Items

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  2020-06-08

  Racism like Public Health?

  Amidst Covid-19, the documentation of the police killings have been manifested into comparisons with the world-wide pandemic. These comparisons reflect the ongoing disparities between Black Americans and systemic racism. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation takes to Twitter to try to support this comparison but faces a backlash from a fellow BLM support who argues that the comparison is invalid based on the different progress the BLM protest and quarantine had made. I felt like this was important for me to post because I feel like it shows an effort from BLM supporters to combat the racism within our culture by arguing that society must view and address racism as a public health issue. Yet, the tweet continues to evolve as ironic as the lack of regards Americans have for coronavirus policies and laws continues to grow everyday. Base on how events go, we might regard the validity of this statement to be false down the road.
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  2020-12-22

  The Virus Is Showing Black People What They Knew All Along

  In this article, author Patrice Peck discusses how black Americans are dying of COVID-19 at 1.7 times the rate of whites. In her words "19,000 Black people would still be alive if not for systemic racism."
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  2020-12-22

  How COVID-19 Hollowed Out a Generation of Young Black Men

  This is a fascinating and heartbreaking article about the struggles of young black men and health inequity brought to light by COVID-19. The difficulties of systemic racism are costing young black men their lives.
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  2021-05-19

  I am Dylann Roof

  It's a personal essay about race in America and the need for white ownership.
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  2020-06-09

  Pandemic

  As of today, we as a society have been struck by two major pandemics, COVID-19 and Racism. Although both of these pandemics aren't an easy fix it is important to acknowledge and remember those that have lost there lives to these two catastrophes. On each of the two sheets, I wrote down the names of 100 people that have lost to either the virus or police brutality in the United States on the backside of each sheet I wrote 'Black Lives Matter' and 'Covid-19' to signify the cause of death for the said group of names. I decided to sew the two sheets together to show how in both instances racial discrimination and bias can be accounted for as reasons for the death of these individuals. For this project, I wanted to make a piece to remember the people behind the statistics, to humanize them in an otherwise forgetful world, and to say their names.
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  2021-01-26

  The 2021 Social Justice Outlook

  NEW YEAR. NEW SOCIAL JUSTICE OUTLOOK. 2020 will be remembered for the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide civil unrest spurred by killings of unarmed Black men and women by police officers. With a new president in office, what will social justice look like in 2021? Get your questions ready and join the conversation tonight at 7:30 p.m. on NBC 6 Voices with Jawan Strader on the NBC 6 Facebook and YouTube pages.
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  2021-03-16

  Surge in Hate Crimes Against Asian Americans

  As the U.S. continues its battle against COVID-19, it is also battling a rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans. A recent report found that hate crimes against Asian Americans in major U.S. cities surged by nearly 150 percent in 2020 —even as the number of overall hate crimes fell. Stephanie Sy looks at how the violence has marred one community, and how they are coming together in its wake.
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  2020-06-20

  Racial Equity Gaps

  When we think about racial equity gaps in higher education it typically centers on how BIPOC students face much lower odds of earning a college degree. This is definitely true, but those who do make it to graduation also face inequities in college and in the job market post-degree.⠀ ⠀ A study of 2016 BIPOC college graduates found Black and Latinx students experience the longest time to completion, borrow significantly more than other students, and receive the lowest pay after graduation. This means Black and Latinx graduates spend less time earning wages and are more likely to have higher debt when graduating. It took me five years to earn my degree, while I also worked a full time job to pay tuition. The racial wealth gap we have doesn't just occur while employed but long before it.
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  2021-02-28

  CovidWhileBlack - A Twitter post about Housing Instability

  The twitter page CovidWhileBlack shared a story, which I have linked, titled "COVID-19 Exposes the Black Community's Long History of Housing Instability." The struggle to keep a roof over one's head had been even more difficult through this pandemic, but even more so for many Black people. This article describes the shocking statistics of the inequalities. With many people losing their jobs, and with only 47% of the Black US population owning their own homes, the pandemic had caused many Black Americans to face evictions. These are sad statistics showing the state of inequality against Black citizens, especially during this pandemic. Real change needs to be made.
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  2020-02-28

  Black Boston COVID-19 Coalition Gives Vaccines to the Community

  The Black Boston COVID-19 Coalition ended Black History Month by giving vaccines to the Black community. Unfortunately, the Black communities have not been treated fairly by the US medical system in the past. The fact that this Coalition and others like it even need to exist is a big red flag that the Black communities in the United States still have to fight for equal rights. It also says that during this pandemic especially, Black people have been effected disproportionately.
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  2020-08-05

  Social Justice and Public Health in 2020

  From the article: The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus, has created an unexpected and unprecedented lifestyle shift for many people across the globe. Several months into the pandemic, the public has been exposed to a number of issues they might not have previously considered or thought possible, from hospitals rapidly reaching capacity and the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the mental and social challenges of physical distancing and being quarantined.
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  2020-11-10

  Sustainable Finance Addresses Social Justice As COVID-19 Raises The Stakes

  From the article: Economic shocks from the pandemic have widened existing inequities around the world, leading to calls for greater social justice in dealing with this health threat. Poorer people, minorities, and women are suffering disproportionately from growing health, housing, income, and education gaps under measures to contain COVID-19 that could set them back for years to come. To fund programs to address the problem, governments, supranationals, and corporations, among others, have accelerated issuance of sustainable instruments--including social bonds, where issuance jumped nearly four times so far this year to US$71.9 billion from the 2019 level. We think the sustainable debt market, partly because of the rapid rise in social bond issuance, could exceed $500 billion this year.
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  2020-05-15

  Why Covid-19 is a Social Justice Issue

  From the article: People are like gardens: they require the right seeds to be planted, watered and nurtured in order to grow, but if neglected, will never produce the full harvest of their potential. For decades, Black people have been starved of the investments, the systems of care and quality environments that are needed for sustained, healthy growth and development as a people. For even a rose, as the writer Nikki Giovanni reminds us, can bloom from the concrete, if we give it the resources, care and love it deserves.
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  2020-12-09

  'They're really struggling': Inside the Neskantaga First Nation water crisis

  The community was promised an upgraded treatment plant by 2018. Two years later, its members have once again been evacuated. Why doesn’t Neskantaga have clean water yet?
• 
  2020-05

  Tweets from Inside a Prison 5/31-6/6/2020 by Railroaded Underground

  These images show the tweets from an incarcerated person, using a contraband cell phone to tell the world what it is like to be incarcerated during the pandemic. This week he continues to talk about the murder of George Floyd by the police, protestors and violence against them, his own fear of white officers in his prison which he blames on systemic racism, states his views on defunding police and the need for new politicians and laws, as well as fear of prison transfers spreading the virus.
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  2020-06-14

  Column: Hawaii’s early inmate release a health success

  Corrections facilities across the nation has considered releasing inmates early to slow the spread of the corona virus. While the public has had mixed feelings about this idea Hawaii has been successful in creating a process to examine and individually decide on early release for its inmates. The mainland US has had numerous outbreaks inside of its prisons and jails and Hawaii was trying to prevent this. As the article explains, early release is not only beneficial to the inmates and employees but also to the larger community. It also touches on the impact systemic racism has had on creating the largest prison population in the world.