The Stone Kids: 728 Days Missing in Arizona — Governor & AG Under Fire for Inaction

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Two years, 728 days.
That is how long three boys have

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been missing while the clock
keeps moving like nothing

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happened.
Winston Stone, Timothy Paul

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Stone Junior.
Marcel Orion Stone.

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You're listening to No Tears for
Black Girls.

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I'm Samantha Paul.
This episode is based on public

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reporting and on court filings
and documents shared with me by

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the Stone family.
Where claims are allegations, I

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will say so.
Our focus is simple

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accountability and bringing
attention back to the missing.

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If you are hearing these names
for the first time, I want you

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to sit with them for a moment
because these are not headlines,

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These are children.
And if you already know the

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names, then you already know how
the public gets trained to

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forget.
The story drifts, the outrage

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cools, the algorithms move on,
and families are left screaming

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into a system that acts like
silence is normal.

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Today is January 9th, 2026, the
two year anniversary, and this

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episode is about more than what
happened to the Stone kids.

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It is about what happens when
government systems treat missing

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black children like paperwork,
not emergencies.

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It is about what happens when
the word runaway becomes an

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excuse to delay action.
It is about what happens when a

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family comes to the state
begging for help and the state

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answers with procedure,
deflection and delay.

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The Stone family has fought this
in court.

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They have filed motions.
They have asked judges to compel

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records.
They have asked for

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accountability.
They have asked for help finding

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3 missing boys.
And as of today, the boys are

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still not home.
I am going to speak carefully

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and clearly.
Some details in this episode are

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drawn from public reporting and
from the family's court filings

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and documents shared with me by
Reverend Johnstone.

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When I refer to allegations, I
will say so.

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And when I refer to findings by
federal authorities, I will say

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so because this matters.
Truth matters.

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Precision matters.
And when the system fails, the

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only thing families have left is
the record.

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Here is the part that should
make your stomach drop.

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In this case, there were
warnings, there were protections

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ordered.
There were red flags that did

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not require hindsight to see.
There were opportunities,

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multiple opportunities to stop
what was coming.

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And still three boys were taken
and later their father died.

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In the Stone family's account
and in the filings connected to

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their case, the disappearance of
the children is tied to a chain

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of decisions and failures that
the family believes were

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avoidable and that they argue
involved misconduct and

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obstruction.
The date that matters most is

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January 9th, 2024.
That is the day the children

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were taken, according to the
family.

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The Stone family has described
it as a kidnapping.

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They have described it as a
handoff.

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They have described it as a
moment where law enforcement had

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the power to intervene and did
not.

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You need to understand why that
matters, because a missing child

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case is not just a tragedy.
It is a test.

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A test of whether the state
treats a child's life like an

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emergency or like an
inconvenience.

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In far too many cases involving
black children, the system fails

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that test.
Ask any mother who has been told

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they'll come back.
Ask any father who has been told

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they're probably just with
friends.

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Ask any family who has watched
the first 48 hours vanish when

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the first 48 hours are the
difference between rescue and

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regret.
Now pull back with me.

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Because Arizona is not just
facing 1 missing children

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crisis.
Arizona is facing a pattern.

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And it is a pattern families
have been naming for years.

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Black children go missing, and
the response is often slower,

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colder and smaller.
Families say urgency is missing

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from the response.
Even when the child is

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vulnerable, even when there is a
history of danger, even when the

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family is begging.
And when the state's child

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welfare systems are involved.
The danger multiplies because

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when children are labeled
runaways, they become easier to

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ignore, and when they are
ignored, they become prey.

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Advocates have warned for years
that youth who run from unsafe

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placements or who are simply not
protected in the 1st place are

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at higher risk of exploitation
and trafficking.

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That is not sensational.
That is documented reality.

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It is the ugly math of
vulnerability.

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In Arizona, reports and
community advocacy have raised

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alarms about children
disappearing from the very

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systems meant to protect them.
Families have said notifications

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were delayed.
Advocates have said coordination

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failed and the public has
watched too many stories where a

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child is missing and the adults
in charge are arguing over forms

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instead of searching.
This is where the state wants

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you to look away because if you
look closely, you see that

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failure is not random.
It is patterned, it repeats, it

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has a shape, it has a script.
And that is exactly why this

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case is being tied to the
Department of Justice.

