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New York City
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2020-03
Covid Time: Letters from Brooklyn March-May 2020.
These are weekly emails I wrote to my brother Gil in Brewer, Maine and sister Barbara in Naperville, IL during the height of the 2020 pandemic lockdown, to describe to them our experiences. I am also enclosing a photo of my daughter, Olivia -- a screenshot from a Good Morning America broadcast showing her wheeling a patient into the emergency department at Maimonides Hospital. -
2020-10-20
How covid affected NYC?
Covid has affected everyone by the way you live your everyday life. Covid has affected New york city in many different ways , For example covid affected business to close down months including schools . Schools having to go remote . Another way New york city has been affected by the transit , The transit systems like the trains ,buses and commuter rail and ferries as a result to this the transportation has plummeted . For the subways in New York City it went down 90 percent and the buses went down 75 percent. The reason for this happening is people in quarantine and not going to work since some are working from home . Covid has affected health care workers. For example health care workers like doctors and nurses are around people who have it so they are more prone to get it. .This pandemic caused a lot of changes in the world. It caused everyone to be less social and not go out as much as it caused us to wear masks everywhere. It also caused a lot of people mental and emotional health to go down. For example there’s been a lot of social isolation which caused families to not be able to see each other as often. COVID-19 has impacted social mobility on child care cost and for families school dropout rate has increased due to fear of getting Covid. COVID-19 especially affected families due to not having jobs or working from home or being put on unemployment there’s been a big impact of Covid on families and family relationships creating a lot of tension and feeling depressed or not being united together. These pandemic parts of the population in different situations continue to affect people living in poverty situations with older people and disabilities. A lot of people have been put on unemployment and not being able to pay the rent. Covid has caused a lot of deaths and people could not be able to bury their loved ones. During The beginning of the year when the Pandemic was occurring depending on the situation of others some people were probably affected mentally Health care was provided to those who really needed it due to people not being able to pay for it and The state of new york lost money as well , It affected relationships and people got help by going therapy and staying connected to people . This pandemic affected many people personally. Covid has affected everyone's plan including travel because there's been travel bans and going to the airport has a lot of restrictions. A Lot of businesses are closing down to this pandemic by not giving income . Due to health care a lot of pregnant women had very high dress levels that affected their pregnancy . Which caused health care workers to be very aware of what was going on . Their risking their own lives to help us and young teens and kids were not able to fully able to enjoy the success of completing in graduating either high school such as prom or etc.it affected everyone's life and still is . This has caused a lot of stress and tension but has allowed people to be stronger in a sense and to appreciate the little things in life . Covid 19 has caused many hardships including loss of jobs . Some questions that still remain on this subject would be , When are things going back to normal ?, When is the vaccine coming out to prevent this ? When will this end ?. A message of hope i would say is everything will get better with time. The productivity has been slow due to employment going down ,People losing jobs . my personal experience with covid has become a learning experience . For example this pandemic has showed me to not take things for granted . -
2020-03-10
Goodbye Grandma
This text I wrote is in memory of my grandma, and the horrible and traumatic flashbacks of Covid 19. This experience took a huge toll on me and my family. -
2020-03-15
Corona virus 2020
During the beginning of 2020 everything seemed so fine. I was in school had started a new job at a plumbing company, was occasionally going out with my girlfriend. On top of making money, going to school, i was also hitting a gym and was super happy with my progress in every aspect of my life. All of this was good until, news about how a deadly virus was making its way into the United states from china and how bad it was going to be. Like everyone else i was petrified and i thought there's no way china would let a virus escape they're a powerhouse of a nation. But it did, I remember classes were shut down and shortly after my job was shut down as well, everyone, put in unemployment. During this time my parents had closed on a house and we had become homeowners. During quarantine i remember having to go to our new home and fixing it up everyday monday through sunday so while everyone was at home, doing nothing. My uncles, cousins, father and i were masked up just working in our home. But no matter how far apart we were on different floors and different days, we all got sick. We all also quickly recovered. The covid 19 pandemic didnt have a huge impact on me as much as it did for others. I know a lot of people close to me who lost their loved ones during the pandemic and its truly saddening. My progress with my daily life was lost, school that semester felt like a blur everyone was confused and scared, the gyms were closed, my jobs were closed. I remember hating my life at this moment in time because it felt like i wasn't doing anything but fixing our new family home which i wasn't eager to move in to. Once my jobs lifted in the beginning of june, i quickly picked up my tools and went back into work. -
