Items

• 
  2020-12

  The impact of COVID on the LGBTQ+ Community

  This PDF details data related to the LGBTQ+ Community's relationship with COVID in America. Based on the data, it is clear many within the community struggled with excessive financial issues, the inability to receive medical care, and the loss of insurance. While the pandemic has placed serious burdens as a whole on society, data such as this is valuable as it allows a look into the most vulnerable communities within society already, and how COVID has destroyed the once normal lives of so many.
• 
  2020-06-01

  A privilaged white latina women.

  In the beginning of the pandemic, I was frightened like many others. My parents are older than most of my friends, both around their late fifties' early sixties. In the area I was living, Ohio, I began seeing many lawn signs of Covid 19 not being real. Like anyone who believes in science I became extremely frustrated. People coughing in line behind me at the grocery store when I was with my dad and talking loudly about how masks were “stupid”. I began feeling personally targeted because of wearing homemade masks from the beginning. I feared how many people I would have to come in contact with at work and how I might affect my parents' health just by living under the same roof. As Covid came into fruition I was a part of one of the lucky companies that gave the option to stay home from work and be paid a minimum. I was grateful. I began seeing a decline in mental health on social media. People could not take being home without their friends or their families were toxic. That’s understandable and I do not chastise anyone for feeling that way. My frustration stayed as I acclimatized myself to be home for months. I started paying close attention to news about organizations like churches, friend groups etc. gather even though we were in the height of Covid. I thought to myself “Can't it just...wait? Let us be safe first and gather later.” I feel it is unfair for me to make such a statement because I don’t know these strangers' lives at home, but it was hard to not take it personally when I had to shower anytime I went out for groceries or a mandatory meeting at work. Not to mention the constant dousing of sanitizer that my family and others who were fearful of Covid had to do to feel safe. All this was happening in America in my middle-class neighborhood and social media started showing the disparities between classes. I was lucky that my whole family could afford to stay home but there were many...many families that had to keep working even though they could die. Just to keep a roof over their heads. This especially affected people of color and minorities in our country. There was and still is social unrest. Finally, the disparities that had always been there had been forced to be paid attention to. There was no relief for the frustrations we were experiencing and bottling during this time. About midway through covid I found out my uncle in Colombia died because he had to continue driving a Taxi for work and no vaccinations had been issued. It just felt like there was nothing I could do but panic and wait. Then, one of the most egregious acts of police brutality had occurred. George Floyd had been murdered by a police officer who pinned him down with his knee as he said “I can't breathe” until he no longer could. America turned upside down. We saw videos of buildings being destroyed, fires, mass protests, shootings, the worst you could imagen. As a collective we had reached our boiling point and the last straw was this murder. My family was against my brother and I protesting because Covid still being at its height. I have protested at the Womens March in D.C and several pro-choice marches in Ohio but the Black Lives Matter movement was something I needed to educate myself on and stand up for. It was a calling for someone in my position of privilege to show up in numbers for people of color that deserve rights just as the rest of us. I often reflect on how my life could have been so different. My father is Colombian, and my mother is Polish. I look white and have always been raised in a middle-class neighborhood. I have not had to face the same injustices as my father, my family and minority groups in America just based off the color of my skin. Police brutality has always been in existence but when we were all home during Covid with modern day technology and video evidence, we felt that video to the core. We felt the pure rage and frustrations as a society of how we were not being cared for in the way we thought we would have been during this pandemic. I have never witnessed in my lifetime such united support for one another. Such a strong fight against people in power who are coming after the people we call friends, workers, lovers, and family no matter the color of their skin. In such destruction, pain and chaos I had never felt such beauty in our society. I will never forget the feeling of unity around me I had felt as hundreds of people laid down on the hard pavement during the Black lives Matter protest yelling “I cant breathe.” Finally, we could help the unheard be heard and take a deep breath together.
• 
  2020-06-11

  Defund this

  A comic strip about Covid-19
• 
  2022-03-10

  Why have women been so disproportionately affected by Covid-19? Experts explain

  This is a news story from CNN by Alice McCool. This story talks about the inequalities women have faced during COVID-19. In a CNN poll, women in the G7 countries (US, UK, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Italy) felt less supported by their leaders than men did. Some of these inequalities include women being more likely to lose their jobs or take on more uncompensated care work. Other things, such as abortion services, were considered non-essential in some countries during COVID. Minority women and poor women were also more likely to work low-paying jobs and bear much of the economic strain. Additionally, trans healthcare was also viewed as non-essential in many places. In places like Uganda, many women lost their safety net provided from schools, resulting in rising teen pregnancies and early marriages. This article continues showing more examples of the hoops women had to jump through compared to men and demonstrates the social issues that got worse as a result from COVID lockdowns.
• 
  2020-12-10

  Analysis of Racial Disparity in COVID by CDC

  CDC page outlining racial disparity in the transmission and treatment of COVID-19. There are explanations given for the discrepancies pertaining to economic disparity as well. This illustrates the knowledge of the discrepancies in the transmission of COVID-19 across different racial backgrounds and social classes and possible solutions.
• 
  2022-03-26

  Russia spread anti-vax lies in Ukraine. Will it cause a COVID crisis for Europe?