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In June of 2024, the United
States Department of Justice

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released civil rights findings
related to policing in Phoenix.

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The family's filings in this
matter asked the Court to

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consider those federal findings
as relevant context because

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those findings speak to systemic
issues, including how

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authorities handle vulnerable
people and whether lawful

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practices are consistently
followed.

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Let me say that plainly.
When the federal government

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documents patterns of unlawful
or harmful practices within a

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law enforcement agency, families
have every right to ask whether

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those same patterns show up in
their own tragedy.

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They have every right to ask
whether a system that failed

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others also failed them.
They have every right to ask

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whether leadership ignored
warning signs until the warning

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signs became body bags and
missing posters.

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And that is where Governor Katie
Hobbs and Attorney General Chris

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Mays enter this story by name.
Because families are not just

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asking for sympathy, they are
asking for accountability.

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And accountability has to travel
upward.

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It has to touch leadership.
It has to touch the people who

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oversee agencies, influence
priorities, defend institutions,

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and decide what gets
investigated and what gets

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buried.
The Stone family's position, as

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presented in their filings and
public facing statements, is

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that Arizona's leadership has
allowed a culture where systems

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protect themselves 1st and the
people second.

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Especially when the people are
black.

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Especially when the people are
children.

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Especially when the people do
not have money, media power or

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political connections.
This is where the story gets

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even darker.
Because this case is not only

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about government, it is also
about allegations involving a

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corporation.
The family's documents describe

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a Cube Smart Storage location in
Mesa, AZ as connected to the

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events of January 9th, 2024.
The filings allege the location

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was involved in the handoff or
concealment of the children and

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that information about the
children's whereabouts was not

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acted upon with the urgency the
situation demanded.

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Now I am going to be careful
here.

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I am not stating Cube Smart
committed a crime.

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I am stating what the family
alleges in their materials and

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what they are asking officials
to investigate.

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Why does this corporate angle
matter?

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Because corporations have
cameras, Corporations have entry

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logs.
Corporations have employment

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records.
Corporations have policies.

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Corporations have attorneys.
Corporations have reputations to

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protect, and when a missing
child case intersects with a

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corporate location, the question
becomes unavoidable.

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What was recorded?
Who saw what?

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Who called who?
What did they know and when did

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they know it?
If there is surveillance

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footage, it is not a rumor, it
is potential evidence.

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If there are access logs, they
are not gossip, they are a

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timeline.
If there were internal

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communications, they are not
drama, they are accountability,

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and accountability is the thing
Arizona seems to ration when the

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victims are black.
This is also where the court

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fight matters because court
fights are where families go

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when agencies refuse to answer
one of the documents you

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referenced.
The motion to compel is

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important not because the public
loves legal filings, but because

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motions like this usually have
one purpose, to force the

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release of information that
should not be hidden.

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When a family files a motion to
compel, what they are often

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saying is we asked, we
requested, we followed

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procedure, and the answers did
not come.

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And when a motion also asks for
a judge's recusal, what they are

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often saying is we do not
believe this proceeding is

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neutral.
We do not believe the playing

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field is fair.
We believe the process itself is

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compromised in your materials.
The name Judge Brnovich is part

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of that motion.
I cannot tell you what is in a

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judge's mind, and I am not going
to accuse a judge of bias

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without quoting specific
language from the motion itself.

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But I can tell you why this
matters.

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If families lose faith that the
courtroom is a place where truth

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gets uncovered, then the system
has already failed because the

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courts are supposed to be where
power is forced to answer, and

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when power does not answer, the
only people who pay are the

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powerless.
This is the part that makes this

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episode hard to hear, not
because it is graphic, but

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because it is familiar.
It is familiar to black families

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who have watched government act
like black pain is routine.

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It is familiar to parents who
have had to do their own

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searches.
It is familiar to communities

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who have had to create their own
missing person networks because

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official networks move too slow.
It is familiar to anyone who has

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watched a missing case go viral
only after the public decides

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the victim is worth caring
about.

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And I want to talk about that
word worth. the United States

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has a long history of deciding
which children are worth

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protecting.
There was a time when the

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government tore Indigenous
children from their families

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through boarding schools under
policies designed to erase

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identity.
Families begged, children

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suffered.
Many never returned.

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Records disappeared, graves were
found decades later and

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institutions insisted it was for
their own good.

