Lanterna Rally

Author: Armand King

Publisher: R. R. Bowker

Published: 2019-10-17

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 9780578596242

"You pimp! You trafficker! You should be skinned alive and burned at the stake! How could you possibly exploit another sexually for your own sick financial gain? They were prostituting minors! How could they be so sick? Prison, yes prison should be where we hide you forever for the destruction of human life that you caused. Stopping you means stopping the human sex trafficking epidemic! If we incarcerate you we can stop modern day slavery!"I heard these words as I watched a group of my mentees go through their case in federal court. With RICO conspiracy charges hanging over their heads, they were presented as gang members that trafficked girls for the benefit of the gang. I knew these allegations were false. I knew these young men personally. They were not pimps and definitely not "traffickers," a new word to me that I had never heard before until now. A word that I had to learn the meaning of fast. How did I know that they weren't "traffickers"? I quickly found out that for many years of my life I myself was a trafficker.I sat in the courtroom silent, not able to speak my first-hand knowledge of "the game." Regardless of whether I knew my mentees were innocent or not, these were charges they could never shake. I listened as law enforcement experts testified from their expertise. Ha! What did they know? These were people who had never spent a single day in the subculture of pimping and prostitution. They had no clue what that life was really like and if they did they were lying on purpose to continue the mass incarceration of young black and brown lives. Yeah, that had to be it.Entering the anti human sex trafficking movement as a former pimp and trafficker, I knew I would be alone. My past will not be taken well by many, but what other option do I have, stay quiet? Should I not educate people about domestic human sex trafficking and the pimping culture I was raised to believe was my only way of success? I can't stay quiet! I can't go off and live a normal life, glad to have survived the game. Out of 8 of my closest friends I am one of 4 still alive. The only way to help end this cycle of death and incarceration is to teach the truth from my perspective. All sides of this problem must be at the table because so far only a portion of the story is being told. This portion of the story still doesn't truly reflect the lived realities of the many women survivors that I know and love. Staying quiet is not an option for me - I'm willing to die to save future generations from this trap. This was no "game" we were playing. It was an illusion. An illusion that was pressed upon me and my entire peer group as we grew up in San Diego, California. Pimp City.To all who want to truly want to help fight human sex trafficking and sexual exploitation this book is needed in your arsenal.This is not a "how to" book on pimping. This is also not a book about human sex trafficking in general. This book presents a deeper understanding of the mind-frame and make-up of those involved in human sex trafficking. This book specifically deals with the pimping and prostitution subculture that has risen from impoverished communities across the United States, communities in cities like mine. This subculture can affect your family no matter what social or economic class you come from. Do you want to learn the truth so that we can really deal with the problem? Here's your opportunity.