  This is a news story from the Los Angeles Times by Melissa Healy and Emily Baumgaertner. The authors claim that even prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine that Russia has been working to undermine the confidence of Western vaccines. It says that these messages were encouraged by President Vladimir Putin and shown on Russian TV and social media. In Ukraine, only 35% of residents are fully vaccinated, some of the lowest in all of Europe. This makes the refugee crisis in Ukraine more dire, as people needing to leave will risk spreading COVID more places. The authors assert that with the low vaccination rates of Ukrainian refugees that it will cause another surge in COVID cases throughout Europe. The CDC has advised countries accepting refugees to offer them the vaccine upon entry. This article details that this is not the only vaccine that Ukrainians have not accepted as much compared to the rest of Europe. In 2021, only 53% of Ukrainian babies were vaccinated against polio. That number has now risen to 76% of infants being immunized against polio. Though, the likelihood of these diseases spreading as far as COVID are fairly low. The vaccine hesitancy, the authors say, is rooted in deep distrust of the government. In December 2020, only 14% of Ukrainians reported having trust in their government in a poll.
• 
  2022-03-21

  In Hanover, the anti-LGBTQ school board needs discipline, not protesting students

  This story is about the school board of Hanover County in Virginia needing discipline instead of letting it's students protest and participate in walk-outs during school hours because of the policies against their transgender students. The school board is accused of having no intentions of supporting the non-binary and transgender students of Hanover. This is important because it is once again showing discriminatory policies that the school board keeps bringing up against transgender students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 
  04/25/2021

  Lou Fraise Oral History, 2021/04/25

  Dr. Lewis Fraise details his service as a geriatric doctor during the Korean War and Vietnam War. He mentions his service in both Washington D.C. and Korea and continues to break down how the Coronavirus actually infects one's body and the response of the government as the pandemic ensued. Dr. Fraise criticizes the actions of Donald Trump and states that the spread of more medically-accurate information would have led to a better outcome in terms of the early stages of the pandemic.
• 
  05/03/2021

  Kyle Sauley Oral History, 2021/05/03

• 
  2021-12-16

  Asian Lives Matter

  When I went to summer camp, I spoke Chinese to my friends who could not speak english very well. However, we were constantly told that "this is America" and we needed to speak english so everyone could understand and didn't feel left out.
• 
  05/02/2021

  Nina Karetova Oral History, 2021/03/09

  Indiana University advocate, Joanna Reese interviews Atlanta photographer, Nina Karetova.
• 
  2020-05-20

  Alex Osuji Oral History, 2020/05/05

  In this monologue, Alex Osuji discusses his feelings on the social response to COVID 19. He reflects on the racism he is witnessing and connects it to past viruses.
• 
  2021-11-16

  Hermit HERALD, ISSUE 132

  Wokeness, big Democrat problem
• 
  2020-10-20

  Northeastern Virtual Indigenous People's Day 2020

  Article regarding virtual Indigenous People's Day.
• 
  2021-09-30

  Pro-Vax, Pro-Union Anti-Fascist Poster - Jewish Melbourne

  In the wake of the anti-lockdown riots that gripped Melbourne in September 2021, the Campaign Against Fascism movement disseminated the phrase Pro-Vax, Pro-Union, Anti-Fascist. Inspired by this, Link/לינק, a zine associated with the Jewish Labour Bund in Melbourne, posted a poster to their Instagram account, of their take on this messaging, including the shouting man from early twentieth-century Bund posters. The poster was also physically published in the zine's second edition in October 2021. HIST30060
• 
  2021-09-18

  Biden Administration Sends More Agents to Texas Bridge to Move Haitian Migrants

  It is utterly dismal that this is taking place, and being written about, as if it were compartmentalized from the crisis of mass death facing the entire planet. Face masks are required on all U.S. public transit and on all flights, yet migrants seeking asylum are treated without regard for even their bare minimum safety.
• 
  2020-05

  Images from George Floyd Protests and BLM Demonstrations in New York City

  Images taken of signs held while listening to speeches from BLM activists. Another image shows a cluster of police during a demonstration in Midtown Manhattan.
• 
  2021-09-06

  Empty Classrooms: An Uncertain Future

  When COVID hit and schools were forced to shut down, education had to transform in many ways. Students began remote learning through video conferences and online tools like Google Classroom. Moving online not only took away a lot of the personal interaction and connection between students, but it made learning the content even more difficult. Students were less motivated, it was more difficult for them to ask questions and get their questions answered, and many students began to fall behind. Transitioning back into the classrooms has helped students begin to pick back up from where they left off with their class content, but there are still so many absences daily in classrooms all across the country. This article discusses the issue of how future generations will be impacted by the COVID education crisis.
• 
  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.
• 
  2020-06-04

  Small Town, Big Affairs

  The challenges of both COVID-19 and the lockdown illuminated the disproportionate burden black and brown communities have been facing with jobs, communities, and police. In the midst of the profound trauma of George Floyd's death, many communities had to come together to address what parameters were they enforcing for both the health and safety for its member. Many protest like the one shown in Anderson, South Carolina took place May-August of 2020 to demonstrate how a growing pandemic forced individuals to think about others' vulnerabilities--specifically those inflicted from police brutality.
• 2021-10-06

