Items

• 
  2021-08-15

  Pandemics, Wildfires, and Climate Change

  The Covid 19 Pandemic is and was a transformative event representing history in the making. The state of Oregon and particularly Portland witnessed a trifecta of converging crises beginning with the lockdown on St. Patrick’s Day in 2020. That summer was one of the hottest in recorded history and saw the city and state divided in smoke-filled chaos. The literal last words of “I can’t breathe” uttered by George Floyd were being chanted in the streets downtown as wildfires raged in all corners of the state, set against the backdrop of a global pandemic. Everything felt surreal and the tension in the city was like a powder keg. By the following summer some advancements had been made, the first round of vaccinations administered, but the same underlying issues were present in Portland. Houselessness, fractured political ideologies, and Far-Right and Far-Left members clashing in an invisible maelstrom on the Willamette River. My husband and I had adhered to the very stringent guidelines and protocol set by both the city and state to the letter. For a bit of context, my husband worked on the front line as a department manager at a grocery store and wore a mask for eleven hours at a time often six days a week for a year and a half, while I volunteered at the Red Cross and held down the home front. In August of 2021, we finally decided that we needed to get out of town, so we grabbed the dog and set a course for the Crooked River in Central Oregon. It was a two-week period of sheer peace and glory bookended by fear and anger at the negligence of fellow humans. We camped on the river and practiced mindfulness and being present every day, breathing deeply the fresh air ushered in by a strong breeze from the East. The “going there” and “going home” portions were marred by anti-mask protestors with weapons arguing about state’s rights, as death toll numbers were rising. The fires had already burned over a million acres with no signs of slowing down, and the reality of Portland’s social justice issues did not disappear just because we did. The experience left us feeling gratitude for the opportunity to explore, our good health, and open minds, it was our 18th wedding anniversary, in which porcelain is traditionally given as a gift. Ironic, given the fact that not only is porcelain extraordinarily beautiful but also incredibly delicate, a perfect representation of the state of things during the summer of 2021.
• 
  2020-06-22

  Outside on the streets of Staten Island and Brooklyn

  These photos depict some of the events and activities I was part of during the summer of 2020. I marched to protest the killings of innocent black men by police, I attended a street festival held in honor of Eric Garner (on the anniversary of his death), I worked at a Brooklyn Greenmarket doing "covid support" (a very stressful job), and I visited the peaceful grounds of Snug Harbor, wearing my favorite polka-dot mask made by a friend.
• 
  September 2, 2020

  BLM

  BLM
• 
  July 12, 2020

  Arch of Washington Square park during BLM demonstration

  Screenshot of washington Square park arch before a BLM demonstration from the CSI Public History Coronavirus Chronicle Facebook page
• 
  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.
• 
  2022-04-29

  Pelosi endorses strategy to combine Ukraine, COVID aid

  This is a news story from The Hill by Mike Lillis. This is about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi combining COVID aid with Ukraine aid into one package. This strategy is intended to help Congress pass the spending needed for Ukraine for the war. Currently, the CDC has said that overall need for aid has diminished as cases keep going down, with more guidelines being removed. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the prospect that combining the two bills could delay them both is “a real consideration” that will likely influence the ultimate strategy.
• 
  2020-04-06

  2020 is One for the Books

  This collage represents the main events going on in our lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. Like one of my pictures says "2020 A Year Like No Other." I wanted to represent the election of Trump vs. Biden because it will more than likely go down as one of the largest and craziest elections in history. It divided the country like no other and is still an ongoing battle of Republicans vs. Democrats. I wanted to show the black square and the protests for George Floyd along with The Black Lives Matter movement. I added the air pollution of Los Angeles before the pandemic vs during. With everyone staying inside and not driving around, air quality improved tremendously. We gave the Earth a minute to breathe and heal. A quick photo to shoutout the flight attendants who have had to deal with some craziness on board for the last couple years. It has not been easy, and everyone needed a vacation after 2020. The media has been a huge factor and enemy for this pandemic. I wanted to show an illustration towards facts and fake news. A huge debate on that especially with my final photo of the protests on the vaccine mandates. The world is divided more than ever and hopefully one day we can reunite we can reunite and look back on this pandemic and remember to love each other and this planet. There were many lives lost to Covid, to suicide, and addiction. Rest in peace to everyone who didn't make it and my prayers with the families who lost someone.
• 
  2022-04-27