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There was a time when the
government experimented on black

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bodies like the Tuskegee study,
with men being denied treatment

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while officials watched what
disease would do.

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It was not an accident, it was a
choice.

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There was a time when forced
sterilization programs targeted

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black and brown women, treating
reproduction like something the

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state could control.
All of that history shares 1

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core message.
When the system sees certain

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people as disposable, cruelty
becomes policy and neglect

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becomes normal.
Now bring it back to the

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present.
If you are a black child in

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danger, you are often forced to
prove you are in danger before

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the system will move, and even
then, the system may still move

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too late.
Families and advocates across

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the country have repeatedly
pointed out that Black people

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are over represented in missing
persons reports compared to

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their share of the population.
That is not just a statistic,

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that is a warning, because over
representation should trigger

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resources, urgency and reform.
Instead, in many places, it

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triggers excuses.
They're probably a runaway.

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They're probably with friends.
They'll come back.

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Those phrases are not neutral.
They are the sound of a system

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choosing comfort over action.
And in Arizona, families have

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said those assumptions are
deadly because when a child is

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labeled a runaway, the clock
starts ticking in the shadows.

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That is when exploiters look for
them.

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That is when traffickers search
for them.

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That is when predators scan for
the child everyone decided was

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not an emergency.
And This is why a two year

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anniversary matters.
Anniversaries are painful.

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But they are also leverage.
They are a chance to make the

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public look again.
They are a chance to force

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leadership to answer again.
They are a chance to say you do

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not get to age out a missing
child case like it is an old

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tweet.
Governor Katie Hobbs, Attorney

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General Chris Mays.
If you can hold press

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conferences, you can hold
agencies accountable.

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If you can ask the public for
trust, you can earn it by

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treating missing black children
like a crisis, not a nuisance.

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If you can speak about public
safety, then explain why

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families keep saying the state
did not keep their children

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safe.
And to every agency involved in

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child safety, law enforcement
and the courts, I want to say

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00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:05,120
this The public does not want
perfect.

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00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:10,160
The public wants honest effort,
transparent process, and urgent

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00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:13,520
action.
If mistakes were made, own them.

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00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:19,160
If records exist, release them.
If leads exist, pursue them.

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00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:22,800
If surveillance exists, preserve
it and review it.

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00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:27,840
If officials failed, investigate
and discipline them because

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00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:31,680
every day that passes is another
day someone out there gets to

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believe they can take black
children and watch the state

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00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:38,200
stall.
Now, if you are listening and

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00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:41,200
you have information that could
help locate Winston Stone,

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00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:45,880
Timothy Paul Stone Junior or
Marcel or Ryan Stone, I want you

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00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:48,680
to report it.
You can contact the Federal

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00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:55,680
Bureau of Investigation by
calling 1-800-225-5324.

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00:14:56,080 --> 00:15:03,400
That is 1-800-225-5324.
You can also submit tips online

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00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:08,640
at tips.fbi.gov.
That is tips.fbi.gov.

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00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:12,200
And you can contact the National
Center for Missing and Exploited

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00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:22,920
Children at 1-800-843-5678.
That is 1-800-843-5678.

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00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:26,040
Their website is
missingkids.org.

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00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:31,800
That is missingkids.org.
If you are in Arizona, I also

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00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:35,520
want you to do something else.
Call your state representatives.

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00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:39,480
Call your local city leadership.
Call the offices connected to

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child safety oversight.
Ask them what they are doing to

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00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:46,080
ensure missing children are
treated as emergencies every

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00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:50,120
time, regardless of race.
Ask them what changes have been

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00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:52,760
implemented since the Department
of Justice findings.

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00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:56,440
Ask them what reforms are being
enforced and how they are being

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00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:58,960
measured.
Ask them why families are still

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00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:02,280
filing motions to compel basic
records in cases involving

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00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:05,640
missing children.
Ask them why families are still

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00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,760
begging for the same urgency
that is freely given in other

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00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:12,040
cases.
And if you are a journalist or

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00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:16,320
you know, a journalist, ask them
why the story is not national.

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00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:20,280
Because the system that cannot
find 3 boys or cannot

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00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:23,360
convincingly show the public it
is doing everything possible to

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00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,480
find them is not a system that
deserves quiet.

