​The Films

​THE HEALING ARTS FILM SERIES HOSTED BY: THE WELLNESS COLLABORATIVE INC. & THE ROXBURY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL.

Presents Missing & Black
Thursday, March 31st, join us for a discussion on the important discussion on the issue of missing black women and girls with filmmakers, activists and mental health professionals. Let’s get the depth and breadth of this problem and discuss solutions and actions to tackle this problem.

Discussion will center around two films: HBO’s Black & Missing and a short film by filmmaker Carly Rogers: Missing. Watch the films come to the conversation!
Moderated by Karen Craddock and Lisa Simmons

The ​Panelists

Carly Rogers. Director of Missing a film about a black woman who struggles to find help when her teenage daughter goes missing.
Tonya Stafford- Survivor https://tonyastafford.com
Alexandria Onuoha. PhD student in applied developmental psychology at Suffolk University and director of political advocacy at Black Boston.

BIO
Dr. Tonya Stafford (DDiv.) is a survivor of human trafficking who is focused on eradicating human trafficking one survivor at a time. Alongside her doctorate, she has a degree in Early Childhood Education and has been trained by the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA) program. Tonya is an Accreditation Review Panelist for National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance (NTSA) and she is also a Consultant with the Ft. Worth ISD HTYPE Curriculum Development Program. Dr. Tonya is a dedicated advocate for women and children and her testimony at the Texas State Senate Hearings helped pass House Bill 2290 which recognizes January as Human Trafficking Prevention Month. She has focused her ongoing advocacy and story of resilience in work with the FBI, Homeland Security, healthcare practitioners, national and local agencies and organizations. As the founder of It’s Going To Be OK and board member of TAASA Survivor Advisory Board, her ultimate desire is to educate the public and support victims in rebuilding their lives. In Tonya’s private time, she enjoys being a wife, mother, and grandmother. Tonya is also a forthcoming author of “And Then I Was Free.”

Alexandria Onuoha is an applied developmental psychology PhD student at Suffolk University. Her primary line of research examines Black adolescents’ development and explores the intersections of misogynoir and far-right ideologies. Alexandria centers her work on promoting Black girl development and ways educators, youth practitioners and communities can help support and enhance the brilliance of Black girls. She is committed to using her research to cultivate evidence-based practices for higher education, Black families, technology, and other areas relevant to her research. She created ACO STYLES, a community to promote the well-being of women of color and youth of color through art and serves as the Director of Political Advocacy at Black Boston where she leads a team that engages with Black Bostonians promoting legislation that will reduce inequalities. Alexandria is also a mentee and board member of the Institute for Research on Male Supremacism working with experts in far-right studies to provide new theoretical understandings of threats posed by right-wing misogynist groups and individuals.

Carly Rogers is a producer and director from Portland, Maine, with her MFA in Film and Television Production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. A natural storyteller, she relocated to Los Angeles to pursue her career in filmmaking. She has produced several short films, including the short documentary project Immigrant at Home which showed in film festivals Doc LA, St. Louis International Film Festival, Mizna’s Twin Cities Arab Film Festival, and the Impact Doc Awards where it won the Award of Merit for documentary short. Her directorial debut short Missing premiered at the Roxbury International Film Festival in 2020. Growing up in a mixed-race household she gained a unique view of the world, one that she hopes to share through her work in film. Carly is passionate about changing the narrative for underrepresented voices. Her goal is to progress representation for people of color in the entertainment industry and tell more dynamic stories of their lives.