  Minorities & Covid-19

  This text is about the BLM movement & how I believe Covid-19 aided the movement.
• 
  2022-04-11

  Fundraising for Ukraine

  This is an Instagram post by maniteeshirts. This post is about people fundraising for Ukraine since they have been hit hard by the Russian invasion. Noticeably, all of the people posted in this picture are all wearing masks. This picture helps show that where some places might not require masks, some people are still wearing them. Due to not being given a location, I am not sure on the status on masks where this was posted. Since everyone is wearing them though, I am at least guessing it is a store that requires masks to enter.
• 
  2022-04-11

  Custom Black Lives Matter Masks

  This is an Instagram post by shopdashofk. This is a post on custom masks with the words "Black Lives Matter" and "I Can't Breathe" written on them. These masks are meant to send a message on racial disparities between Black people and those of other races. Writing messages on masks has been a trend across all political spectrums, with some choosing different slogans or symbols to use, in order to send messages much like the masks featured here. This evokes some of the larger culture surrounding mask wearing in general, where they have been used much like graphic t-shirts to say messages people want heard. It is a new social phenomenon that has come with the pandemic, and it is still popular among some people.
• 
  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.
• 
  2022-04-01

  NYC judge nixes mask mandates for toddlers, Eric Adams plans to appeal

  This is a story by Bernadette Hogan, Cayla Bamberger, Nolan Hicks and Natalie O'Neill for the New York Post. This story is about masking for young kids and the struggle within the local government on what is best to do. A Staten Island judge ruled against masks for toddlers in New York City. Parents in support of this claim that this is a good thing because masks could make it harder for kids to socialize and read emotions. Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, plans to appeal this to reinstate masks, where he believes that if you don't know the vaccination status of everyone in a room that you should wear a mask.
• 
  2022-04-03

  The can-do vaccine spirit must be applied to refugees

  This is a news story written by The Sunday Times (cannot find author). The Sunday Times is a British paper and this is detailing the contrast between the generosity of the British citizens towards Ukrainian refugees, but the lack of care from the British federal government. It says that over 200,000 people and organizations have registered to sponsor refugees in the Homes for Ukraine scheme. The overall story is not about the vaccines themselves, but the author is wishing for the can-do attitude of distributing vaccines in the UK to be applied to the refugees. Of the visas applied by refugees, for families, 32,300 applied for a scholarship, but only 4,700 were issued. I think that during the pandemic, the author that wrote this got more used to the government being lenient in helping, but now when faced with a refugee crisis, lacks that same helpful spirit.
• 
  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.
• 
  2022-03-26

  Coping with the Pandemic--A Personal Look at Mental Health and COVID-19

  According to the Center of Disease Control, in June of 2022, US adults reported considerably elevated adverse mental health conditions associated with COVID-19. Out of a survey they did on 5,412 people, 40.9 percent of respondents reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health conditions, including symptoms of anxiety and depressive disorder which were around 31 percent. One of the causes of this is due to increase sedentary behaviors and low levels of physical activity due to quarantines and lack of business operation. Over the past two years, government mandated quarantine, work from home, and online schooling has caused me to stay at home for longer periods of time than what I use to. Because of this sedentary behavior, I had dealt with the negative effects of isolation, stress, and anxiety on both my mental and physical health. According to the World Health Organization, 150 minutes of moderate exercise or physical activity is usually recommended per week, however, with working a full-time job and being in school, the question that remains is how that is possible? I have learned to accommodate these physical needs indoors, by taking active breaks during the day and exercising at home. While this does not necessarily help with isolation and loneliness sometimes, I have learned to take these matters one day at a time and not shun myself for feelings them. CDC argues that from a recent comprehensive review that the impact of COVID-19 on mental health particularly seems to affect more young women disproportionally than any other group. Therefore, I recommend any young adult or women facing severe mental health to take advantage of online support or mental health services through telehealth such as ZocDoc. It is important to highlight COVID-19's impact on mental health in the United States and my personal life because it shows how the pandemic changed the means and the ways we received mental health services in the past. As the pandemic ventures on, people like myself will continue to have to find ways to cope and receive services for our problems. Thanks to the pandemic, much of our mental health problems have come more to the forefront due to us having ample amounts of time now to navigate and deal these issues unlike never before.
• 
  2022-03-26