  COVID-19: The Impact of Power, Gender, Race, and Religion

  Life during the COVID-19 pandemic is something that no one could have expected or prepared for. The way that our everyday lives instantly got disrupted and for many people their lives turned completely upside-down. We went from going to concerts, shows, and movies with friends and family, to lockdown in a brief second. Yet, for everyone lockdown, quarantine, and even work all looked different. There were many factors that went into trying to be able to stay safe and healthy during this time. Not everyone had the same advantages to try and protected themselves and their loved ones; some of the driving forces behind the advantages or disadvantage were power, gender, race, and religion. The more power, money, influence that you had during 2020 was what could almost guarantee that you and your family would be okay. By having money and power one was able to by as many masks as they wanted or by as much disinfectant as they could. Those people didn’t need to worry about if they could afford the inflated prices of hand sanitizers and Clorox wipes (if they could be found). Having power and money meant having information and accesses. This meant that those who possessed these things, could have accesses to doctors for healthcare purposes but also to get information about what was happening in their local area. With the possession of money also came space. Besides disinfectants and good masks such as N95s or KN95s, space was the next most luxurious thing people could have. Having space meant that you and your families weren’t all crowded on top of each other even if that’s how many people felt like they were because of lockdown. Having space also meant that if one of your loved ones got COVID-19, there was an area for them to quarantine and not but the rest of the people in the house at risk. Power and money were what separated those who could afford to stay at home and be safe and have minimal disruption to their lives, and those who still had to leave the house every day, if they were some of the fortunate ones to have jobs and put their lives at risk to try and provide for their loved ones. The way that gender was impacted by COVID-19, was that for lots of family’s stereotypical gender roles were reversed in some cases or even ceased for a bit. With everyone spending so much time at home, there was no more reason for any one person to be doing either the housework, looking after the children, or even doing all the cooking. While it is not just women that stay home with children, plenty of men to do, it is a stereotype that most women stay home with the kids and that the men work. Well with many people working from home or unfortunately being unemployed the jobs that typically might have fallen on mom became a mom and dad job. However, gender was not only impacted in these ways. While COVID-19 was already a hard, tough, and sad enough event domestic violence rose drastically during lockdown. Because people were forced to stay home, women especially since they are the dominant gender affected by domestic violence, had no option but to remain in the same environment as their abusers. This is not to say that men did not face the same situations but in America, 77% of domestic violence victims are female. Race played a huge part in the treatment of those with COVID-19 as well as accessibility to masks, disinfectants, and other forms of PPE. Areas all around the country that were not primarily made up of white people, were hit the harder with COVID-19. These groups of people were not given or provided the same level of care or protections that those where were white did, during this crisis. People who were any race other than white were treated as second class citizens to those who were white. They tended to be forgotten about by the healthcare system or were not prioritized the same way those who were white were. The color of your skin during 2020 could have been the difference between living or dying due to COVID-19. Religion was one of the biggest debates that surrounded the entire COIVD-19 pandemic. Religion was the cause for fights, violence, and even deaths of thousands of people. People used their belief in religion as a reason for why they did or did not believe in many parts of COIVD-19 crisis. One of the oldest debates in history is religion versus science, and this debate in modern times has never been so present in every part of the country and many parts of the world. Not only were people’s personal beliefs in religion playing a role in the chaos of the pandemic, but the attendance of religious gatherings such as church and temple causing issues as well. As a result of millions of people choosing to still attend religious gatherings, they were spreading the virus because of being in such close contact with many people. Even when there were executive orders in place prohibiting gatherings of over a certain size to prevent the spread of COVID-19, people still felt it was their right to go to these gatherings. The COIVD-19 pandemic impacted and altered the lives of billions of people. There are lots of factors that played a part of making the pandemic better and making the pandemic worse. However, at the end of the day the ones that were the most prominent were power, gender, race, and religion.
• 
  2020-06

  Pandemic Protests

  These images from June 2020 were captured during Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in New York City following the killing of George Floyd. The first image shows City Hall the morning after BLM protests. In this image of a landmark building covered in spray painted cries for change, graffiti depicts the frustrations over the cruel injustices institutions place on people of color. The second image depicts one of many protests during summer in quarantine when New Yorkers came together on avenues, bridges, and squares. Citizens marched and chanted as police followed alongside to ensure protests remained peaceful. These images capture uniquely complex dynamics when people were forced to pursue creative avenues, reinventing social justice movements to come. My time in quarantine was not solely spent on COVID related activities, I also educated myself on how and why many US institutions remain racist, discovering ways that structural change can address unjust attitudes. I read articles written by advocates for the BLM movement and also by conservatives opposing it. In exposing myself to differing mindsets, I was better prepared to engage in conversations with others opposed to change in the hope of educating them on the pressing need for progress. Furthermore, my high school friends and I frequently Zoomed to discuss how our alma mater contributes to racism in both subtle and overt ways. These conversations allowed us to work with fellow alumni, as well as current students, to create a document clearly listing racial inequities within the student body, the faculty, and the curriculum. For each issue that we highlighted, we provided multiple alternatives for how the school could fix the matter in question. While these conversations were unexpected before the BLM protests occurred, they became productive and fulfilling conversations that in and of themselves began to address long held biases, racist representations and undercurrents of injustice within our alma mater’s community and programs.
• 
  2020-10-28