2020-03
Unimaginable Grief
[March 2020] A month in time no one would ever want to go back to. My friend and I were enjoying our day and suddenly got news that campus will be closed until further notice. It was a scary and confusing moment; before you knew it everyone was talking about the virus. We definitely underestimated the virus and saw it spread in the blink of an eye. Slowly but surely we all began to realize how serious this was and prayed day and night for it to end. Cities went on lockdown, thousands became unemployed, and families grieved the loss of loved ones suddenly taken by this evil virus. I am so fortunate enough to have my close family and friends here with me today, but that does not mean these last one and a half years did not take a toll on me mentally. We've lost many loving family friends whom we never expected to lose this early. One thing the pandemic, thankfully, taught me is to appreciate those who you love because you do not know when they can be taken away from you. As hard as this experience was, I am grateful for the ups and downs and pray for the beautiful souls lost. Rest In Peace <3 -
2020-03-12
Living post March 12, 2020
I want to share my feelings and thoughts through text that display what I experienced as a senior in high school during the outbreak of COVID-19. -
2020-10
Liberation School: the Mobilization of Back and Brown Parents, Healers and Educators
Liberation School was a free, virtual online school that offered academic support courses, social-emotional support, healing centered practices, and political education courses to NYC public school families throughout the 2020-21 school year. Created by the NYC Coalition for Educational Justice, the city's largest parent organizing group, Liberation school was designed as a response to the failings of the Department of Education to adequately provide the resources and support needed for marginalized students. While many principals, teachers and school staff put their hearts and souls into supporting NYC children during this global pandemic, it was clear that families could not solely rely on City Hall and the Department of Education to deliver a safe, quality education to children finishing out the 2020 school year and going into the 2020-21 school year. Black and brown students and families in New York City have faced the harshest, most devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and systemic racism. Previous inequities in the school system have revealed themselves and worsened. The Department of Education (DOE) and City Hall did not provide the necessary resources and support for parents and youth navigating remote and blended learning for the first time in a timely fashion or accessible to non-English monolingual families. While many white affluent families were hiring teachers to create learning pods, CEJ designed Liberation School for Black, Brown, Immigrant, and low-income families, who don’t have the financial resources to hire personal teachers or tutors. An important value that shaped the creation of Liberation Schools is the idea of what it truly means to be an ‘inclusive school’. Language Justice is also Educational Justice. CEJ created sessions accessible to the public in multiple languages. Through both multilingual instructors and simultaneous interpretations of English workshops, LS also offered sessions using commonly-used online platforms, outdoor spaces, and live streaming on social media. All courses that were culturally responsive in content and pedagogy and many were conducted in English and Spanish, and some workshops in, Bangla and Mandarin. CEJ was inspired by the tradition of Black Freedom Schools in the 1960s. After Brown v. Board, many schools were still segregated and led to many student movements organizing and fighting for true integration in Northern Cities like Chicago, Boston, and NYC. The first examples of Freedom Schooling were created in the North as an alternative space for students to go to during boycotts in 1963 and 1964. One of most prime examples of Freedom Schooling were the Freedom Schools created by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Mississippi. Freedom Schools provided an educational experience for young Black Mississippians to challenge the myths of society, find alternatives to the segregated and racist white supremacists society, to understand the conditions of their oppression, and to create directions for actions in the name of Freedom. There were three general areas for the curriculum of Freedom Schools. One was academic work, which centered around the needs/or interests of the students that incorporated their real life experiences and learning about Black History or understanding the structural institutions. There were also creative activities such as writing, journaling, or arts. The last area was on developing leadership skills and helping students be a part of the change in society. -
2020-05-01
The start of a pandemic that shock the medical field to its core
