Items

• 
  2020-09-24

  Christopher: Find the things that gives you peace

  Christopher is the administrative aid at the African American Museum of Nassau County. He works with museum director, Joysetta Pearse, to promote understanding and appreciation of African American culture, art and tradition through education, interpretation, exhibitions, collections and programs for the enrichment of the public. Chris discusses his work, as well as how we hopes to come out stronger, on the other side of COVID. He also discusses the loss of his uncle and getting a diagnosis of his own during COVID.
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  2020-10-01

  Interview by Dr. Juilee Decker and Alicia Evans, educator and Fiber Artist

  Alicia Evans describes her busy life before COVID. She was a professor at City University New York as well as a fiber artist and medical actor. She describes how her work changed due to COVID, and how virtual learning has changed the way things are taught. She shares her art and stories about how she is impacting lives through her work and art.
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  2020-10-15

  Galvin Bisserup, Photographer, and the Father's Day Men's Chorus Project

  "Galvin P. Bisserup, Jr. is the owner and principal portrait photographer of Glickman Studio Photographers which has been in Freeport, NY for 98 years. Over the years he has captured the many eventful moments of individual lives, from infancy through seasoned adulthood. For over three decades this professional photographer has been behind the camera capturing the smiles from the heart and soul. In this interview, Galvin recounts his career and how his work as a community photographer has been impacted by COVID. He also describes a project from this past spring which resulted in the creation of a music CD in celebration of Father’s Day with his men’s chorus. This interview was recorded by Juilee Decker and Joysetta Pearse with Galvin Bisserup on October 15, 2020 at 6 pm ET and lasted approximately 40 minutes. It was conducted over Zoom. A transcript is attached, along with multiple images associated with the interview, provided by Bisserup. It is part of the LongIslandCommunity series, an initiative of COVID-19 archive (Juilee Decker) and the African American Museum of Nassau County (Joysetta Pearse)."
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  2020-09-24

  Jayce, Tonia, and Keiwan tell their COVID stories

  Jayce, Tonia, and Keiwan tell their COVID stories as part of the LongIslandStories collection being done at the African American Museum of Nassau County
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  2020-09-24

  Horace Graydon: I want to live peacefully with you, politically, socially…

  Horace Graydon is a community volunteer, avid walker, and advocate for disrupting the pipeline to prison for youth of color. Horace tells his story against the backdrop of his long-term sentences in federal penitentiary. In the end, Horace is hopeful, though, finding that his passion for his work now. Stating that he "took so much out of our black communities by when" he committed acts that led him to prison that, now, he is
• 
  2020-10-01

  Marcellus Morris, Community Organizer and Diversion Counselor

  Marcellus Morris is a community organizer and diversion counselor in Hempstead, NY. Through Reign 4 Life and other initiatives, he works with at-risk youth toward
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  2020-09-24

  Interview by Juilee Decker and Dr. Fayth Vaughn-Shavuo of the PEACE Program

  P.E.A.C.E. is an acronym for Partnerships in Education to Avoid Criminal Justice System Entry. The P.E.A.C.E. Afterschool Program, Inc., operates a year-round program consisting of an after school program where children are provided with free homework assistance, social/character development, academic enrichment and community service projects. Ongoing workshops engage cognitive skills that enable the students to say no to gangs. The program is spearheaded by Dr. Fayth Vaughn-Shavuo who sat down with us, and invited 5—which grew to 8!---children to tell their stories. Of particular interest is the words that the children used to talk about COVID. Warren felt it has been boring; Kaymauri was sad that she had to social distance while Fatamata was sad in the beginning of COVID, but is now kind of happy; Jahcai didn’t like that in school there is no more sharing of items/materials; Daniel mentioned being worried and also spending time watching YouTube and eating marshmallows. Jayvien mentioned having to survive and to be careful but not being able to feel anything. Ivrhim felt scared at the beginning of COVID but feels safe now, while Joshua feels annoyed and angry about COVID. Some bright spots: Kaymauri learned how to beat box! In the final interview, Dr. V mentioned the ways in which differences and inequities have been exacerbated by COVID, particularly the dependency upon internet and need to have access for children and everyone in a household. This is particularly a challenge in government housing and situations where there is only 1 device with a parent. Anyone interested in learning more about PEACE, can visit their website: https://www.peaceafterschoolprogram.org/
• 
  2020-06-04