  The Minimum Wage Spotlight

  The photographic story I've uploaded is about my [family member], Andres, who even with the pandemic at its worst peak, in 2020, had to continue in his job. He's an Arizona field laborer, a key worker for the farm he works in. The conditions are difficult, with a minimum wage that doesn't match the amount of work he does. As the photos indicate, his job can start at a very early time when the sun hasn't even risen. His job usually lasts 12 hours, so when it's the night shift, he doesn't come back till the morning hours. There are weeks when he has to stay inside a hot tractor for hours and there are other days when he has to do a lot of moving and carrying around. Due to the difficult weather Arizona may have, there’s a constant danger of heatstroke especially since a lot of his work includes physical labor. Looking deeper, these pictures of the work Andres does feels like a representation of the unequal power there is in the minimum wage system. Here we have a field laborer, who due to lack of education and financial resources growing up, wasn’t able to reach for higher positions that require degrees. He grew up in a poverty-stricken family and alongside being a Latino immigrant, opportunities were few and far between so in order to assure he keeps himself and his family fed and sheltered, so he’s forced to continue a job that doesn’t contain the best conditions or pay. This is only emphasized within the pandemic, minimum wage workers forced to continue working in bad conditions including the risk of getting sick because, in order to keep their head above water, they must. And yet, even with all the dangers and the long hours, their pay doesn’t reflect the job. This also connects to race, minorities most of the time stuck in these places due to the disadvantages they grew up with and continue to face. It’s the life of an individual who is input in a life in which already starts with less compared to privileged others, and then a pandemic hits which only emphasizes the disadvantages already there. Overall, the pandemic truly has put a spotlight on the many issues society already had.
• 
  2021-04-19

  Health Equity Considerations and Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups

  The pandemic has brought the issue of health inequity in the United States, based on factors such as race and ethnicity, to the forefront. Racial and ethnic minority populations make up a disproportionate essential workers. Poverty restricts access to health care for many individuals. The country must address these issues of health equity and social justice now and continue to address it t ensure the health and safety of all those living in the United States. The website provides references, information, and data on the link between ethnicity and race and COVID-19.
• 
  2020-12-01

  Five Experts Reflect on the Health Equity Implications of the Pandemic

  The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Blog published this article which contains the words of 5 different experts on health inequity during the pandemic.
• 
  2021-06-14

  Anti-racism advertisements at Times Square

  These are two photos of anti-racist advertisements I saw in Times Square on June 14, 2021. One is an advertisement on a digital advertisement board that says "#NOHATE AGAINST JEWS" in white text on a blue background, while the other is a poster on the side of a garbage receptacle that says "FIGHT THE VIRUS NOT THE PEOPLE #STOPASIANHATE", made by artist Zipeng Zhu.
• 
  2021-07-02

  HERMIT HERALD,ISSUE 119

  Intro Dr. Shelby Steele
• 
  2020-03-18

  How Will COVID-19 Change the World? Historian Frank Snowden on Epidemics From the Black Death to Now

  This video is an interview the Democracy Now did with Frank Snowden, Professor Emeritus at Yale University early on in the pandemic (March 18, 2020). Dr. Snowden specializes in the history of epidemic diseases and the history of modern Italy. His father was the first African American ambassador to Italy. At the time of the interview, Dr. Snowden was in lockdown in Rome, Italy. He had gone there to research another project when the pandemic hit, so he changed his focus to studying covid-19. He contracted the disease himself, but was lucky enough to live through it. I was particularly interested in Dr. Snowden's views on the pandemic since I had watched his Yale lecture series on epidemics available on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3AE7B3B6917DE8E6) which was incredible in its thorough exploration of some of the worlds worst outbreaks. In the interview he states that an early modern Florentine would recognize a lot of governments' actions to combat covid-19 as very similar to those used by the Italian city-states and elsewhere in Europe to combat bubonic plague, especially the concept of quarantine. He also addresses the startling commonality between anti-Semitism during the first several plague outbreaks to the Sinophobia and xenophobia seen during our current pandemic. The interviewer also brings up a great question about the possibility of fascism arising out of strict government measures to combat disease. I was particularly curious to hear Dr. Snowden's response in light of the protests in the United States against quarantine and mask-wearing. He acknowledged that while it could be one outcome, it is not the only nor the most probable possibility. Many governments have voluntarily ended their strict measures during pandemics without devolving into fascist states. Now that the pandemic is, it seems, waning I believe it is abundantly clear that those Americans who feared that their freedoms were threatened by historically proven practices were both selfish and foolish. They and our ineffective and dangerous leadership cause the United States to become a hotbed for Covid-19, while other countries who swiftly enacted and enforced lockdown measures and mask mandates, such as New Zealand and Italy, recovered much more quickly. I contend that Donald Trump and his sheep are responsible for thousands of unnecessary deaths.
• 
  2021-06-04

