Items

• 
  2021-11-30

  Project Hospitality on the Frontlines of Covid

  This video was put together by our development department. It showcases the work Project Hospitality has done during the pandemic.
• 
  April 19, 2020

  In Memory of Richard Sturges

  My dad passed away a week ago today after contracting COVID-19 in a SI nursing home and transferring to SIUH. When we first learned of my dad’s diagnosis in the nursing home, his doctor prescribed him hydroxychloroquin which he had been using with good results on other patients. However upon trying to fill the prescription learned that the NY Health Dept under order by the Governor, had restricted the use of this drug to hospital patients only. You can imagine our dismay to learn this and our family immediately jumped into action contacting every state legislator about this horrific restriction on the elderly and nursing homes. The two who stepped forward to answer our calls and hear our concerns were Borough President Oddo and State Senator Lanza and they made many calls on our behalf. Before long the restriction on nursing homes was lifted, hopefully before too many lives were lost, but the ban remains on any other New Yorker who tests positive and is not hospitalized. My brother and sister, along with their spouses, have now tested positive. Two of them are first responders and had a lot of difficulty getting tested. I have been staying with and caring for my mom through this time and fortunately we have managed to avoid contracting this virus, so far. My dad was buried 2 days after he died. The Navy showed up to play taps and present my mother with a flag “on behalf of the President and a grateful nation”, my dad would have liked that. The picture is attached and I think says a thousand words. Only my siblings and mother were allowed to attend the burial, a funeral is not allowed at this time. We all wore masks and stood apart from each other and afterwards drove home to our separate houses…truly heartbreaking. The fact that my dad was isolated for weeks before his passing is the hardest thing for my mom to bear. They are lifelong Staten Islanders and this is their story…. Thank you.
• 
  2022-12-17

  Been through it all

  I got married on April 4, 2020. We had planned 125 guests. I was so excited to celebrate with everyone. I remember hearing about covid in China in February and thinking that it was so far away I shouldn't worry. While my daughter was on Spring break everything started shutting down. At first it seemed temporary. Like it would just be a week or two. Just until things died down. Then local governments started getting strict as it became apparent how dangerous covid was. As the rules changed, I had to send apologetic emails disinviting guests due to limits on gatherings. We went from 125 to 100. Then it went to 75, 50, and 25. Each time it was agonizing figuring out who would be cut from our wedding. Finally it came down to just our parents, the pastor and his family, and the photographer. I got my wedding dress back from alterations the day the shop closed down to the public. We had the wedding in my parents' backyard. The pastor's children played guitar and sang. Our honeymoon was canceled a few days before the wedding because the small county in the mountains wasn't letting anyone in who wasn't local. We had a staycation for a honeymoon and played video games together.  We are a blended family. I often tell people we got married at the beginning of the pandemic. It was like "Congratulations on your new sister! You'll be with her 24/7 and never get away from her!" They quickly became sisters. They were each other's only playmate. At the same time they irritated each other just like normal siblings. It bonded them as sisters. It was hard for us when my step-daughter started kindergarten in the fall and my daughter started 2nd grade. We had alarms going off all day to try to manage their classroom google calls while my husband and I attempted to work from home. It was very stressful.  My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2020. At times they refused to allow my dad to accompany her to appointments. She was found crying in a hallway unable to get to the correct room. It was awful. I had to be so careful as my kids started hybrid school to not get her sick. It was hard to balance my kids' need for some stability and trying to be with my mom as much as possible. We made the decision to try for another child so my mom had the best chance at meeting her grandchild. I got to share my positive pregnancy test while visiting. It was such a happy moment in the midst of so much sadness. Adding to that stress was a difficult custody battle over my daughter. We couldn't have extra people at court to support me. My husband had to leave early to get the kids from school. Being left at the courthouse after testifying about how my ex abused me was one of the loneliest moments of my life. I had to take a Lyft ride back home and try not to break down in a stanger's car. My mother's condition got worse quickly. We were able to have a family reunion in June. I was nervous about so many people traveling in, but we needed to have mom see family again before something happened. My mom was admitted to the hospital at the beginning of July. I couldn't visit her because of being pregnant and the risk was too high to go to a hospital. My mom and dad supported this and wanted me to keep the baby safe. I had to record a goodbye message to play for her when she was awake. My mom passed on July 5th, 2021. Even at the funeral, I stayed in a separate room and had a friend read the eulogy remarks I prepared.  I had my youngest daughter in February 2022. We were limited on visitors, so only my husband and dad came to the hospital. So many day cares closed in the pandemic, we had a very difficult time finding child care. Despite getting on the list in early pregnancy, we couldn't start at day care until September. We had to use social media to find part time nannies and alter our work hours to cover child care until she could start day care. She actually just tested positive for covid yesterday after another child at daycare was positive earlier in the week. Thankfully she's vaccinated.  I've been through so much since the pandemic. I'm thankful for what I have, I crave rest. I'm worn out. I lost so much. No bridal shower. No honeymoon. No baby shower. No support for happy and sad moments. It's been really hard.
• 
  2022-04-29