I have worked as a NYC paramedic for several years before the pandemic Covid-19 hit the world. As a paramedic, we were trained to deal with most situations that would happen on an emergency basis. We dealt with any situation as simple as a cut on the arm, to as complex as running a mega code on a cardiac arrest patient. When Covid-19 hit NYC, I was unaware of how bad it was going to get. At first, we thought it was a virus that was weaker than influenza, which is something we deal with on a regular basis. At this time, we would get one call a day that was related to Covid-19. I thought that everyone was over exaggerating. Over time, Covid-19 patients became more frequent, and in the matter of a month, it was the only type of call we would get. It was as if every other medical problem that people had went away. But this was because everyone that wasn't infected with Covid-19 was too afraid to go to the hospital. In the month of May 2020, things started to take a turn for the worst. People were starting to get critical on each call, where my partner and I would need to resort to extreme measures like endotracheal Intubation to help them breath. Sometimes, even intubation wouldn’t be enough, and the patient would go into cardiac arrest from the lack of oxygen in the body. It was a very difficult time for me because I felt powerless to stop people from dying to his terrible disease. In June 2020, it got so bad that the hospitals did not have capacity to accept anymore patients that came in. People were put in hallways, next to nursing stations, and hospitals had to dedicate entire floors to Covid-19 patients as they came in. Then another problem started to rear its head. My Co-workers and friends started to get sick. Those of us with families had to also make a choice, either quit their job to protect their families or live apart from them until this was all over. We did not have enough EMT’s and Paramedics to staff the ambulances we had running on any given day. Those of us who were not sick picked up anywhere from 60-90 hours a week. This struggle continues now as well. All over the world, there are not enough emergency services personal to cope with the amount of call volume that we are given each day. Over time we got adjusted to the madness and medicine advanced enough to be able to treat patients so that most did not become critical. Also, the vaccine was made available to the public and things started to get better. I shared my story to show a side of the pandemic most don’t get to experience. It shows how unprepared we were, and how we were able to prevail overtime. I will also include a video to show some insight on the pandemic that was taken with one of the companies I work with. -
2020-03-20
The city does sleep
At the start of the pandemic, I was facing home insecurity and was living in a shelter for three months and special housing for 6 months. The city was the most empty I have ever seen it. Ive seen so many people, homeless people, because of the pandemic and it was devastating. It isolated people. -
2021-08-22
What COVID-19 Meant for My Mother: A Latina Small-Business Owner’s Experience in the Bronx.
The item I am submitting is a pandemic auto-ethnography detailing the disproportionately negative impact of COVID-19 on Latinx businesses. I do so through the narrative of my own family's experience, specifically my mother, as well as supporting academic research of general demographic trends. This piece speaks to how the pandemic, while in and of itself does not discriminate, has proportions of its impact that demonstrate a systemic bias leaving certain racial and ethnic groups less protected and far more targeted than others. The piece also connects how these discrepancies are not products of the pandemic, but rather were already systemically there and exacerbated by the pandemic. -
2021-03-26
Choosing between Work and Health
This short piece shares the struggles and experiences of choosing between working as an essential worker and worrying about my family's health during the peak of the pandemic. -
2021-02-19
Looking back at 2020 - A COVID 19 infested year
As a student in my last semester in Brooklyn college, I was looking forward to an easy semester with electives since I was done with all of my major classes. However, a downfall for me was that there was a very interesting internship which I wanted to proceed with but couldn’t because the program was no longer available because of budget issues that were caused by the coronavirus. This internship was going to provide me with an insight of what my career will look like but that never happened. As an employee of the city of New York, I was still required to work in some form. For example, instead of coming to work physically we transformed our workplace to “zoom” meeting where our work would be done in 2-4 hours and we would still get paid for 8 hours. I saw this as an opportunity to take advantage of since I heard other employees who requested to still show up physically and were dropping like flies with the corona virus, one after another. However, mid-year, around June or July, employees were required to help out in other agencies such as the 311 center because of the increase of food shortages and other aid citizens needed. Eventually, in September we were allowed to go back to work physically – something I was looking forward to since I was more comfortable being where I knew the place and the people. Mentally and physically, COVID 19 prevented me and many others from staying physically active which led to me gaining unhealthy weight. It was a nonstop binge of eating and just sitting down. Granted, there were opportunities to go out for a walk or work out in the park – but those were chances that I wasn’t going to take because I knew I have a mother with underlying conditions which I had to do everything to prevent her from getting the virus. One thing that I did learn to do during these times is to cut and trim my own hair. Also, this was a perfect time for me to enhance my skills in freehand sketching since thats something I'm good at. Nevertheless, COVID 19 was an experience like no other that everyone had to grow through, and we continue to just learn and grow from it. -
2020-04-05
New York Through the Pandemic
I am uploading pictures during the pandemic that I took. It shows how empty the streets/bridge were that are normally crowded with thousands of people and cars. -
2020-07
#CancelRent And Eviction Blockades in Brooklyn: Black Queer Women and Femmes Fight for the Right to Housing
Im submitting an auto-ethnogrpahy I completed this summer about the housing movement during covid. -
2020-10-11
The Justice for George Floyd Information Map