  Truth during our COVID PANDEMIC

  Through this Pandemic, I personally had to mature past the age I currently am. Now having to take on such a huge responsibility to be safe and avoid as many people as possible, it really took a toll on my social skills. Especially for someone who had problems with anxiety, I found some peace and salvation being around and talking with the people I liked. now having to avoid them? Well, that was one big change. Although it was hard at first, I encourage whoever sees and reads this to embrace change and curve it to your steering. After all, I overcame my anxiety through this quarantine. Some people may say COVID has affected them in ways they may not recover from but I just assume that it is all adults speaking. I have grown as a person and have actually realized the small little injustices that happened to students and the misleading nature of the "system'. At this time, this era, highlights of racial acts have now shown itself as if you sprayed insects with raid pesticide. Surprisingly, it was more common in Police Departments believe it or not. The people who swore to protect and serve justice were the ones who were at the epicenter of injustice. Schools no longer served students but rather misled them into thinking they were being helped. The first I would love to emphasize on is the fact that nothing they simply teach us in school relates to anyone's lifestyle. Sure if you went the technical route to want a specific occupation it was helpful, but other than that, it was absolutely useless. As a straight A student, I found myself in "unknown" territory when I was outside of school. Nothing of what we were taught is to be put in use. We don't solve x to make a U turn, we don't need to do an entire analysis on a red stop light to know that it says stop and we certainly didn't need to know that the rocks that we kick on our walks to home are sedimentary rock or igneous rocks. The education system is flawed in helping individuals learn what they need to know. Handing out 7 different subjects when your goal is to be a computer engineer? that doesn't seem right does it? I'm sure you said yes and you are now beginning to see my point. A few months back, February 14, 2021, information was leaked on the edu system. These tests that they give us, these regents and state exams.. it's all a cover up to their hunger for money. They lie to us that our performance on the tests dictates whether or not we pass but that's not the case. It actually dictates how well the school is funded and how much the teachers are paid. YOUR TESTS.. they aren't doing anything for you. The better you perform, the central host that funds schools, uses that information and says "oh wait.. this school performed well. Lets fund them more and pay the teachers better for their *HARD WORK*" These things don't help us. That is why America Continues to see their homeless individual growth rate increase every year. The people are conditioned to do good on selecting a, b , c or d but have no idea how to get a job, do their taxes, get a business loan in real life!!.This problematic system needed to be changed and for my time, it won't. I hope that someone in the future sees this and does a comparison and contrasts on how things have changed or if it has even changed at all. I apologize for the long rant on school at this time, it's just at the center of all the youths' problems currently. Back on track to injustices here present. If we were to take a step back and really look at the racial events partaking currently, we begin to see how one of the most notorious orgs that stands against racism is to be considered a terrorist org. That is the BLM foundation. Now you may have thought that they do good, but I assure you it isn't what it seems. Let's first analyze what makes an organization a terrorist foundation. 1) The people sway from the cause and place the blame on someone else 2) propaganda is at the forefront of the organization 3) they destroy and hurt lives more than they help. Let's compare al Queda to BLM. al queda, the organization that was behind the 9/11 incident is no less different from BLM. 1) Al Queda sole purpose was to send a message to the US saying that they will fight back at any US involvement in the Middle east. They swayed from that and blamed all their actions on the US including the beheading of innocents and the raping of innocent women. They blamed the US even though the US was not present in the Middle east. BLM was to stand and say that there is injustice to black lives but they swayed and pinned all their problems on the White people. 2) Al queda said they were to bring peace for the people they represented but they instead lied and used those peoples as their weapons. The BLM founder used all the funds to make a large property investment. 3) al Queda, destroyed buildings and hurt the innocent. BLM riot's and protests, destroyed small business, beat and killed innocent bystanders, robbed stores, robbed innocents of all their belongings, destroyed any from of mobile property and most importantly, went against peaceful protests and went against the law. BLM representatives also took part in Black on Asian crime. This is to evaluate the fact that COVID was not only a small problem but helped highlight the true concept of humanity and it's injustice that went on in the darkness. In many ways COVID 19 was bad indeed but in high alert, it showed us what people really are when the light is shined on them.
• 
  2020-06-01

  June 1st 2020 Chicago Lincoln Park Protest

  This was during the middle of the pandemic and I took a picture showing how not even a pandemic could stop people from uniting to protest against injustices. People can be seen wearing masks and keeping a bit of distance from one another considering.
• 
  2021-05-19

  I am Dylann Roof

  It's a personal essay about race in America and the need for white ownership.
• 
  2021-05-18