  Locked In and Locked Down: Surviving COVID-19 in FCI Edgefield BOP

  The COVID-19 crisis has impacted mass incarcerated facilities at an exceeding rate, exacerbating existing staffing shortage and leaving those housed in large numbers increasingly vulnerable to COVID-19. The Federal Correctional Institution in Edgefield, South Carolina is no exception to this hardship. FCI Edgefield has be forced to expand its use of a practice called "augmentation" or allowing those in non-correctional roles at the prison to work in correctional officer roles. This is because staff members are getting sick an exceedingly high rate, causing some staff to have quarantine for several days while others have chosen to retire early out of the fear of high exposure and incentives losing way due to the crisis. Since the pandemic has taken off, only a small number of inmates have died from COVID-19, about 50 in total. Yet, due to less experienced staff on site due to shortages, one inmate died due to undermined symptoms on January 27, 2021. Overall, stories like these are important because they show how state officials, lawmakers, and policymakers have made little strides in reducing and slowing down the spread of the coronavirus in state and national prison systems. People like my mother, who works at FCI Edgefield, have preexisting medical conditions that put them at a heightened risk for complications if they were to catch COVID-19. Thus, we should make aware that these state officials have waited too long to make strides towards reducing the prison population, routinely rotating staff, and increasing social distance measures in the jail populations. As the pandemic wears on, much is still needed to be done in prioritizing staff and prison populations for vaccination matters. While this idea has generated some wide societal debate, I find it hard to argue that people who work and live in correctional facilities are at a major disadvantage in this crisis. Therefore, it is only fair to consider these high-risk groups first when prioritizing phases and measures of the vaccines and health and well-being.
• 
  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.
• 2020-09-01

  Seattle's 2020 summer, school, and kids

  At the end of 2020, I was completing my student teaching online for my BA in Secondary Education. I was placed in a school in Seattle. Student teaching during this time is something that was incredibly difficult. Looking at faces through blurry webcams, and seeing the black tiles in zoom from students who wouldn't or couldn't turn on cameras. I will never know what a lot of the students looked like, or what their voices sounded like, but getting to read their work, and see their messages in emails and chats is something that I will always remember and will always hold a place in my heart. The 12-14-year-olds I was teaching had just been the last 3 1/2 months watching the BLM protests and marches in their city take place. A few students told us that they lived just streets away from the main events. Some students had been active in the BLM marches and protests that had taken place during the summer before, some stayed at home and watched on social media live streams and the news, some had parents who were heavily involved. They watched their friends, their family, their community, and strangers get tear-gassed, hit with "blast balls", and be subject to other physical violence. The levels at which they understood the what and why varied. Some had such an amazing level of nuance that some adults I knew couldn't comprehend. Others had an extremely base understanding of why people were protesting and marching. But all understood that it was a monumental event and would be something remembered in history. These children were scared, concerned, confused for a variety of reasons. Yet, overwhelmingly there was a sense of urgency for justice from these kids. My lead teacher and I knew that we had to pivot lessons in order to keep them engaged and meet their needs. Focusing on how the concepts they needed to learn could be applied to material that would interest them, and using homeroom activities to try to calm nerves, create a sense of community and answer questions about everything from Covid, to the protests, to the current election. They wanted to write and read about what was important to them, what they saw around them, and they wanted to read about different perspectives and lives from their own. We honored that. For the final writing assignment of the semester, we gave them some guidelines and standards that needed to be met within their writing, but gave them some freedom on how they wanted to meet those standards. I won't get into the specifics of the assignment, but I will say it worked well and was adapted to best serve students at all levels, and those with IEP/504 plans. We were met with everything from songs and poetry, letters to the mayor and the governor, essays about our anchor text, to reports about youth activists that they researched. I don't think the impact of the events of summer 2020 in Seattle on children is thought about. The events that a child experiences and is around affects them for the rest of their lives. Most don't have the skills yet to emotionally process fully what they see. Their thinking didn't stop when the marches and protests did, they wanted to learn and talk about it in order to process. The compounding factors of the summer and prior to that Seattle was essentially ground zero for Covid in the U.S. left most kids spinning. School became a safe place for a lot of these kids, and I hope that it has continued to be one.
• 
  2020-06-03