  Religion and COVID-19: Effects on Public Life

  At the start of the pandemic, I became hyper-aware of the changes happening around me, specifically regarding religion. Unfortunately, many of the changes I witnessed were regarding death. Death is a concept most often associated religiously, for example, someone's soul or spirit going to some otherworldy peaceful place, or reincarnation. On a personal level, there is a catholic church across the street from my house. I had a front-row seat to the trauma and sadness the pandemic brought forth. In recent years, the church was fairly lonely, with only large crowds during big holidays or religious events. During the pandemic, not once did I see the church unoccupied. Whether for a funeral service, blessed sacrament adoration, prayer, liturgy, or confession. The image of the coffin and funeral service serves the purpose of relating to this specific effect on a personal level. When my family lost a child during the pandemic, I experienced how even my non-religious family members or friends offered to join in prayer with my family. Not only the catholic community, as well as other religious communities sought to spread the importance of prayer to the public during the difficult times. With services becoming more widely accessible such as live-streamed on TV for the public. Overall I realized how the pandemic may have affected the public sphere by connecting more identities together, no matter race, religion, or gender.
• 
  2022-04-28

  COVID-19, Religion, and Public Life Reflection

  The COVID-19 pandemic has created a one-of-a-kind situation for our generation, causing many countries to go into lockdown and many people to lose their jobs, loved ones, and social life. The pandemic affected people of all races, religions, and genders and continues to do so. Businesses, schools, and job offices around the world were forced to close, store shelves were emptied of canned food and toilet paper, and people were limited to the amount of food they could purchase. Covid forced me and many others to work and attend school from home via Zoom, which was a new and interesting experience for me because I was accustomed to having a daily routine, such as waking up in the morning and getting ready to go to work and school. During covid, on the other hand, all I had to do was roll out of bed, fix my hair, and attend a zoom meeting in my pajamas. I'd have to say that physically separating myself from people I cared about, such as friends, family, and coworkers was the most difficult part for me. Another effect of Covid was the cancellation of religious activities and in-person services all over the world. Family members who died as a result of covid-19 had their funerals virtually streamed on zoom, which was especially difficult for many people because they couldn't go pay their respects to the deceased and loved ones. Many debates erupted about whether covid is real or not during this time period, and the issue quickly devolved into a religious/political one. People began to align with various political parties and religious leaders, and the power and opinions of these politicians and religious leaders exerted a strong influence over their followers. In terms of religion, one of the most noticeable effects of covid on me was that it weakened my religious faith, whereas it strengthened the religious faith of others. I lost a sense of joy and support that came with participating in prayer and holiday services because I couldn't attend them. Even though covid is still affecting people all over the world, we're learning how to try to return to life before covid. It may never be the same, but we can hope it just gets better.
• 
  2022-04-09

  Covid sped up my great grandmothers death

  My great grandmother was diagnosed with dementia and was living in a nursing home for a few years, she started to get worse when the pandemic started so but we weren't able to visit her due to covid-19. She began to become very depressed due to the lack of visits and her son (my grandfather) had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in June and was given up to 6 months to live. My grand father died on October 19th of 2020, my great grandmother caught covid while in her nursing home and on November 20th 2020 my great grandmother died from covid-19. Even though she was dying of dementia, covid sped up the process and caused her to die alone in a nursing home. I couldn't even burry her like she would have wanted because the nursing home had her cremated for contamination purposes. I would give anything to be able to hold her hand as she passed and give her a proper funeral that she would have wanted but covid compromised this.
• 
  2022-03-23

  South Korea's total COVID-19 cases top 10 million as crematoria, funeral homes overwhelmed