  BLM movement during COVID

  The horrific and inhumane death of George Floyd was the absolute last straw for many people. His death caused such an uprising that no one was prepared for. Floyd’s death caused thousands of people across the country to protest and literally fight for their lives. Citizens began a peaceful protest which turned into violent protests which resulted in the burning and looting of the city of Minneapolis. This protest turned violent because even after the negative image the police had in the country’s eyes, they still proceeded to injure Americans, using rubber bullets and tear gas during these protests. I chose this picture because it is very impactful to me as a Black man in America it is terrifying and sad. The way police treat Black men such as myself is beyond scary and traumatizing. There are no words to describe how it feels to walk around as a man with brown skin. In the photo I selected, there are two police officers beating on a Black man while he is down on the ground. It baffles my mind how even after an individual is down, disarmed, and disables, police officers will continue to apply unnecessary force to the individual. The death of George Floyd and the events that took place after is a monumental event in history. People need to know how America, came together despite race and differences and protested to enforce the Black Lives Matter Movement. So many different groups of people put their differences aside and came together to protest the safety of Black people. It is important that police violence is captured not only for the justice of the individual who was hurt, but as a part of history. The police brutality and Black Lives Matter movement is very important part of history. This is a movement that brought together many individuals of different race, class, and beliefs to support the end the abuse of Black citizens of America. I chose this picture which occurred in Buffalo NY, officer decided to beat down a 75 year old man who was peacefully protesting. The idea of police who are supposed to serve and protect are beating an elderly man, imagine what they would do to a young man as myself. I’m glad these cruel acts of violence are now being captured and people are receiving the justice they deserve. It is also important for people to see these events as a part of history.
• 
  2020-07-15

  Coney Island Police Brutality Protest

  For my primary source, I selected a photograph that my cousin from coney island sent me to join her to protest. The protest was on July 15, 2021, from 1 pm to 5 pm. The march’s purpose was in the memory of the African Americans that were murder by police brutality. The protest was a peaceful demonstration where the community complained that the problem is getting bigger every day. Therefore, the government needed to corporate to diminish the violence and racism toward black people. The march has two purposes the first one to protest that black lives matter and that it was not okay to kill somebody because of their skin color, and it was also to complain about police use of force towards minorities. 2020 was a year where many innocent people were killed, for example, Rashard brooks, Daniel Prude, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor. Those victims were not just killed by the police but were killed being innocent and doing ordinary people stuff which makes us think that the problem comes from police racism. I wanted to assist in the protest, but my father said straight up no because of covid 19 pandemic was at its worse moment, and the crowding is was going to be an easy way to catch the virus. I kept insisting until I got permission to go. I took three trains to get to my cousin’s house. First, I took train A to Columbus circle, then train D to the new york aquarium, and last train Q to ocean parkway where my cousin was waiting for me, and we went to the protest. It was not a big protest because most people who assist were people from the area, but it was peaceful. They were all screaming, “not justice, no peace.” the environment did no felt uncomfortable because they were energetic and getting the anger out by marching for the victims. The police of coney island and Brighton beach were present, ensuring that people maintain order and supporting the march. The social distancing was followed, and all the participants were wearing a mask. I felt good because I did not participate in the protest in my area, but I was present in other parts of the state. I selected this source because I want historians of the future to analyze that the country was active and acting against the problem. Racism is a global problem. It can be controlled if we unify and try to make others conscious that it is not okay to judge somebody else because of the way they look or their nationality. The communities were getting together to announce that they needed our support to solve the problem and eliminate conflicts with people equal like us but with a tiny skin color difference. Racism is so intense that people need to go outside in the middle of a pandemic to protest and moderate the issue. We were exposed to the virus because the violence toward minorities is increasing in the country. It looks like the only way it can be moderate is by going outside to show the dominant group that we have a voice.
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  05/04/2021

  Devyn Nguyen Oral History, 2021/05/04

  Interviewee discussed what life is like graduating during the pandemic, working in a small family-owned business and the pushback against COVID safety in Orange County. She describes how the pandemic has brought her family together along with the tight-knit community with similar social values she has created.
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  2020-07-15

  PSC-CUNY Protest at BCC

  For my primary source, I selected a photograph I took at a protest held in front of the Bronx Community College campus on July 15, 2021. The Professional Staff Union of CUNY (PSC-CUNY), the union for the faculty and much of the staff throughout CUNY, organized the event to protest the BCC administration June 26 decision to lay off 36 experienced adjunct professors at the end of their 3-year contracts, even though that their departments recommended that they be rehired. People in the picture include BCC Faculty, staff, and students, as well as those from as well as people from Hostos Community College, who came to support the BCC community and were facing similar cuts. The day was very hot, but I was nervous to the subway because of COVID, so I rode my bike from my home (about 24 miles roundtrip). I was pretty sweaty and probably stinky when I arrived. It was the first time I had been to campus since March 10, when, on my way home from school on the subway, I learned CUNY was moving online. (The campus itself was locked, but we stood in front of the gate on University.) It was also the first time I people from school in person since March; I was so happy to talk to them. It was weird to be with a group people, after months of isolation, but we all wore masks and stood six feet apart. Cars honked their support as they drove by. I selected this source because I want historians of the future to understand how the pandemic hit higher education and the connections among the COVID crisis, social justice movements, and education. Although I went to larger marches after the murder of George Floyd, I believe funding for CUNY is a form of social justice. I was angry that politicians and school administrators were giving lip-service to the phrase Black Live Manners, while cutting funding and jobs from CUNY. BCC’s students are overwhelmingly Black and Latinx, and many studies show that a CUNY education is one of the best schools for supporting social mobility, helping people support themselves and their families. Firing the adjuncts not only meant the teachers lost their income, and, sometimes, their health insurance, but that BCC students would be in larger classes; larger classes mean faculty have less time to devote to each student, which can make it harder to for students to succeed. While I understood enrollment was down and the budget from the city and state would likely be smaller because of the economic toll of the pandemic, I thought there were other places the administration could cut costs. (Such as their own salaries). I want historians to see that the faculty and staff of CUNY fought for what their students deserved and the connections among CUNY, social justice, and New York’s economic recovery. I also want them to see how people approached protests, which require gathering together with other people and often chanting or shouting, while in the middle of a pandemic that required people to stay apart and cover their mouths.
• 
  2021-04-26