As a librarian who works alot with maps, I am very impressed with this site: Justice for George Floyd. This is a way for anyone who wants to protest in the greater NYC area to keep track of upcoming and past events. You can also sign up and add your own events, which will then appear with a description link and an appropriate protesting icon on the map. -
2020-04-01
Surviving the Front-Line of Covid-19
This story is about my experience working in a NYC hospital - being on the front-line as the pandemic hits NYC. It is important for me to tell, so that everyone is aware of how unprepared we were. Had we prepared, we could have saved lives. -
2020-06-01
The Decision and the Opportunity
Months had gone by during the Covid 19 pandemic and for college students like myself, it began to take a toll on me mentally. It wasn't easy to say the least to stay at home and start remote learning. It was even harder being a journalism major and having to cover what was routine press conferences about death and despair ravaging New York City. But as the semester came to an end , frustration began to mount for me as there seemed to be no end to this nightmare. I grew tired of being at home day after day with no option but to stay inside. I saw many of my peers take advantage of the time being in lockdown to make some extra money. That was motivation enough to get against my parents wishes in hopes to get ahead when all this was over. The job was simple -- make grocery deliveries to apartments in the lower east side. The streets were completely empty , something out of a horror film where you’re the last person on earth. The only problem was , my mom was an essential worker and she saw first hand what covid did to people and their loved ones around them. Also my brother being a diabetic meant he was more susceptible to covid which I was putting all that risk knowing I would be out there in the city and unknowingly bringing back covid into my house. It finally came time to tell my family the plan I had and they were not happy to say the least. My mom was furious of the thought that I would go ahead and get a job during a pandemic -- And although he didn't show it , I knew my brother shared the same feelings. But I didn’t let it stop me and the next day , I went to work. On my way there , It was rough seeing the city in the shape that it was. People wearing masks with depression and stress written all over their faces , taking extra precautions every 5 minutes dousing their hands in hand sanitizer . It made me realize that although I would want to be in the best shape possible financially , I realized that my health is way more important and that I let greed control my way of thinking. I had made it to the supermarket and as I approached my supervisor , I told him that I could not put my family at risk for this and that I’m not going to be working. He understood my decision and felt that if I could not do it , then there would be no problem. As I got home , I apologized to my family for potentially putting their health at risk. This pandemic has taught me patience to say the least , there are more important things at the moment than money and sometimes things must take a backseat in order to fully flourish in the future. -
2020-09-27
Growing Up
Hello! I am a 20 year old college student who has been afraid to face the responsibilities the world has for me. I always thought "I'm not ready for responsibility. I can barely take care of myself." Due to this, I always procrastinated on real life tasks outside of school, and depended on my parent. However, COVID-19 came and changed my reality. Everything went remote, and my parent was left facing unemployment. My sick grandmother could no longer get the care she needed, and there was no family member nearby that could help with her wellbeing. It became chaotic. At that very moment, I realized it no longer mattered how I felt about being ready for responsibilities. Majority of people were not "ready", but it became demanded of them to do what they needed to do. Ready or not, I needed to do what I needed to do. After being with myself in silence and calming my nerves, I realized that there were people who needed me to be there to help them, people that I love and care about. I was scared at first to take on such a big burden. I'm a full time student taking more credits than normal, I took up a full time job in order to make sure I took care of my parent, my grandmother, and myself, and I also needed to move out of the home I grew up into a whole other town in order to take care of my grandmother. In all honesty, I was scared. Here I am a young adult, who has not had major responsibilities, being brought into a situation where others depend on me to take charge essentially. This is all taking place in the middle of a pandemic, so it is vital that I am extra cautious, especially living with someone immunocompromised. Despite the uncertainties of what is to come each day, I have learned about myself and what I am actually capable of. Although COVID has brought about countless tragedies, some of which I've experienced, it has allow me to become a stronger, more dependable person for others who will later need me to aid them in any circumstances. It is still a learning process. -
2020-03-17
2020 Pandemic