  Museums and Collecting COVID-19

  On June 4, 2020 the Curators Committee of the American Alliance of Museums presented a session focused on Collecting COVID. The session called attention to the importance of documenting significant history while living in a pandemic and discussed the Who, What, Where, When, Why and How of collecting objects, ephemera and materiel in the time of crisis. The presenters (Stacey Swigart, Drexel Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships; Thomas Lonnberg and Tory Schendel Cox, Evansville Museum of Arts; Juilee Decker, Rochester Institute of Technology; and Redmond Barnett, Historian/Consultant) reviewed best practices, safety measures, look at museums who are collecting and how communities can/are involved and what communities can do to document your local/regional history. This item is a PDF of their entire presentation.
• 
  2020-03-22

  Planogram (i.e., how I revamped my semester midstream)

  My courses tend to be organized around weeks, modules, and learning outcomes that inform our readings, assignments, and free-form activities. I really enjoy teaching and the art of pedagogy. COVID-19 forced me to change course mid-stream. I know that I was not alone, as everyone had to do this, whether an instructor or student or ancillary staff. I kept trying time and again to simply re-write my syllabus timeline. What finally worked, after six days of fretting, was gridding everything out visually and then color coding the content around videos, assignments due, discussion post topics, and live chat discussions. This large post it (25" x 30") served as my planning guide. Here it is, after I had mapped out about half of the weeks in visual and textual form. I have called this piece "planogram" as that is the term for the visual layout used in retail so that staff can set up displays that mirror those at other locations. It's a visual plan of a layout. Well, I am happy to say, now that I am on the other side of this process, that the Post It Note version of the planogram served me well. And, I hope that my students were able to carve out a meaningful learning experience, even though it was not as any of us had intended in January—which now seems so long ago.
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  2020-03-31

  Sourdough bread fail

  During the first few weeks of COVID-19, I found myself not wanting to grocery shop and to focus on making do with what we had. However, as I have a number of food allergies, I have to be careful about what I eat. So I attempted to make bread—not in the TikTok viral-trendsetting-sense, but rather as a means to an end. My efforts were shortlived. I tried three recipes. Each was a disaster. Here is the beginnings of a sourdough starter that is vegan and gluten free. I fed it and cared for it gingerly for a week - nursing it along with fresh g-f flour every day, as a ritual to puncuate my day in the way that commuting to work used to do. On the 8th day, mold grew in the bowl and I tossed out the starter.
• 
  2020-04-07

  Buckwheat bread fail

  During the first few weeks of COVID-19, I found myself not wanting to grocery shop and to focus on making do with what we had. However, as I have a number of food allergies, I have to be careful about what I eat. So I attempted to make bread—not in the TikTok viral-trendsetting-sense, but rather as a means to an end. My efforts were shortlived. I tried three recipes. Each was a disaster. Here is buckwheat bread that is vegan and gluten free. It tasted like dirt.
• 
  2020-07-21

  Interview with Janice Gilyard about Finding Willoughby McWhite

  COVID gave Janice Gilyard the opportunity to dig deeper into genealogy, one of her hobbies. On July 4, 2020, she uncovered details about the remarkable life of her 5x great grandmother, Willoughby McWhite, who was enslaved. Janice Gilyard tells the story of finding Willoughby in an interviewed with Juilee Decker recorded on Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at 4:30 pm. The interview is 72 minutes long, and a transcript is provided. Other entries in the archive relate to this one. To find them search by AAMNC and/or