  This is a story by Channel News Asia about the ongoing issues with funeral homes in South Korea. This article says that in Seoul, 28 crematoria are operating at 114.2% capacity, while other crematoria around the country are operating at 83%. For the past two week, the number of critically ill patients has been hovering above 1,000; but it could get to 2,000 by early April. To combat this, the federal government has approved the use of Merck & Co's COVID-19 treatment pill. The pill is branded as Lageviro and is the second antiviral to be authorized in South Korea after Pfizer's Paxlovid. This pill, however, is only approved for adults 18 and above. The government is hoping that actions such as these will help limit the crowdedness in funeral homes and hospitals.
• 
  2021-12-16

  Mourning Far Apart

  When my grandmother died during the pandemic, my family and I were unable to visit Massachusetts, (where she lived), to go to her funeral. We joined the funeral over FaceTime and it was really sad that we weren't able to be there with our family.
• 
  2021-10-07

  Abigail Barr Oral History, 2021/10/07

  This audio recording describes my grandfather's funeral at the beginning of the pandemic. It was very difficult because my family couldn't grieve together. We had to have separate services ten people each. We could not have any other family come because we were on lockdown. The whole situation was extremely sad because the pandemic kept our family apart during a difficult time.
• 
  2020-04-09

  Grieving Rituals Lost to COVID-19

  Rituals are an important way to celebrate special occasions and victories as well as to deal with the stresses of life. This article discusses the grieving process people have gone through because of the loss of rituals (graduations, funerals, weddings) during the pandemic and the importance of creating new rituals.
• 
  2020-04-28

  The effect of suppressing funeral rituals during the COVID-19 pandemic on bereaved families*

  This documental study was intended to understand the meanings individuals who have lost loved ones in this context assign to the phenomenon of suppressed funeral rituals.
• 
  2020-04-06

  Celebrating Life During Covid

  The echoing silence is what stands out to me the most. Where there should have been “Taps” playing, blanks being fired in the air, and stories being told, there was nothing. On April 1, 2020, my grandfather passed away of natural causes. Under normal circumstances, my parents and I would have traveled up to Montana to attend his funeral. However, due to the fact that my father and I are immune-compromised, we were unable to attend. Even if we were able to make the trip, there was the possibility that we would not be able to attend the service. The funeral home only allowed ten people to be at the funeral, masked-up and socially distanced. On the day of the funeral, April 6, 2020, my parents and I attended the funeral virtually. We were sitting in the car (my parents were at work) watching the funeral on a FaceTime call with my sister. The service was extremely short. The funeral home wanted to make the service as quick as possible to limit potential exposure. This meant there was no eulogy, no military honors (he was an Air Force veteran), and very little time for the sharing of stories of personal stories. Thus, the service was oddly quiet. Funerals are typically quiet, but this was something more. There were tears, but the tears were hallowed. A lot of the emotion involved with a funeral comes from the memories shared. These tears are not all sad tears. This is because a life is being celebrated, all the ups and downs. The tears at my grandfather’s funeral were all sadness. Sad tears sound different than happy tears. Happy tears are often associated with laughter, something lacking at this funeral. Another sound that was absent during my grandfather’s funeral was his military honors. Typically, at a funeral that involves a veteran, there are a few things happen: “Taps” is played, a rifle detail fires blanks into the air, and a burial flag is presented to the next of kin. My grandfather did not receive military honors at his funeral. Thus, these sounds were not present. My grandfather’s funeral was the closest thing to silent as can possibly be. Covid prevented my grandfather from having the funeral he deserved. Fortunately, my family was able to give him a proper celebration of life in June 2020, which involved everything that had been missing at his funeral. The sounds of happy and sad tears were present, along with the sounds of full military honors. I am glad we were able to accomplish this, but to me, it felt different. The memories of his “silent” funeral were still engrained in my mind, causing me to have mixed emotions of sadness and anger that were not able to properly celebrate him at his funeral.
• 
  2021-01-25

  As Long As I'm Living My Mommy You'll Be

  Depicts someone who passed away as well as religion. The photo shows blue flowers in the background. On the table, an urn is shown with an angelic figure on top pointing to a necklace on the right-hand side that says mom in a heart with a red stone. On the left-hand side shows a remembrance of life card with a woman named Doreen DeCoursey shown on it in a blue shirt. In writing on the card it says: "In loving memory of Doreen DeCoursey December 14th, 1958- January 7th 2021. God saw she was getting tired and a cure was not to be. So he put his arms around her and whispered come with me. With tearful eyes, we saw her fade away. Although we loved her dearly, We could not make her stay. A golden heart stopped beating Hard working hands to rest. God broke our hearts to prove to us he only takes the best."
• 
  2021-05-17