  Image Submission for LE Collection Call

  [1] This copyright-free image, courtesy of pexels.com, shows Corporal S. Brantley from the Wheeling (West Virginia) Police Department monitoring a protest. [2] This copyright-free image, courtesy of pexels.com, shows officers from the New York City Police Department, some of whom wear COVID face masks, beneath scaffolding on a sidewalk.
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  2021-04-23

  The Effects of Covid-19 Through the Eyes of a Pre-Med Undergraduate Student

  My reflection is to bring awareness of the increasing divide of our country through the impact of a pandemic . This is important to me because I believe that it affects the way we approach and solve global issues. My hope is that this reflection will give insight of the major issues that have occurred throughout this pandemic, and inspire those in the future to create possible solutions.
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  2021-04-23

  Bored People Care More

  The pandemic created a rift among people. Everyone’s lives were up hauled and not many people found themselves living the life they didn’t think they were going to live. People have been getting sick, people have been dying, and the negativity this plague has brought has only multiplied in society. I believe one of the main issues for the negativity, hate, and chaos we’ve seen in the country this past year is because people are bored. Not just bored and wondering what to do this afternoon during the plague, but the kind of bored that results when that thought repeats itself every day for months on end. And with nothing better to do, and no hope to be found, people start to look for something believe in. Everyone has become more hard-set on their beliefs, and voices have gotten exponentially louder. Left-leaning people find community in the fight for justice and equality. The protests and rallies have been bigger. Without much else in life going on to care about, people can care more about the overall issues they believe matter. Right-wingers found themselves deep in the fan club of President Trump. Their voices got louder, more arguments and fights began to break out among people. The election was a bigger deal with a bigger turn out than the nation has ever seen. The country felt very divided, yet at the same time, people were coming together more than we’ve ever seen. With the pandemic came a wave of loneliness among many people, attributing to why so many have so comfortable found their place in the political group they believe in. It’s a community in public life when there’s no public life to really find a community in during a pandemic. The issues of gender, race and power have all been largely argued over as a result of this newfound divide. Overall, I believe the country can be better off now that the pandemic has focused people on such societal issues, as getting people to care and getting people to make a stand is the way to make change happen. And then on the religious side of things, many religions have found a deeper sense of community as people come together in hopes of connecting and caring throughout the plague. These voices prove to be heard, too, usually coming from the right-wing side of the divide, complicating the progressive movements that left-wingers campaign for, movements which ordinarily would be understood as in accordance with the faith and ideals of many religions. 
 This results in a lot of complicatedness, arguments among people, and chaos in the country. It’s a difficult time, but it’s a time of growth for everyone. For everyone in the public sphere to figure out what they believe in, and hear the voices of others. After the pandemic is over, and many people have gone back to caring about other things in life, maybe people will evolve their ideals with an open mind and open the nation to more active discourse and change going forward.
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  2021-03-29

  Street Art Destroy Racism – Collection of anti-racist art

  Racism is a virus, a sickness we need to fight and eradicate together! ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻 I will never understand, but I stand with you. This portrait is based on a powerful photo by @futurehackney taken during the Black Lives Matter protests in London. This mural will definitely stay for a while – a reminder that inequalities and injustices happen every day, tearing countless lives and families apart, and that the fight against racism and discriminations can never stop.⁣ ⁣⁣
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  2021-03

