Items

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  2020-08-15

  The City That Never Sleeps Takes A Nap

  In late August of 2020, I traveled from Fort Myers, Florida, to New York City. The pandemic affected the economy and travel extensively. For everyone's safety and to prevent damage to the economy, travel was allowed but restricted. As a result, prices for flights dropped, and my brother and I took advantage to visit our father, whom we had not seen in over a year. The airport seemed empty; however, when we boarded, the plane was full of people. We received care packages before boarding that contained alcohol wipes and hand sanitizer. Luckily for us, when we arrived in New York City, restrictions for COVID-19 in the city began to die down. Business' began opening, but most of the people who left their homes only went to work. Aside from a few individuals, the streets seemed dead. The streets pre-pandemic was full of life and culture. COVID –19 appeared to have stolen all that made the city vibrant. New York City is infamous for its subway rats, but what my family and I saw on a walk-through Central Park one day changed our perspective on them forever. We saw many rats running around the park freely. Usually, they will not run away at the sight of a person; they mostly do not care. But this time, they tried to get closer, almost as if they were grateful to see people. The foot traffic dramatically decreasing in New York forced the rats to move. They had to find an area where they could live freely, have food, and drink sources. Therefore, subway rats made the abandoned streets and paths of Central Park their new home. The manufactured rivers at the park made an excellent water hole. People regularly come to the park to feed other animals; birds, ducks, turtles, and squirrels are just a few. Because of this convenient food source, rats took advantage. They began to crowd around other animals hoping to receive food as well. Nonetheless, it seemed their relationship evolved past survival. We witnessed the animals at play. One would chase the other and vice versa. At one point, we found birds, squirrels, and rats eating together at the hand of a generous woman. The animals, abandoned by humans, began to come together, and in silence, the city gleamed with beauty. My trip to New York City in the year 2020 post-COVID-19 was unforgettable. The effects of the virus were visible in more than just the individual. It affected the economy, the culture, and the way of life for many organisms. The city quickly adjusted to the circumstances in hopes of survival. The resilience animals have as a community, their survival tactics, and prevalence are admirable features historians will appreciate when studying the COVID-19 pandemic's effects on society. Personally, seeing how COVID-19 forced the city that never sleeps to take a nap is a once in a lifetime experience.
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  2020-10-17

  Women's March goes virtual in North Dakota

  This screenshot captures a story published by a local news provider in North Dakota. The story is important because it describes another effect of COVID, relying heavily on technology. Having to organize a women’s march via Zoom showcases the resiliency of people and their dedication to a cause.
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  2020-08-02

  Ode to the United States

  My story is about the deaths of Black and Indigenous people at the hands of COVID-19 and how it's a reflection of how the United States views our existence. This is important to me because when we talk about COVID-19 in the future historians need to talk about state sanction violence against us and how it relates to COVID-19. When they talk about the number of people who died, they need to included statistics on the amount of Black and Indigenous people who lost their lives to this disease and other violence during the pandemic.
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  2020-05-12

  We Are Brave. We Are Hopeful. We Are Resilient. We Are San Francisco.

  This is a photograph of a piece of street art in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley. Stores across San Francisco closed their doors during the city's shelter-in-place orders that begin mid-March. Many stores boarded up their windows in response to shelter-in-place orders and because of looting that took place across Bay Area cities. Artists responded by creating beautiful murals on boarded up storefronts. This art piece was created by an owner of the restaurant Dobbs Ferry Of San Francisco, Lee Ann Frahm. Taken from the restaurant's instagram account, "When she decided to paint this, it was about finding a message that would connect with someone as they walked by... words can heal, they can make us smile, they can make us feel, they can make us laugh or cry, and they are powerful enough to stop us in our tracks and make us take one extra minute to breathe and appreciate who and where we are."