  Ministry During the Pandemic

  The experience of being a priest during the pandemic
• 
  2021-04-23

  Covid as a first responder

  How the pandemic effected me personally at home and at work
• 
  2020-10-09

  Happy Birthday Mom, Goodbye Grandma

  It was just the turn of midnight and I called my mother to wish her happy birthday, but to my surprise the phone was picked up to deafening cries and the hurt can be sensed through the phone, something has happened. What could it be? Well it turned out to be the worst thing anyone wants on their birthday which is the death of their parents. My mom and I were supposed to go to Poland to see my grandma but now she has passed on my mothers birthday, there is no reason to go anymore as we must quarantine for two weeks. Just like that no goodbye, no funeral, no nothing we didn't even get to say a last I love you. Goodbye Grandma.
• 
  2021-02-27

  A picture is worth a thousand words

  "A gravedigger wearing protective gear walks among fresh plots in between burials of COVID-19 victims at Cementerio do Alto de Sao Joao in Lisbon on Feb. 25. Portugal has recorded over 800,000 cases and more than 26,000 deaths, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University. Amid a national lockdown earlier this week, @apnews reports, the country's daily tally of new cases dipped below 1,000 for the first time since October. Photograph by Horacio Villalobos-Corbis/@gettyimages"
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  2021-02-28

  Why COVID-19 is delaying the issuing of death certificates in Michigan

  COVID-19 has slowed the process of many official documents, including death certificates. In Michigan, a process that normally takes 1-2 days can now take 3-4 days. They are also facing issues with the mail service and receiving the necessary documents to issue a certificate.
• 
  2020-04-05

  Anxiety lingers as N.L. officials trace majority of coronavirus cases to funeral home

  Funeral home in Newfoundland was linked to a superspreader event
• 
  2021-01-28

  Flowers brighten isolation for many during pandemic

  A 65-year-old woman collects old flowers from funeral homes, grocery stores, and the like. She then makes bouquets and distributes them to nursing homes, hospitals, and community areas such as libraries and even laundromats. The flowers she delivers brighten people's days, especially in these hard times.
• 
  2020-12-17

  Attending a Family Funeral During COVID-19

  Standing outside in the cold dry wind, everyone was wearing masks. Small groups were huddled together but each grouping apart from the other. This was not how it was meant to be. The week before Christmas, I experienced this attending a relative's funeral. The pandemic made a traditional funeral impossible. Typically the gathering would be large and focused on coming together for strength. The service was minimized to a graveside service where social distancing could be practiced. The death was not COVID related, but the resulting affects of COVID completely disrupted our most guarded family traditions. The inconveniences of daily COVID restrictions seem trivial in comparison to the large moments that can never be replaced. Our family hopes for a future day when we can properly mourn this loss hand in hand.
• 2021-01-25

  Statistics and Final Thoughts

  There has been about 99.3 million cases worldwide in about a year. They are still growing daily. About 54.8 million people have recovered. Some of family has recovered when their whole household has gotten it. About 5 millions deaths worldwide. My great grandma is one of the 5 million that have died. She was 102 when someone brought it into her living home. She passed quickly and we are having a funeral soon. Everyone I have known who has gotten COVID has recovered except for the one.
• 2020-09-22

  Spredaing Pandemic

  It was a late September night, the sky dark as coal. I was eating a delicious dinner of spaghetti al carbonara with my family when my father told us some scary news. The son of my grandfather's friend had fallen ill and died at the hands of COVID. I did not know this friend or his son at all, however, the fact that it could kill a perfectly healthy, young man really struck me hard, ad I'm beginning to see why my mother won't let me go to school. My father and grandfather attended the funeral, and I was left to think about how serious this pandemic really was.
• 
  2020-12-07

  Social funeral: Funeral homes using high pressure sales tactics amid COVID-19 pandemic, new report finds

  This article examine how funeral homes are using high pressure sales tactics during the pandemic.
• 
  2020-10-16

  Social funeral: Bereavement Authority of Ontario

  This release provides an update on the procedures for funerals during the pandemic.
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  2020-03-29