  How to Survive a Plague with a Disability

  As I’m writing this, it is March 2021 and it’s been a year since I’ve updated this blog. Although I don’t only write about travel here, it’s been depressing to look back on my past trips and have to wonder when I could be in the world again. But I’ve been far from silent during this time. You can read many of my reflections on the pandemic and other topics over at The Mighty, where I have been an editor for the past five years. One year ago, when the pandemic was just beginning in the United States, one of my good friends posted a social media message about supporting each other during what most people thought would be a strange, scary, but ultimately short period of our lives. Part of it went something like this: My mask protects you. Your mask protects me. It’s a nice sentiment. Wearing a few layers of cloth over your face may not help you much, but it helps to prevent other people from getting sick. It’s a kind, visible act we can all do to show we care during a difficult time, to protect others who are at risk even if we may think we would not become seriously ill. It seems so simple, right? How could people not do this? But we all know what happened. “My mask protects you. Your mask protects me,” only works if the other person values your life enough to consider it worth protecting. I’ve been horrified by the number of government officials and online commenters who have viewed the deaths of elderly and disabled people as “acceptable losses” in exchange for keeping non-essential gathering spaces open. My life, and the lives of people with high-risk conditions, are more important than your trip to Disneyland. Don’t you think we want to go to Disneyland too? I’ve also noticed that able-bodied people often assume disabled people will be provided for in emergencies, and in general. They believe there are a lot of government programs and charities to help us, and that such programs are run well and meet our needs. This widespread — but utterly false — belief in a functioning safety net for “the vulnerable” gives people an excuse to behave selfishly while convincing themselves they’re not doing anything wrong. “Of course, there will be a plan to protect nursing home residents, and immune-suppressed people can stay home, so we can throw parties and go without masks if we don’t like them.” In reality, the needs of people with disabilities are often disregarded, misunderstood, ignored, and even actively opposed. We have to fight for access to everything, and sometimes end up on multi-year waiting lists for housing assistance, in-home care, and other essential programs and services. We must battle with government and private insurance to get the mobility equipment we need. We are GPS tracked like criminals if we need personal care assistants, with “fraud prevention” used as an excuse. We often depend on programs with ridiculously complicated requirements, and one missed deadline, one paperwork error, one month where we made “too much money” can cost us everything.
• 
  2021-04-17

  Police disperse protesters, corral and photograph media

  Protests continued Friday night in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright last week. While protesters were dispersed, Minnesota State Troopers corralled media members and photographed their faces and identification.
• 
  2021

  Policing Isn't Broken — It Was Designed This Way

  Our policing institutions were designed to exert control over Black people. We need to limit the role, responsibilities, power, and funding of police so interactions that lead to the death of Black people don't happen in the first place.
• 
  2021

  Rep. Demings on exchange: Let's stop playing these political games

  Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., discusses an exchange at Tuesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing on a hate crimes bill with Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
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  2021-04-20

  George Floyd's family reacts to guilty verdict

  Hugs, tears and screams -- watch the moment George Floyd's family got justice for their loved one. Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts and could be sent to prison for decades.
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  2021-04-20

  Biden and Harris speak after Chauvin verdict

  President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris speak after a jury found Derek Chauvin guilty of all charges in the murder of George Floyd. "A Measure of Justice is not the same as Equal Justice" President Biden and Madam Vice President Harris talk about social justice, racism, history, and plans moving forward.
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  2021-04-20

  Congressional Black Caucus Reacts To Chauvin Guilty Verdict | NBC News NOW

  Members of the Congressional Black Caucus gathered to watch the reading of the verdict in Derek Chauvin’s trial.
• 
  2021-04

  Pandemic Street Art: Lauren YS/squidlicker and #stopaapihate

  Los Angeles-based artist Lauren YS, aka squid.licker, is well known world-wide for their mural street art. During the pandemic, they put up a mural at 1700 Naud Street in Los Angeles that reads, "Stop Asian Hate Crimes" and "Protect Our Elders." Also shown are "Stop Asian Hate" posters, with proceeds going to @stopasianhate and @squidtropica.
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  2021-04-18

  Maxine Waters urges Minnesota BLM protesters to ‘get confrontational

  MAXINE Waters has urged an anti-police Black Lives Matter mob in Minnesota to “stay on the street” if Chauvin is acquitted in the George Floyd case. The California Democratic congresswoman also told the protesters in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, “we’ve got to get more confrontational”.
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  2021-04-21

  Derek Chauvin guilty in death of George Floyd

  The jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of all three charges in the murder of George Floyd. Crowds outside the Minneapolis courtroom and at the location where Floyd was killed chanted "justice" and "Black lives matter" after hearing the verdict.
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  2021-04-21

  COVID-19, Religion, and Public Life Reflection

  Throughout this past year, COVID-19 has affected each and every person, whether emotionally or physically, but I believe that it also has taught us so much about ourselves and allowed us to empathize with those around us who may be struggling in similar ways. The object I submitted is a photograph of my best friend and myself at a Black Lives Matter protest in Downtown Phoenix on June 3rd, 2020. As the pandemic has forced us to remain at home, it has given me the time to not only focus on personal growth, but also learn more about groups of people that are being oppressed around the world. I have become a more active member in society this past year listening to Black voices by furthering my knowledge on the discriminations they continue to face, and how their experiences of COVID-19 are different from white Americans. This has really opened my eyes to see how many different races are being oppressed, either by being blamed for the occurrence of the pandemic, or by how decisions are made surrounding who deserves priority treatment over another patient on the bias of race, ethnicity, or wealth status. I am grateful to have learned so much about these topics and for being able to attend numerous Black Lives Matter protests, and wish to continue to stand up for what I believe in as an active member in my community. Throughout the pandemic, I believe that relationships within religious communities have strengthened because individuals are looking for even more hope that their loved ones will survive and that everything will be over soon. Religion has played an important role in helping many throughout this difficult time by letting people know they are not alone and have an entire community to support them. Upon working hard to become the best version of myself and really see the world in a more positive manner, I have learned so much about the need for spreading positive energy and support especially to those whose voices were particularly oppressed during this time, or to those who were directly affected by COVID-19. In the midst of this, we must look past our differences and help each other out, because violence and disagreement will not further our progress.