Project Niner

PROPOSITION follows the sex-trafficking epidemic in Oakland, California from the dual perspective of survivors striving to create a better world for themselves and white-savior activists oblivious to the ways they perpetuate systemic inequality. My final goal is the publication of my novel in wide distribution.

Inspiration for the novel comes from the reaction to my nonfiction essay, “Dancing on the Blade,” which chronicled my participation as a dancer in a healing ritual for sex-trafficked youth. The essay received the San Francisco Foundation/Nomadic Press Award for Literary Nonfiction in 2021.

Sex-trafficking activist Regina Evans wrote, “One of the best essays/articles that I have ever read regarding child sex trafficking…a great teaching piece… This type of writing will circle the soul back ‘round to the heart of the matter…Thank you for scraping the scales off of eyes and softening hearts.” 

My novel is based on facts such as: Eighty percent of those sex-trafficked are women; most of them are children. Forty percent of the nation’s sex-trafficking happens in Oakland, the city I call home. Most of the girls are local, fleeing disadvantaged socioeconomic circumstances. Others are abducted from elsewhere in the United States, bought, sold, and brought to the Bay Area. Traffickers are savvy and know how to take advantage of legal loopholes such as the blurred lines between federal and tribal jurisdictions, which results in the abduction of Native women and girls in numbers far greater than any other demographic. Predators are looking for vulnerable targets and know how to prey on a child who is homeless or has experienced abuse or sexual trauma. 

PROPOSITION examines what we sell and who we save. I draw hope from my sensitivity readers, all of whom work closely with at-risk teens in East Oakland. Through them I am made aware of the support systems that work together to heal from sexual violence—and in some cases even preempt it. These tools come from drum circles, religious ceremonies, and restorative justice strategies. They are present in iconography often overlooked as graffiti or dismissed as superstitions by outsiders. I aim to incorporate many of these stories and rituals in my work. Most of all, I want to portray survivors of sex trafficking with the dignity that they deserve.