I was exposed to the Coronavirus almost immediately after the initial outbreak. I was already feeling sick in the middle of March. I felt a constant throbbing in my throat, sometimes I would wake up to a burning feeling in my lungs and felt pressure as though someone was standing on top of my chest. The first two weeks straight, I went from freezing cold to burning hot every few minutes, accompanied by a constant throbbing headache. The most menial of tasks would cause shortness of breath and my heart to pump excessively. I honestly felt I was going to die. After about a month, my breathing became less labored. In three months, I felt I recovered enough to start exercising again. By exercise, I mean the ability to walk a few blocks without having the wind knocked out of me. I began checking in with my family and found out that I had lost over 30 family members in Ecuador. I also lost a coworker, who was one of the kindest people you could meet and who was loved by her students. The amount of horrible and depressing individual stories of my family dying are too much to repeat, so I will say if there was ever a living nightmare, it was experienced by them. If I could describe what living through hell is like, I would say that it is the last six months of my life. Americans, as a whole, could have done better. To the people who have pretended that nothing is wrong, you deserve everything that is coming to you and I have absolutely no pity. -
2020-06-08
Life during Covid 19
During this pandemic my life personally has taken a turn, with my mother being ill with a chronic disease ovarian cancer It was and still very difficult to get through it. I have to be extra careful with going out to places since my mother is a high risk patient. This leaves me with minimal social life which can be depressing because in times like this your friends and close family is your biggest support. This pandemic have impacted many lives, New York a city where there is always a rush and hustle was dimmed down when this pandemic hit which can take a emotional toll on an individual, personally for me since i am an outgoing person It was a difficult adjustment. Furthermore, At some point the same old routine of working remotely and online school can get to you. This pandemic has caused my classes to be fully online which can sometimes be challenging in terms of time management and keeping up with all the work load. Commute has also been rough during this pandemic people are afraid to take the subways making commuting from work an added stress, Overall this pandemic has been a life changing event for many people and I am hoping we soon return to normalcy. -
2020-06-08
Life During Covid 19
During this pandemic my life personally has taken a turn, with my mother being ill with a chronic disease ovarian cancer It was and still very difficult to get through it. I have to be extra careful with going out to places since my mother is a high risk patient. This leaves me with minimal social life which can be depressing because in times like this your friends and close family is your biggest support. This pandemic have impacted many lives, New York a city where there is always a rush and hustle was dimmed down when this pandemic hit which can take a emotional toll on an individual, personally for me since i am an outgoing person It was a difficult adjustment. Furthermore, At some point the same old routine of working remotely and online school can get to you. This pandemic has caused my classes to be fully online which can sometimes be challenging in terms of time management and keeping up with all the work load. Commute has also been rough during this pandemic people are afraid to take the subways making commuting from work an added stress, Overall this pandemic has been a life changing event for many people and I am hoping we soon return to normalcy. -
2020-04
Hope Is All We Have
Similar to many other Americans, the difficult months of March and April provoked a feeling of fear of what is to become when we return to “normalcy” in me. I still remember watching news channels constantly breaking the news of hospitals being overcrowded and insufficient storage of bodies making me terrified. The non-stop sirens were a reminder of the heart-wrenching situation we were living in every moment. I realize that we may never return to normal again. As we slowly return to our respective workplaces and institutions, I expect a more cautious attitude in New Yorkers. Some changes include less crowded trains and buses, fewer social gatherings, and less physical contact. Previously, crowdedness and liveliness were the essence of New York City but I do not expect this to remain to the same extent now. However, one positive change I expect in people is a kinder and compassionate attitude towards one another. These few months of quarantine have taught us to appreciate all that we have more. I expect New York City to develop a greater community outreach with New Yorkers looking out for one another. Having been one of the hardest hit cities in the world, we will evidently have more guidelines and safety precautions in effect once we return which will serve as a reminder of the battle that we have faced. I believe that each life we lose will soften the hearts of New Yorkers and unite us in our strength to overcome. When we look back upon this crisis, we will remember the frustration of being restricted to our homes, the fear of hearing the news of a lost loved one, and the anticipation of the good news of a treatment. -
2020-09-24
Doctor Appointment, COVID- 19, and the MTA
During this Pandemic I have noticed how hard it is to travel in the city. In the beginning my doctor appointments were online and were more uncomfortable than being there in person. Going there in person is even more tricky since they can not let anyone go in to their offices .what is even worse is the traveling to the doctors appointments. I haven't really used the train in such a long time but since my doctors was in Manhattan I had to go on the train. Being in a compact space with people in a not really well ventilated area in a pandemic is not the safest things to do. I feel like COVID has caused me to have new anxiety because I have tried my best to stay away from people. Even before I got on the train my stomach was turning as if I was walking into new territory. I am Brooklyn born and have basically traveled by train everyday and now the idea of going into one was making me feel uneasy. I have also noticed that there were not a lot of people that were scared on the train while I tried to breathe through two masks people were not even wearing them properly . I have noticed that the MTA has put in the new penalty for people that do not wear a mask they will be fined $50, but to be honest it there was a few people in most of the subway stations that I was on with no masks and yet no fines were being placed. Not only was I scared of COVID but there has been a rise of violence in Stations and that scared me even more. Coronavirus has really changed the way that I view traveling when it comes to trains and buses and yet in New York City public transportation is the only way mode of transportation there is to get from one place to another effectively . -
