, the snow melts the clay and has to be replenished yearly. I hate mowing the grass, how spoiled are we, can you imagine?
We were also in for an unexpected treat that day, there were wolves walking around, real life BIG ones. The Hubs and I got to pet and feed them, totally insane!
I was walking up to the female when the male, Ghost, came galloping up to me, nuzzling me with this long thick snout. I’m not going to lie, for a quick second I thought this was it. “Here lies Shannon, eaten alive by a wolf.”
The handler explained people adopt these animals and try to mix them with dogs, because they think it’s “cool,” and when they become an adult, they’re too much to handle and get left in shelters, or in the present females case, tied up to a tree.
Because they end up in shelters, nobody wants to adopt them and they end up being put down, a sad fate for a wild animal. So, he takes them in and cares for them.
The wolves eat between 6 to 9 lbs of raw meat a day. So the handler brings them out to help raise money to feed and house them. They can’t be domesticated, meaning you can’t house train them. They live in a huge back yard with man-made dens, another female wolf is the pack leader. You Go Girl.
Just giving Ghost a treat, from my bare hand!The hubby got to too!
After the dwellings, we dropped the dogs off and went to downtown Colorado Springs and historic Colorado City. Downtown was nice, a small city with clean streets. The homes were Victorian style, where the floors probably creaked and the banisters were hand crafted wood.
Historic Colorado City is like any historic area, small trinket stores, hand dipped chocolate goodies and a grassy area for guests to sun bathe on. It’s cute, nice for tourists and people who eat lunch outside.
It was built by a few guys who had enough money to spend, pretty much the same song and dance for any town in those days.
We got back to the hotel early in the afternoon and were wiped out. All the hiking and exploring caught up with us and we were done-zo. I crawled under the sheets and dozed off for an hour, woke up to The Hunger Games on HBO and a very hungry husband.
The Hubs found a restaurant that was inside an old Boeing KC-97, him being an avid aviation junkie, especially during the WWII era, so we had to go. It didn’t dissapoint.
The building surrounding the plane offered additional seating and plenty of eye candy hanging on every inch of the walls. The menus were newspapers you could take home as souvenirs and the waiters were dressed in airline attendant fashion.
Matt checking out the cockpitMe reading the local news, I mean looking over the menuThe view from outside
Let the record show, I Shannon, was in a plane willingly without any mild heart palpitations or panic attacks. Plus, the food was pretty good. I got an avocado burger, the Hubs got salmon pasta something or other and we split a brownie sundae.
A great way to end the day and trip, because in the morning, we had an 11 hour trek back home ahead of us.
Today PRSSA and myself got the unique chance to tour the Weber Shandwick office in downtown Dallas, inside the Comerica Bank Tower. The PR firm represents over 3,000 companies and have multiple offices in 80 countries, including the United States, London and Middle East. In regards to the work they do, they are a little more corporate and little more traditional.
After climbing to the 16th floor, we entered a lobby that had double glass doors on opposite sides, upon entering the bunch of us were shuffled into a magnificent conference room with a gorgeous view of downtown Dallas.
We got a run down of the afternoons schedule from Senior Vice President Tracy Donalson and then dove into specifics about the firm and its daily routines from Neil Nowlin, executive vice president and general manager of Weber and Shandwick. Lesson one, it’s never routine in their offices.
While listening to Mr. Nowlin talk, these are a few of the things we all took away from his speech:
Take the initiative in all aspects of the job.
Alway bring a positive attitude into work, a bad attitude is just as contagious as a good one.
Be willing to do anything, don’t be that guy who walks in to an interview with stipulations and a chip on your shoulder. If they want you in a hotdog suit, waving at potential consumers, JUST DO IT.
If you haven’t had a lot of experience thus far, think about what you can do. For example, can you take on a leader ship role in a club at school? Have you volunteered in your community or tried to work for a nonprofit? Is there a political campaign you can volunteer with?
Practice your writing skills! The PR world needs strong writers, have you mastered the art of writing persuasively?
NO RÉSUMÉ ERRORS!!!
When submitting résumés make yours stand out, one guy sent his on top of a cake!
Then, we got to hear from staff who worked in the technology department, graphic design and videography department and most importantly, from the people who manage the interns they have quarterly each year, about six to seven in each batch. So if you are looking for something in the agency life, check out the opportunities here.
I also hear Senior Art Director Matthew Weir is always looking for a graphic design intern, and he hears The University of North Texas has one of the best programs around, so tell your friends.
Gazing at the social media hub Photo Cred: Shannon RandolThe Weber Shandwick break room. What a view! Photo Cred: Shannon RandolAnother great view from their office windows. Photo Cred: Shannon Randol
The art of writing is a sacred being, its appeal is charming and the idea easy, the latter is never true. Writing isn’t easy and it never will be. If you write long enough you acquire a passion for words and new ways to express them, but it’s never an easy journey, though nothing worth while hardly ever is.