  Protests During COVID

  A few months into the quarantining period, protests for the Black Lives Matter movement began all across America in response to the recent unjust violence against African Americans. From my apartment balcony I was able to see the protests in action as they went through my neighborhood, capturing a moment that I thought would be relevant in history for years to come.
• 
  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.
• 
  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
• 
  2020-06-30

  What Might the Artworld’s ‘New Normal’ Look Like?

  The ArtReview article comments on the new normal and the possible dangerous path we are propelling towards as a society with accelerated speed. The article specifically discusses the use and imminent fears on future reliance of technology in the art sector. Looking on the positive side, social justice and pressure from activism groups and the Black Lives Matter movement have spurred the beginning of greater reform within the art world including decolonization efforts in museums, diversity in collections, exhibitions, and staff.
• 
  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.
• 
  2020-05-31

  I Can't Breathe

  We marched up 4 miles of downtown Greenville chanting his name throughout the streets. I remember feeling like his name was a battle cry. I call to action. And a call for us to rise up and understand the true meaning of reason of why we choose to gather here today. George Floyd. His life was was tragically taken but his legacy was lovingly memorialize. It was beautiful to see and take part of historical moment like that. A moment of where a marginalized individual was taken out of the gaps and silences of history and placed right front and center within our cultural and society.
• 
  2020-06-03

  Take the Pledge

  I regrets speaker's name but remember the impact of her words at the Black Lives Matter protest held in Anderson, South Carolina. This speaker talked about the importance of peace and understanding when joining arms with brethren and allies during pivotal times. I remember her walking off the platform and wishing I could her more. Overall, her speech was fierce, firm, and empathetic to us and the cause. Her call to action by asking the audience to take a pledge embodies to true spirit and essence of Black Lives Matter protest.
• 
  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.
• 
  2021-10-03

  A Century Later

  A look at a global pandemic from a 21st century American point of view, nearly a decade after the last pandemic of the world.
• 
  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.
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  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.
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  2020-03-24

  Disabled People React to Coronavirus Work From Home Accommodations

  Individuals with disabilities have fought for accommodations to work from home for years. The pandemic has seen the development of widespread teleworking, with employers now providing accommodations for their workers to work at home. This situation is bittersweet for disabled individuals, who have experienced job loss and job frustration because of the lack of accommodations they faced in pre-pandemic times. It is hoped that now that employers are providing alternative work options including working at home they will continue this trend post-pandemic and provide more job opportunities and job growth for disabled individuals who require work-at-home options.
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  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.
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  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.
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  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.
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  2021-07-02

  HERMIT HERALD,ISSUE 119

  Intro Dr. Shelby Steele
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  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.
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  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.
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  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.
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  2021-05-18

  A COVID 19 Reflection

  Observations and lessons learned and learning during this Pandemic.
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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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  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.