The light of day heals the heart and inspires action. Do let it shine.

We were watching the Academy Awards red carpet and now the Oscars and the glitz and the glamour and all the beautiful Hollywood actors and actresses and the unprecedented media attention. Maybe Beatrice and/or Bryce will be there someday.

But something's been nagging at me all day. It was a story on Good Morning America this morning.

Cases of Missing Women and Young Girls Get Varying Media Attention

Sadly it's not the first time I've heard this story, the fact that only a fraction of missing persons cases get lots more media coverage than the remaining collective combined.

According to the GMA story this morning:

Ernie Allen, president of the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, says the cases that get the most attention tend to involve pre-teen children where it's immediately apparent that foul play by a stranger, not a family member, is suspected.

When it's random, when there are clear unrelated villains and victims, and unfortunately statistically White and not Black or Latino, then and only then do we see it played out online and on TV and we shake our heads at unforgiving tragedy.

Kathy Times, a member of the National Association of Black Journalists was quoted in the story:

"If you're white, wealthy, cute and under 12, then you're more likely to get the eye of the national media."

Whether you agree with that statement or not, it's shocking number of cases that don't see the light of the media day. As a father with a daughter and another child on the way that so hurts my heart.

Hundreds of thousands of children are reported missing every year. A hundred or so turn out to be the result of foul play, and only a handful of those get the kind of media scrutiny that Chelsea King's case got.

Let's not forget LaToyia's or the Nicole's. We need to shine a light on all of the global stories of violence against women and children and work to intervene and prevent, like the International Domestic Violence Memorial does, like the Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence (CAEPV) does, like The Pixel Project does, like the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, like National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Like thankfully so many more do.

The light of day heals the heart and inspires action. Do let it shine.