Figueroa Street? Inside the effort to pull minors from ‘the Blade,’ one of the most notorious sex-trafficking corridors in the United States. By Emily Baumgaertner Nunn The reporter embedded with vice investigators as they carried out undercover operations to arrest sex traffickers. She interviewed dozens of victims, experts, aid workers and officials to understand the crisis.

This is on the New York’s Times front page, today, Sunday with embedded video and an investigative journalist story. It has a lot of important information about how and why this is happening with young girls mostly from foster care. You can google the story to learn about what is being done to find and arrest the traffickers of this heinous crime. I wish Mark could find someone willing to talk who is aware of this operation in order to show that people are working on this issue and also as a potential deterrent to this situation.

Aracelli, I’m glad your new thread is getting viewed by readers. It is interesting that, like my current series of 22 messages dealing with much the same subjects, no one replies. I wonder why that is. The content of my messages is intended to represent “out of the box” ideas that are not commonly discussed in the media and other forums. It would be good to know what readers think about the ideas in your thread and my messages. I am sure people drawn to Soft White Underbelly are concerned about the wellbeing of the people Mark interviews; he clearly expresses his concerns also. I am going to continue to post content that attempts to address our social problems that I view as complex, systematic challenges that started to appear after 1964. Maybe we can eventually do some good, but a lot of folks will have to better understand the issues involved. And we must have optimism that “we the people” can redirect our social path along a positive route.
Joseph L. Bass, EdD 10/27/25

Hello Joseph, thanks for the input, I appreciate it! I live in a small city close to the Ohio river so of course there isn’t much I can do as in vote wise to affect change in LA but SWU showed me the reality of people on Fig, skid row and Hollywood. I didn’t realize the scale of children being enslaved by traffickers in 2025 in one of the wealthiest cities and states in the world. It was shocking, then listening to the frustration and exhaustion in Marks voice when interviewing the people affected by this travesty was heart wrenching, to stand by feels defeating. When I saw the NYTs article I felt a glimmer of hope and thought this is in part what Mark is trying to do with his project to shine a light on Fig but also on the extreme poverty of large urban areas and rural areas too. The hard and dangerous work of a female journalist who for three years investigated these crimes against children and wrote such a sensitive and yet very well researched piece was important to see on the front page of the Sunday times. I didn’t link the article due to copyright infringement and because as a subscriber to the NYTs I know there is a paywall but it can be read due to its availability online, there is a Reddit post about it too. As a lifelong educator I taught young people how to access college, learn English as international students and gave them the tools to use their bilingual skills to their advantage. Many would return to visit me at school and tell me all of the things they were able to accomplish with their education. That gave me hope, I will consider what other things I can do to make a difference.