  Social funeral: COVID-19 Guidance: Funeral and Bereavement Services

  New Ontario guidelines for handling bodies with COVID-19.
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  2020-03-24

  Walsh Family's Missed Funeral

  Scott hasn't been able to properly mourn the death of his Grandmother. She was in the high risk category of people that could die from Covid-19 infection with having Alzheimer's disease and her family missed the opportunity to have a proper funeral for her.
• 
  2020-10-18

  Documenting Grief: A Mother And Son Grow Closer Despite Loss

  As with almost everything, COVID-19 has affected funerals. We hear about those that die and the funerals that are held but, we don't hear about how not being able to travel has affected the grieving process. Photography student Jacob Moscovitch's grandmother passed away in April and his family was unable to attend the funeral in Israel. He decided to photography his mother's grieving process as a way to heal.
• 
  2020-04-15

  My Grandmother and I’s Final Touch

  About a week before my grandmother passed, I went down to visit her for the day and help my grandfather with work around the house. When I arrived at their house, my aunt handed me a pair of nail clippers and asked if I could cut my grandmother’s nails for her. I kneeled at her bedside and began my work. I do not recall how it smelled in my grandmother’s room, as I was wearing my mask the entire time. I imagine it smelled like a hospital room though. I felt the cold metal of the nail clippers and the soft skin from my grandma’s hand, as the hum of her ventilator filled the room. I could hear her voice as well, she was hallucinating due to cerebral hypoxia, whispering to me about the train tracks in her closet. In those moments I could taste nothing but my own saliva. She died several days later on April 21, 2020, with my aunt, uncle, and grandfather in her company. I harbor great hatred for this virus, as it limited my time with my dying grandmother, and I harbor great disgust for everyone around me who refuses to take it seriously. You, however, don’t need to know about this. History does not care, it just happens.
• 
  2020-10-23

  COVID funeral

  Although the death had nothing to do with COVID I wanted to showcase how many people are being forced to say good bye to loved ones during the pandemic. I attended a funeral this morning through zoom, my friend was killed a few weeks ago in the east coast and today his family laid him to rest. On the plus side I saved on airfare and travel and was able to watch in the comfort of my own home. Most people were live and had their cameras on while others chose to turn them off. Since I was one of those with the camera off, I can say I felt the liberty to mourn as I wished in the privacy of my own space. A few minutes after the service started, I almost forgot I was on a zoom meeting until the sound gave out for a few minutes. The service was like any other I had been to, with eulogies, songs and a picture slide show BUT it was unlike any I had ever been too because it was remote. There were over a hundred people in the meeting from all over the country. Those who were physically in the church wore masks until it was their turn to speak, and the over all theme of social distance and COVID was not lost even among the tears. I snapped a photo to show how I was watching.
• 2020

  Mourning During COVID

  Being a pastor in the time of COVID-19 has been a difficult task, and nothing has been more difficult than leading people through the process of mourning the loss of loved ones. In my church, multiple people have lost husbands, fathers, and friends. Towards the beginning fo the pandemic our church lost one of it’s most recognized members to complications due to surgery. However, because of the coronavirus the standard practice of end-of-life ministry, helping the family with mourning, and leading them through rituals which help the family receive closure with their loss was unavailable. I, as the person’s pastor, was unable to be with him in his last days, and neither was his wife. Any final prayers, family meetings, religious discussions surrounding the topic of death which are standard with pastoral ministry were impossible because of the virus. The funeral was small, less than a dozen people. Many of their friends and family were left without any normal medium to mourn and lament the loss of their friend, husband, father, and brother. This left many people in spiritual limbo, and drastically changed the way people were able to mourn. Religious funerals, grief care, and even simple things like having people cook meals for them are invaluable to help with the process of mourning loss and accepting death, not just for the immediate family but for all around. A family friend can, perhaps, mourn by bringing the family flowers or food directly. But, under COVID there is too much of a risk. They now have to mourn alone. The same goes for family. Though they had a small graveside burial, they didn’t receive the social benefit of being surrounded by all who loved and were affected by their husband and father, the edification of seeing the sum, value, and product of their life expressed through tears, laughter, and people united to mourn and celebrate life. The ceremonies themselves, offering a wealth of support during a time of mourning, is enough of a loss, but there is more. After the rituals end, the family is still left without a core member of their life and need further help to manage their grief. Normally, in religion, a pastor can offer a level of grief counseling. But for those technologically behind, who can’t FaceTime or use Zoom, receiving this care becomes both difficult and brings up several ethical issues. How does a pastor, like me, meet with an elderly woman to walk them through grief? How can this be done without risking infection? Is it better to leave them alone to mourn without their religious community and authority? All of these problems have brought light to the importance of religious responses to major life events. Beyond the topics of faith, belief, dogma, and the supernatural, religion offers a wealth of benefits to people’s basic life needs, be it sociologically, psychologically, or existentially. It helps them put words to the indescribable pain they feel. It gives them a channel to express the loss in their heart. It gives communal space to lament, cry out, laugh, and find meaning through suffering and pain. Religion gets people through the darkness that is inherent to existence. COVID, however, has changed how this is done, and actively harmed people’s ability to mourn in a proper, healthy way. There is now one less way to manage traumatic, scarring life events, and find healing and recovery that comes with the penetrating pain in death. Hopefully, we will find healing from COVID, but not just the virus itself, but all that has been lost because of it. Hopefully, we can find healing from the loss of mourning, the loss of celebration, of community, of sacred expression. The sickness from the virus is only one thing of many which can bring devastation. To fight the virus is only part of the process of restoration. We also need to recover everything else in our lives the virus ripped away.
• 2020-06-01