2020-03-14
Time of uncertainty and uncharted territory
March 14. That was the date everything became real. COVID-19 had personally reached my life. My restaurant, my livelihood was gone and I found myself scared for my safety, my well being and I wondered how I was going to survive this pandemic with no income. My family and loved ones were in Los Angeles, CA, my birthplace. They all encouraged me to "come home" but I vowed to stay in New York, the place I had been calling home for the previous three years. Once I received the email from the general manager of my restaurant, I felt as if my world had shattered and I realized New York City was going on lockdown. As one of the most eccentric places to live, we have been hit the hardest by this virus, arguably more than anyone in the world. Six months later, with 200,000 American lives lost and counting we are still in the midst of this global pandemic. There have been moments of fear, unification, division, perseverance, and love among other things. Looking forward, I hope there is a means to this end and as we arrive there we treat each other with the love and respect that we each deserve. -
2020-04
The impact COVID-19 had on my mental and emotional health.
My experience throughout this unexpected pandemic took a toll on my state of mental and emotional health. When I first found out about how quick this virus was spreading throughout our city, schools were still not closed officially and I was still traveling on public transportation to work. When taking public transportation, due to the lack of masks, I had to wear a scarf around my face because that was the only way I could think of protecting myself. I was anxious all the time, but most especially on the train and bus rides, my anxiety would get the best of me, so much that at times I felt like I had to hold my breath so that I can minimize my exposure to contracting this virus. Once things started getting really bad and schools and non essential jobs finally shut down, it was a slight relief. Switching from in person lectures to virtual learning was not as easy as I had thought it would be. I was now not only anxious and worried because of this pandemic and the health of myself and my loved ones but also because I was having a hard time trying to adapt to a different style of learning. I was taking two science courses, both biology and chemistry which were not the easiest topics for me. To prevent us from "cheating" professors had made the exams much harder which was another stressor. Throughout the spring semester I was staying up really late at night trying to study in every way possible so that I would do well on my upcoming exams. Whenever I had the time to sleep I just couldn't because my anxiety wouldn't let me. I would have never imagined this getting so bad, I thought maybe with quarantining we would have it under control but unfortunately this virus is still on going and who knows when we'll get back to what was considered normal. -
2008-07-06
The time was stopping
the time was stopping. the schools, restaurant and government offices or department was closed. Only a few of people were walking on the deserted street. the bustling New York was deserted. Everyone were stay in home, students taking the class from home, the worker doing their job from home. Everyone were keep the distance between each others. The city become tense atmosphere. the covid-19 changed me a lot of from the normal life. i had to wear a face mask to anywhere. Even though, most of the time i just stay at home. The most memorable experience during the covid 19 is my summer time. i was plan many to finish at the summer period, but i suck at home, and doing nothing. Only thing that i did, taking a summer class. I was happy that i can earn class credits. One of important things that i learned from the pandemic. This is put your healthy on the first and cherish every moment. you never know that you will catching or missing. -
2020-03-30
Fighting for Equality during a Pandemic.
Back in March 2020, when we were first placed under quarantine, I was scared. I decided that in order to protect myself and the ones I care about, that it was better to stay home. I got my food delivered, if I had to go out, I made sure that I had my 'N95' mask, face sheild and gloves, took all the necessary precautions. Towards the ended of may, when the police shooting started happening again. I realized that even though we are in a pandemic the world hasn't stopped moving like I had, people were fighting for their brothers, sister, and families lives. They weren't fighting for better health care nor more food. They were risking their lives to protest against police brutality in their communities, and everywhere in the world. For the first time in months, I choose to get up and leave my little street, and join the people who were fighting for Black Lives. I found this so interesting, because no one could have told me that I would be marching through NYC during a pandemic. I wasn't only risking my health by protesting, but also my life. I'd seen the news showing the violent protests, cops body slamming people, tear gas in the air, and most importantly people showing solidarity to fight for what was right. And that when I realized time doesn't stop, because you do.