Edna Mmbali Ombakho came to the UK from Kenya to study and reach her goals, only to end up being found dead in a body of water. Thesource.substack.com reports
No wall-to-wall mainstream media coverage of police searching for her. No daily running count of the weeks she had been missing. No televised press conference. Just one local news report followed by silence.
For years it has been documented, researched and reported on that when Black women and girls go missing, we don’t receive the same media coverage as our white counterparts. For years, in order to bridge that gap, I’ve been reporting on and sharing Black people’s missing appeals, and many of times, the public has shown enough compassion to join the search and help reunite them with their loved ones. But now, after hearing about Edna, whose friends and family described her as quiet and diligent with strong academic ambitions – it pains me. It pains me that I didn’t know she was missing for as long as nearly six weeks. I didn’t know her family had made an appeal, and as a result, I couldn’t report on her disappearance or use my platform to raise awareness.
Now sitting here, with her death being treated as unexplained, I can’t help but wonder if things would have been different if the public knew. Perhaps it could have helped in some way, perhaps even to help find her or even just to help stop prolonging her family’s pain.
When I started covering the Black community on this platform, it was out of being tired of complaining. Tired of expecting editors to care about our stories. Tired of bearing the mental and physical toll of fighting to be seen and heard. The Source evolved out of decision to do for self and to shine a light on the Black community. But today, I feel defeated.
I understand that I am only one person, and that I cannot find all the missing appeals of Black people across the country, especially in places where Black people are less visible. I know The Source will have a team one day with the ability to do more and reach more people, but it doesn’t make stories like Edna’s any less painful.
I wish everything was different and that when Black women go missing, we could rely on the media to help find us so that we go on to live out our dreams.
But now, all I can say is rest in peace Edna.
The media failed you and I can’t help but feel like I did too.
