Healing the Community: Inside La Tanya Horace-DuBois’ Vision for The Silent Task Force
Founder and Executive Director of The Silent Task Force La Tanya Horace-DuBois recently appeared on The Day With Trae with host Trae Holiday to discuss her extensive career in community health and insights into the issues of sex trafficking and health disparities affecting the Black community.
Horace-DuBois’ career has been defined by direct engagement with the Black community. Her past work has addressed several areas:
Breast and Cervical Health: She has worked with homeless Black women to provide essential medical screenings, including mammograms and clinical exams.
HIV/AIDS Education: She continues to advocate for awareness and testing within the community, highlighting it as an ongoing concern for both older and younger generations.
Systems Advocacy: Having worked within large monolithic organizations, she eventually sought to create a more independent platform where she could "speak truth to power" and advocate without institutional constraints.
The Evolution of the Silent Task Force
The Silent Task Force is a Black-owned and operated grassroots non-profit in the Greater Seattle area, dedicated to healing the impacts of systemic violence and inequity on Black families.
A major upcoming milestone for the organization is the renovation of its own building in South Seattle’s Skyway area. Set to begin renovation this month and hopefully finish by the end of the year, the space is envisioned as a holistic transformative healing center. The center will focus on:
Traditional Healing: The center will offer various healing modalities rooted in ancestral traditions.
Natural Medicine: There will be a focus on herbalism and spiritual herbalists to provide natural alternatives to traditional pharmaceuticals.
Professional Services: The space will also host medical practitioners for services like physical therapy.
Addressing Human Trafficking and the Ebony Alert
A significant portion of the discussion focused on the prevalence of sex trafficking in the Seattle area. Horace-DuBois highlighted that Washington State is a major hub for trafficking, ranking among the highest in the country alongside California.
She spoke passionately about the "Ebony Alert," a proposed notification system designed specifically for missing Black individuals. She noted that Black women and girls are currently trafficked at higher rates than other demographics in the state. Horace-DuBois argued that such an alert is necessary because standard alerts, like the Amber Alert, often involve bureaucratic hurdles that can delay critical response times during the first 48 hours of a disappearance.
Future Outlook and Community Support
Looking forward, Horace-DuBois expressed concern about the potential for increased trafficking surrounding major global events like the upcoming FIFA World Cup. She called for more community-led education and awareness to create "protective factors" for vulnerable individuals.
The Silent Task Force continues to operate several programs, including engaging youth from age 12 and up to lead outreach and community education efforts, and basic needs services that provide food, supplies, shelter resources, and youth employment support.
Those seeking support or wishing to get involved can reach the Silent Task Force at their website, thesilenttaskforce.org, or visit their location at 11410 Renton Avenue South in Seattle.
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