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00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:31,160
Somewhere somebody knows
something, somebody saw

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00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:35,040
something, somebody heard
something, and somebody has been

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00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:37,080
praying.
Nobody connects the dots.

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00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:39,640
This episode is connecting the
dots.

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00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:43,440
Not with rumors.
Not with Internet fantasies,

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00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:47,400
with the record, with patterns,
with accountability.

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00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:49,880
Because the Stone kids are not a
trend.

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00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,760
They are three lives, three boys
whose absence should haunt a

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00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:55,800
state that claims to protect
children.

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00:16:56,280 --> 00:17:02,800
Two years, 728 days and the
question is still simple.

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00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:08,480
Where are Winston Stone, Timothy
Paul Stone Junior and Marcel

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00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,319
Orion Stone?
Before we go, I want to share an

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00:17:12,319 --> 00:17:15,319
important community update.
We're releasing a special

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00:17:15,319 --> 00:17:18,760
soundtrack album that brings you
stories through sound, featuring

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00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:22,520
songs by Jada Truth, named after
a character from our book Dead

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00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:25,359
Mike, now brought to life to
narrate our stories through

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00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:28,000
sound.
And our next book is Dubai

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00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,120
Nights, a No tears for black
girls story.

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00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:35,640
When the Instagram posts stop
coming, one sister will risk

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00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:40,480
everything to bring her home.
Destiny Clark thought she'd

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00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,760
finally caught her break.
A luxury modeling contract in

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00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:47,320
Dubai, All expenses paid.
A chance to escape her

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00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:50,520
suffocating student debt and
help her struggling family.

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00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:55,360
The photos show Infinity pools,
designer clothes and the life

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00:17:55,360 --> 00:17:59,040
she's always deserved.
But the messages stop coming.

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00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:02,560
Her little sister, Jamila knows
something is wrong.

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00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:06,080
The tracker goes dark.
The consulate won't help.

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00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:09,120
The police don't care about
another missing black girl

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00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:13,080
chasing fame overseas.
So Jamila does what the system

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00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:15,200
won't.
She becomes the bait.

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00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:19,640
Armed with a fake identity and a
wire, she infiltrates the same

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00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:22,280
modeling agency that lured
Destiny away.

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00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:26,160
What she uncovers is a
sophisticated trafficking

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00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,520
network that preys on young
black women desperate for

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00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:33,520
opportunity, and a conspiracy
that reaches far beyond Dubai's

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00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:36,920
glittering skyline.
But going undercover means

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00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:40,760
becoming prey, and in a world
where black girls disappear

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00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:44,440
without a trace, Jamila might be
walking into a trap she can't

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00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,360
escape.
A visceral thriller about the

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00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:51,040
girls no one looks for, the
sisters who refuse to give up,

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00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:55,400
and the price of being seen in a
world that wants you invisible.

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00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,520
Perfect for readers of Tammy
Hogue, Karen Slaughter and

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00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:02,880
Stacey Willingham, who crave
diverse voices and unflinching

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00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:06,480
truths.
Dubai Nights, a No Tears for

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00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:10,160
Black Girls story is the 8th
book in the No Tears for Black

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00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:14,360
Girls series and it will be free
on Amazon from January 16th

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00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:18,360
through January 19th and free
afterwards with a subscription

319
00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:21,720
to Amazon Kindle.
Paperback versions of the book

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00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,640
will be available on the day of
release for a reasonable

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00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:28,400
discount as well.
This release in the month of

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00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:31,600
January is to honor Human
Trafficking Awareness Month.

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00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:33,600
Right now.
If you want to hear the

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00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:37,800
soundtrack to our stories before
the album drops, search No Tears

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00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:41,400
for Black Girls soundtrack
anywhere you stream music,

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00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:47,440
Spotify, Apple, Amazon, I Heart
Media and YouTube and hear our

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00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:49,880
previous songs before the new
album release.

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00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,640
Stay loved, stay blessed and
stay safe.

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00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,320
This is Samantha Paul until next
time.

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00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:01,720
Hopefully I'll see you there.
Also, be on the lookout January

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00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:05,200
16th for the simultaneous
release of our latest book,

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00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:09,120
Dubai Nights, a No Tears for
Black Girls story, and our

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00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:13,400
eighteen song soundtrack album,
No Tears for Black Girls Volume

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00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:16,480
1 released on That's Hot
Records.