  Life During Covid-19 Digital Pop-Up Exhibition

  Students in Dr. Michael J. Kramer's Digital Methods for Historical Projects seminar at SUNY Brockport share stories about one object from the spring of 2020 during the Covid-19 Pandemic, https://brockportkramer.com/covid19/. Alan Gowans—Getting Past Personal and Public Anxieties Carson Werner—The Day Baseball Stood Still Cecil Frazier—Double Standards Gilberto Diaz III—Memes of COVID-19 Education Jared Rosenberg—Diary From a Mini-tunnel Joe Lasky—The Twitch and the Rosary Jordan Aviles—Music and Other Necessary Items Joseph Massaro—Music as an Escape From (and Turn to) the New Abnormal Leslie Hoag—TikTok-ing History Connections Nate Mundt—Recognizing First Responders Ryan Gibbs—Am I Doing It Right? Samantha Symonds—Saving Lives or Saving the Economy? Sebastian Phipps—Living In a Twenty-First Century Pandemic Steven Willard—Brutal and Grim Realizations Will Secules—Bringing The Office Home
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  2020-09-17

  Dealing with Death in a Pandemic

  It describes how funerals have changed since the start of the pandemic. I submitted it because I think people need to see how big this viruses reach is and how it can affect everyone.
• 2020-08-01

  Family Funeral

  We had a family funeral. Not everybody could be there, not everybody should. Our family arrived at the plot and we were reminded to keep our distance still. A funeral has never been an overall positive experience, but the individual tragedies involved with people being unable to arrive due to health concerns makes that funeral that much more tragic.
• 
  2020-06-15

  Silent Funeral

  My story begins in May when this pandemic began. I was still in school at ASU at the time and I was living in Tempe. When school and other events started getting cancelled, that's when I knew that COVID-19 was serious and that things were going to change all over the world. However, I didn't think it would have a long-standing impact on my life. Unfortunately, I realized this would not be the case after my closest uncle passed away in June. He had medical problems and was hospitalized for some weeks, but his illness was not caused by COVID-19. After learning that he passed away I was sad, but not in total shock. What did shock me however, is that I learned that no one would be able to attend his funeral in Nebraska. This of course is due to the pandemic and people not being allowed to be around each other. Most of my family is much older, to be fair, and it could have put them at risk. I've never been very religious, but I think your burial is a very important part of your life. I expect most people hope that it would be some type of celebration of your life. I'm not sure what my uncle wanted, but no one was allowed to attend his burial. This has impacted me where I feel like I didn't get a chance to fully say goodbye. I know that if it was me, I would have wanted my family and friends to be there. The image I put for this, is a picture of me and two of my closest friends standing outside of the church where we went to take the time to honor his memory.
• 
  04/11/2020

  Teboho Klaas Oral History, 2020/04/11

  Interview with bi-vocational South African pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church tradition who is also an officer in The Other Foundation, an LGBTQ+ rights organization.
• 2020-04-05

