In Vallejo, a Benefit Concert Raises Funds for the Missing Sister of an SF Rapper
Chantel Brooks has been missing for four months.
Brooks, 37, was last seen on surveillance footage getting into her car in the parking lot of a Fairfield CVS in the early morning hours of July 17. Since her disappearance, her family has worked relentlessly to keep her story at the forefront of people’s minds.
“I’ve been trying to make sure that her face just stays everywhere,” says Brooks’ older brother Kevin Robinson. “Billboards, posters, flyers, private investigators, whatever it takes.”
On Sunday, Robinson, who raps under the name Footz The Beast, is bringing even more attention to his sister’s story with a Bring Chantel Home Benefit Concert.
With performances by Mistah F.A.B, J. Stalin, Yung Lott and Footz himself, as well as Jourdan Jade, Compton AV, Nef The Pharaoh and more, Vallejo’s Noble Cinema Studios will be converted into a hub for advocacy and civic engagement.
Right now, Robinson says, that community support is needed.
While authorities report that Brooks disappeared under suspicious circumstances, and suspect foul play, they have so far identified no suspect or person of interest. Currently, the family is trying to get a $50,000 reward approved by Governor Newsom for information regarding Brooks’ disappearance.
“I had a meeting with the mayor of Fairfield and the chief of police the week before last, because I didn’t think the case is moving fast enough,” says Robinson, adding that the family has hired a private investigator. They’re also considering the services of a dive team and cadaver dogs. “I’m doing all this just to help the police with their investigation,” he adds.
Family members have also recently scoured Fairfield’s Lagoon Valley Regional Park, where Brooks’ phone was traced.
Exhausting all available resources has taken a toll on Robinson, who’s lost both sleep and his appetite since his sister’s disappearance. When he does sleep, he does so with his phone on his chest, periodically checking it for news and updates.
“I’m just praying and hoping for the best,” he says.
During this trying time, a shining light for Robinson has been the response from those who’ve known him for years — namely other rappers. During a recent D-Lo and Nef The Pharaoh show, Nef spotted Robinson in the crowd. “He pulled me backstage and told me how much he loved me,” says Robinson, “that he’s there for me.”
The interaction is a reminder that behind the music, there’s humanity that runs deep. It also runs counter to a disrespectful narrative that often comes with Bay Area hip-hop.
“Rappers are just regular people that rap,” says Aisha McCain, an advocate who’s been working with Robinson. “They have families, they have daughters, they have wives, they have sisters. They have compassion, they care, they’re just normal human beings that are gifted with music, so they make music,” says McCain. “Why be concerned about a missing woman? Like, of course they would.”
McCain knows firsthand the importance of supporting family during the heaviest of times. “I’ve become an advocate ever since my brother died at a shelter run by the HomeRise nonprofit in San Francisco,” she says.
Last fall, McCain’s brother Eric McCain was found in a shelter days after his death; his body was decomposing and surrounded by bugs. HomeRise was shut down last month, and McCain learned how much power there is in organizing people and amplifying a collection of voices.
“If we use them the right way,” she tells me during a phone call, “and we focus on things, we can change them.”
While Chantel Brooks’ story has been covered by local and national media outlets, her GoFundMe has only raised around $4,000. Her story speaks directly to the discrepancy in numbers of missing African American women, as Black girls and women make up 14% of the total U.S. female population but 40% of missing female cases.
“Had [Chantel Brooks] been possibly another race,” says McCain, “we know, statistically, more money would have been raised and more resources would have be given.”
Sunday’s performance, adds McCain, gives audiences an opportunity to “feel the music and the movement, and not just see a social media post and then scroll on to the next crisis that’s happening.”
The broader goal, Robinson tells me, is to inform more people not just about his sister, but a larger issue. “Since my sister’s been missing,” Robinson says, “I learned that there’s an epidemic of missing girls in the city of Oakland, and just the Bay Area, period.”
The issue isn’t unique to the Bay, either. Two years ago, the State of California launched the Ebony Alert system for missing African American girls. That same year, the Department of Justice noted that nationwide, “Black women and girls are disproportionately affected by violence, trafficking, and systemic neglect, leading to high rates of their disappearance.”
Pounding the pavement in his search for answers has put Robinson in communication with organizations that focus on this line of work. He’s also been contacted by mothers looking for assistance in finding their daughters.
“On the side, I’ve been helping a lot other families with their missing loved ones,” says Robinson, noting that his platform as a rapper has given him notoriety that he’s been able to leverage. “I’m just providing them with the little resources that I have,” he says.
The Bring Chantel Home Benefit Concert takes place Sunday, Nov. 8, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Noble Cinema Studios (1509 Solano Ave, Vallejo). Tickets and more information here.