Any soul who enjoys the magic of writing remembers when they first got the itch to put pen to paper and create something creative. Any “great” remembers the craving to prefect a skill became apparent. A jolt of weightless energy that hits you hard, causing the lightbulb to brighten above your head. That’s what I want to do!
Personally, I was little, maybe six or seven, too little to actually be thinking about future plans, but I knew I enjoyed reading what I wrote and creating short stories were my fav.
I acquired an eccentric style of writing while in grammar school, and my mom thought it was adorable. I had a funny tendency to only write on the left-hand edges of my paper, the rest of the paper seemed tainted. I remember thinking, look how many pages I can write! Well, when you only use half the page …
My signature trademark was soon corrected by the first or second grade, whenever the teachers start to send you home with real homework. I’m sure it’s Pre-K now, the books are heavier and the snow they have to walk to school in is deeper.
Anyways, my itch started with writing fan fiction, I didn’t know that’s what it was called, but regardless, anybody remember the T.V. series Arthur? Yes, yes I did. I wrote my own stories for Arthur and his family and friends to wander through. I wrote some stories that were funny, others were sad. Mostly, I liked to write ones that had a good moral buried in it. Typical Shannon, I was seven going on 30.
My mom used to keep them in her dresser, the bottom right hand drawer. By the time I was in my teens the drawer resembled how stuffed and worn it was, papers were being pushed from the sides, the handle was hanging on by one screw and the drawer had long been knocked off its frame. It was the perfect setting for where my mom crammed us kids’ works of art.
The prized possessions were all slightly brown and had obviously seen better days. Every once in a while I wonder if my mom still has them shoved in that drawer, but the memory vanishes by the time one of us calls each other.
It took years of denying any worth to my writing before I told myself to shut the -efff up. I started my higher education with the thought I’d never leave education, I’d just become a teacher. I did my classroom visits and almost ran out the door, though working with kids was rewarding.
I think that when something sinks its teeth into you, it’s hard to deny the sting it leaves. Writing got its dirty paws around me long ago, and the sooner I realized it, the quicker I believed I did have a purpose. College really does seem to suck the life out of you sometimes.
When did your passions sink their teeth into you? Was it a furry, ( what was Arthur? An Aardvark?) cartoon friend that sparked your enthusiasm!?
There’s a song by Macklemore that fits with the story I’m about to tell. It’s called Cowboy Boots and there’s a lick that embodies what is going on in my husband’s life and mine right now.
I was laying on the couch last night, probably around 8 p.m. – ya know, real late for us old married folk. Matt leaned over to snuggle in and watch a few episodes of Parenthood, when he made the astonishing discovery I was still wearing a bra this late in the day.
“Mark it down people!”
I would’ve rolled off the coach had I not been in the nook of the coach where the sectional meets, that sweet spot, those who have a sectional know what I’m talking about.
There’s plenty of truth though to his discovery, as embarrassing as it may be, Ha. It’s called wearing mom jeans when you have kids and get comfortable, maybe a little too comfortable around your husband, and public appearance standards drop. But, what is it called when you’re a twenty-something student with two dogs and a husband?
I still haven’t found a real job, meaning a grownup one. I waitress on the weekends, go to college during the week and intern wherever I can, gotta make those connections. So, it’s not like I have this grownup schedule, going to work 9-5, ew, being required to dress like an adult at all times.
You have to relish these times, right? One day I will have spit up on all my clothes, a grownup job, maybe not too grown and a set schedule. These times are the days our parents tell you to enjoy. No kids, no real responsibilities, less pressure, though I beg to differ sometimes.
That lick I was talking about before is bolded and the whole verse goes like this:
Hold on to what you were, forget what you’re not
The streets were ours that summer, at least those two blocks
Reminisce on those days, I guess that’s OK, you wonder why
Some grow up, move on, close the chapter, live separate lives
The twenty-something confusion before the suit and tie
Strangers become mistakes but those mistakes made you feel alive
Hindsight is vibrant, reality: rarely lit
Memory’s a collage pasted to the glue that barely sticks
Good Lord, they broke all my shields
Locked bathroom doors, graffiti, and high heels
Until you felt that altitude you don’t know how high feels
Party mountain, some don’t ever come down from around here
To be young again, I guess it’s relative
The camel lights, the whiskey rye, sink into the skin
I fantasize about a second win
Grow a moustache, pick up another bad habit and let the games begin
Are you catching my drift? I’m in a weird limbo with life, bras included. I’m in the split where anything can happen. I’m going to enjoy not having to be dressed at 8 pm. and if I’m lucky I’ll land something that won’t require be to be either, haha.
It’s the Twenty Something Confusion before the Suit and Tie
RamblinRandol 