  A COVID LOVE LETTER

  This time of year is usually buzzing with family and community. Passover is often referred to as a holiday of freedom, but this year it was for some people the furthest thing from that. As the Rabbi of an ever-growing synagogue and community centre, I host the Seders (traditional Passover feasts) at my home with community members and extend invitations to anyone willing to accept. However, this year there wasn’t anyone to invite. Leading up to this usually joyful holiday, I became quite dispirited as the calls started streaming in from community members that had lost their jobs, savings in the stock markets and now couldn’t even see their grandchildren. What’s ironic is that throughout the year I am the one chasing community members to bring them to the centre for events and prayer services. I also make calls, send WhatsApp and post on Facebook to catch their attention and attempt to entice them through the doors of the synagogue. Now I’m lamenting with them, trying unsuccessfully to find some reason as to why G-d is putting us through this test. The best I came up with was, “we are all in this together, we are all in the same boat”, none of us are unique in this corona-quarantining. Then a late-night call last week after the Sabbath really rocked me, a Holocaust survivor, 98 years old, had passed away and I was asked to officiate her funeral. Due to social distance regulations no more than 10 people were allowed to attend the funeral. This lady that I was laying to rest could’ve been my great-grandmother. I agonised about how I was to console this family that had just lost their matriarch. Who was I, some young rabbi, to give this family comfort and words of healing when they had had such a momentous loss, and their friends and extended family weren't even able to mourn together with them. This woman survived German slave labour camps during the Holocaust and now because of this silent killer was unable to have her grandchildren and great-grandchildren at her farewell. The reality of the situation is that COVID-19 has fundamentally changed my rabbinic role. As time goes on and this becomes our new normal, the constant calls from community members looking for support have been integrated into my schedule. My role has changed from preaching on a pulpit to one of reassurance and consolation during this time of social isolation and loneliness during the festive season of Passover. Whenever I am on the phone to a congregant I lighten the mood by facetiously joking “thank G-d crèche is an essential service!" With four children of my own under the age of five, or should I say with four babies under the age of five, I would have never been able to do anything if the government had pulled the plug on crèche. I was quietly praying together with my wife that they wouldn’t. I started dreading the upcoming school holidays, what am I going to do for two weeks locked in the house with my kids especially over Passover? Is my Passover Seder going to be 10 minutes because of nappy changes and bedtime will be in the middle of it? Incredibly without guests, my wife and I had the most wonderful two weeks locked up at home with our children. Our Seder was a lively event with re-enactments of the exodus of Egypt, as well as long speeches and songs from my 3-year-old who lively sang way past his bedtime. I even dressed up as Moses one night. I saw the silver lining in this turbulent time-I finally had time to be fully present with my children, no phone to disturb me, as on Jewish festivals we don’t use electronics, I had no sermon to fine-tune and I was finally able to spend the entire time with my family. My 4-year-old even learnt how to ride a bike without training wheels, an impressive feat that his grandmother told him over FaceTime “your daddy could only do it when he was 5”. Yes, the fridge has some scratches and dents that came about with children 2 and 3 trying to break into it for some milk. The curtains to their room have been ripped down and I am trying unsuccessfully to find a tradesman to come and fix it. But, I must say lockdown was a sort of blessing that I didn't know I wanted. Spending quality time with my kids without having to run to an urgent meeting or being required to write emails, was in a way an Exodus from real life I much needed (hopefully temporarily). But...I think my wife now needs a holiday.
• 
  2020-04

  Tweets from Inside a Prison 4/26-5/2/2020 by Railroaded Underground

  These images follow the Tweets on an incarcerated person who is sharing what it is like to be incarcerated during the covid pandemic. In the Tweets they mention the inmates discussing their obituaries, that a Vietnam veteran went "man down" which I believe means he has covid, and they retweeted a call for people to help a woman who is now in ICE detention after fleeing her abusive husband.
• 
  2020-06-22

  VICE News: Inmates Dying of Covid

  As inmates across the US die, many families are not sure if they have died from covid-19 because inmates are not being tested and finding out after the inmate passes requires families to pay out of pocket for an autopsy. This video follows families in New Jersey, a state whose prison population has been hit hard by covid-19. Covid has shed a light on many inequities across American society and the inequities suffered by inmates and families are terrible in normal times but are even worse due to the pandemic.
• 
  2020-06-11

