Dr. Brook Parker-Bello was happy to be interviewed for the 2020 DA:NCE film: ‘Healthy and Harmful Dance: What Do the Experts Say?’ Although she did not dance as a child, she was abused and exploited in her early years. As a national expert on child abuse with a PhD, Dr. Bello knows that all forms of sexual abuse including the hypersexualization of children in dance, overlap and re-enforce each other. In the film on children’s dance, Dr. Bello described dance hypersexualization when she said: “Do we understand that the United States is the largest producer of child pornography and it always starts subtle and so when you see youth, barely dressed at 6,7,8,9 years old, dancing in a way that’s erotic, and something that an adult would do, it’s not only harmful to them but it’s harmful to kids that view them; it’s absolutely a hypersexualization of our culture which is changing the trajectory of innocence in America.” See her live remarks for social media:
Dr. Parker-Bello also addressed preventative methods for the abuse she sees in dance and identified homes and schools as needed pathways to restore innocence and allow children to be children:
More Too Life Foundation founded by Dr. Brook Parker-Bello, is an Open Doors Outreach Network Provider and is not just on a mission to stop human trafficking in its tracks, but to do so with innovation and to change culture. Through their online college campus sexual violence and drug prevention and awareness contracts (SOSU), to the Restorative Justice End Demand Education (rjede.com), now receiving felonies in Miami Dade County, to the prostitution prevention course LUYD all on sosuniversity.com, Dr. Bello is hard at work giving back.
A little trivia some might not know about Brook. She is akin to many starters and fighters against injustice. Dr. Bello is the great grandniece of Vada Watson Somerville, the relentless civil rights leader, first Black Dental Surgeon in California from USA and only female and Black in the graduating class, co-founder NAACP LA Chapter, and builder/owner of the Famous Dunbar Hotel on Central Ave, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vada_Somerville. Growing up abused, Brook always longed to find her way back or as she puts it, forward. But, by recognizing the good, for there was surely enough bad, in her history and the history of her family. That is exactly what More Too Life Foundation fights for and why recently, through a special grant from the Jensen Project, Brook was able to delve into her entire life and find the clues that make her who she is. “I wanted to understand the full circle in order to describe the ark and journey with others on a deeper level.
This is one reason, I created ComingHome.App
Coming Home is the nation’s only secure interactive app with included online case management system that provides your clients, mentees and human and sex trafficking victims a reliable means of finding and receiving life coaching and mentoring or services and resources. I believe in God and that He has a way of bringing childhood dreams back, even when its late. So, I am excited about this software being especially affordable to my survivor sisters and other organizations and globally free to victims in need.
It will assist you in gaining access to Coming Home where we can help you locate services in your area and chat with one of our advocates. If you are a Person who needs Mentoring or Life Coaching due to history please contact us. Coming Home is the nation’s only secure interactive app with included online case management system that provides your clients, mentees and human and sex trafficking victims a reliable means of finding and receiving life coaching and mentoring or services and resources. Users can access the intuitive eLearning library you can utilize or adapt, respond to you with their wellness and mindful, educational or other “goals” “challenges” or “tasks” and review career opportunities and for some mentees even report potential trafficking behavior. Real-time messaging, chatting journaling are included, several more features including video chat capabilities, facial recognition and location-based alerts are soon to come.
Digital communication is key for providers, as well as those we mentor and seek to reach.
The app and online interface is made to adapt to all of your individual mentoring or case management or law enforcement needs. It provides vital safety features for at-risk individuals, victims, service providers and law enforcement, including location-based services, geo-fencing and tip reporting and a chameleon screen for user privacy and protection. Which can enable a safer, balanced and more sustainable lifestyle for any type of mentee and those victims or at-risk youth or even young adults as well as at-risk violators.
In terms of the Human Trafficking aspects: the Coming Home App along with More Too Life Foundation seek to create a world free from exploitation, and with the rapid changes of virtual interaction, sees the need to provide a needed digital tool gap reaching around the globe.
#techforgood
Another cool innovation is VR Eval, while innocent victims suffer unspeakable atrocities, their captors evade prosecution. Dr. Bello and her team hope to give victims of human trafficking and sexual violence a safe, anonymous environment to tell their harrowing stories freely and take their lives back without fear of pre-judgment based on race, gender, socio-economic placement and IQ. “VR-Eval” brings the positive side of virtual reality and technology to the forefront.
Dr. Bello says the technology is the key to finding more effective ways to combat the effects of sex trafficking and other trauma kids face. She adds, “We must mitigate challenges that can be bridged in today’s digital world in order to provide children and young adults with the best care and innovative opportunities to assist them with the profound trauma they’ve experienced.”Miami-Dade County and Florida State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, and Alicia Priovolos, Director, Office of the State Attorney Human Trafficking Unit, participated in an initial blind study of the project. Full Sail University helped document the project (which included participants from the “Chance” program and More Too Life) with help from alumnus and filmmaker Danny Tolbert. A documentary of the collaborative effort will be released and shared later this year.
Combating human exploitation by providing victims a safe space in which to tell their stories.
According to research conducted by The International Labour Organization, human trafficking is currently a $150 billion global industry, with over 40.3 million people trapped in horrific situations ranging from forced labor to prostitution. That’s 5.4 victims for every 1,000 people, 25% of whom are children.
Developed by Dr. Brook Parker Bello, Google Next Gen Policy Leader and recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from President Barack Obama, and her team in partnership with Chance Glasco, co-creator of “Call of Duty” video-game franchise and co-founder of Doghead Simulations, VR-Eval is a brand new immersive platform designed to provide victims of human trafficking with a safe and comfortable environment in which to share their struggles and experiences with trained professionals in a judgment-free manner.