  Comanche Nation Chairman Issues Statement on Funeral Home Closure

  “The recent mandate for quarantine of our own Funeral Home is warranted. The Comanche Nation is following the Center for Disease Control (CDC) protocol and practices. The Nation has been proactive in all situations that calls for safety of every Comanche Nation member. This event is no different, and should be looked upon as 100% safety first… We are all saddened by numberous issues that the entire world has no control over. We will always honor our loved ones that have gone home. We will one day overcome this virus and normalcy will return. Until that day we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this situation has caused.”
• 
  2020-06-09

  George Floyd Funeral

  This is an image of the funeral of George Floyd, whose death from police brutality has sparked a wave of protests across the world against police brutality even in the midst of pandemic.
• 
  2020-05-14

  In Amazon city, indigenous chief felled by COVID-19 buried with dance and singing

  ""Thanks to Chief Kokama, we have a place here where we can maintain our culture, our sacred songs and dances, and make our manioc flour and our arts and crafts," said nurse Vanda, as she is known in her community."We will continue fighting to make his dream come true."
• 2020-06

  5th funeral since the pandemic started!

  We have seen many untimely deaths during pandemics. Sad but harsh reality.
• 
  2020-05-24

  Weird Ways

  [Curatorial Note]: Reflections on death of a family member and alternative funeral/memorial due to COVID19.
• 
  2020-05-23

  Death and a Funeral - COVID-19

  This video explores how funerals have changed among the COVID-19 pandemic
• 
  05/20/2020

  As virus swamps Peru, Venezuelan migrants collect the dead

  A man hangs himself in Peru after testing positive for Coronavirus and being turned away from a hospital because he lacked the proper referral. Peru has had over 100,000 people die from Coronavirus. Story reports on the Venezuelan funeral workers who collect the bodies of COVID victims.
• 
  2020-05-23

  Funeral During COVID-19

  [Curator's Note]: Discussion of death in a family and the subsequent funeral amid COVID-19 pandemic.
• 
  2020-05-22

  Untitled

  Living through COVID-19 has been a challenge for me a lot of things have changed and gotten way harder for me. I was getting comfortable with staying home. I have found myself and kept giving myself breaks and trying to get my body back to the old me. On Monday it was my birthday it didn't feel like it because everything is closed and we are on lockdown. My family still tried to make that day special for me. On Tuesday I and my family laid a close friend of my brother to rest. It has been a very hard time for my family at this time everyone has been together spending time with each other. Lately I have been thinking about my future about how it's going to be after COVID-19 because right now COVID-19 has me unsure. After one semester online courses got me so stressed, and confused. It has been a journey this whole time during COVID-19. Things are going good for me then it goes bad right now my granny is in the hospital she has not been feeling well. I want to be with my granny but I can't because of the COVID-19 rules. I have been talking to my granny through the phone. I have been feeling down lately because of my life outside of school. I have been feeling overwhelmed and unmotivated like never before.
• 
  2020-04-23

  Yard Sign and Nova Scotia Flag in Condolence for Mass Shooting

  While in many respects the world has come to a halt in the midst of the pandemic, there are some events of significance which are only tangentially related to the virus. On April 18th and 19th, 2020, the worst mass shooting in Canadian history was committed across several locations in the province of Nova Scotia. As all provinces remained in some degree of lockdown or a state of emergency, the normal mass gatherings, protests, and expressions of grief which would normal follow such a tragedy were impossible. Indeed, the victims could not even have the funerals well attended by the community and media which would previously have occurred. Instead, the outpouring of national grief was largely restricted to digital communication and small physical memorials. Local schools and government buildings lowered their flags to half mast for a week. Several houses in my neighbourhood put printed-out Nova Scotia flags in their windows as an acknowledge. This larger flag was attached to an existing poster-board and wood sign urging others to “Be Kind” and “Stay Safe” took on a whole new meaning. No longer was it just espousing patience and understanding in a time where blame is leveled against individuals and groups, and to stay healthy. Now it promotes the added message of peace (kindness) following violence, and safety when that is not true. The communal grieving process which would follow violence on the scale of that which occurred in Nova Scotia still occurred, but it looked very different.
• 
  2020-05-12

  Treme Lafitte Brass Band Performs Traditional Jazz Funeral Music at New Orleans Jazz Museum, New Orleans, LA

  Treme Lafitte Brass Band performs Traditional Jazz Funeral music at the New Orleans Jazz Museum to honor the lives lost to COVID-19. Musicians played on the museum's balcony and a Livestream was shared via Facebook.