Collected Item: “Tammi Coles Oral History, 2021/03/15”
Title
Interview with Tammi Coles
Who conducted the interview? List all names, separated by comma.
Kit Heintzman
Who was interviewed? List all names, separated by commas.
Tammi Coles
Email Address(es) for all interviewers. Separated by comma.
kheintzman@gmail.com
Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your oral history. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?
#6Jan2021, #AfricanAmerican, #AngelaMerkel, #asthma, #Berlin, #biphobia, #bisexual, #Black, #BLM, #GeorgeFloyd, #Germany, #homophobia, #hygiene, #immigrant, #masks, #queer, #online, #partnership, #podcast, #polyamory, #race, #racism, #vaccine, #whiteness
What is the format of your recording?
Video
In what ZIP code is the primary residence of the interviewee? (enter 5-digit ZIP code; for example, 00544 or 94305)? In what city/town/village does the interviewee live? In what country does the interviewee live? All comma-separated.
Berlin, Germany
What is the gender of the interviewee? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their gender in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a gender identity to interviewees.*
Cis female. She/her.
What is the age of the interviewee?
45 to 54
How does the interviewee describe their race or ethnicity? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their race/ethnicity in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a racial or ethnic identity to interviewees.*
black
Describe the oral history.
Self-description: “My name is Tammi. I am a US citizen, and I have been living in Berlin, Germany since 2006. I am an immigrant and that definitely shapes my experience these days. I arrived when I was in my late-30s…, now I’m in my 50s. I’m African American. I am bisexual queer. I am polyamorous. Twice married. Twice divorced. Living with my cis white German partner, straight boy, who I met here in Germany. I guess now it’s been about 4 or 5 years. I’m living here with him, I think that will also inform some of the things I have to say about my experience under COVID.”
Some of the things we spoke about included:
For profit healthcare and predatory insurance
Different personal experiences of access to healthcare in the USA, Germany, and England
Being an American immigrant in Germany, financial precarity
Multilingual dating and making friends as an immigrant
Lockdown as a social butterfly
COVID denialism in the USA and Germany
Being asthmatic
First hearing about the pandemic through a podcast. [Tammi later confirmed that the podcast was “More or Less: Behind the Stats” podcast, episode "Coronavirus, emotions and guns." Tammi first listened to it 3 February 2020 on the recommendation of a friend. Personal correspondence 17 December 2021.]
Early safety precautions and negotiating those with a less concerned partner: wearing gloves, isolating, staying away from strangers
Watching the events of USA in from Germany and Angela Merkel’s handling of the pandemic
Black Lives Matter; How hard it was to have good, kind, well intentioned white people asking “How are you?”; how COVID actually acted as a social buffer from these conversations
The 6 January insurrection
Apps and other digital tools used in adapting to pandemic life
Pandemic hygiene
Excitement about the vaccine
Homophobia and biphobia in the family
Racism and resistance in the 1970s, familial experiences
Moving a book club online and changes in accessibility
The importance of the experiences of everyday people
Other cultural references: Aunt Jemima Pancake Syrup, Washington Redskins, Zoom, George Floyd, Netflix, Habitica, FocusMate, Tamagotchi, Body Doubling Technique, Gettysburg, More or Less: Behind the Stats podcast
Some of the things we spoke about included:
For profit healthcare and predatory insurance
Different personal experiences of access to healthcare in the USA, Germany, and England
Being an American immigrant in Germany, financial precarity
Multilingual dating and making friends as an immigrant
Lockdown as a social butterfly
COVID denialism in the USA and Germany
Being asthmatic
First hearing about the pandemic through a podcast. [Tammi later confirmed that the podcast was “More or Less: Behind the Stats” podcast, episode "Coronavirus, emotions and guns." Tammi first listened to it 3 February 2020 on the recommendation of a friend. Personal correspondence 17 December 2021.]
Early safety precautions and negotiating those with a less concerned partner: wearing gloves, isolating, staying away from strangers
Watching the events of USA in from Germany and Angela Merkel’s handling of the pandemic
Black Lives Matter; How hard it was to have good, kind, well intentioned white people asking “How are you?”; how COVID actually acted as a social buffer from these conversations
The 6 January insurrection
Apps and other digital tools used in adapting to pandemic life
Pandemic hygiene
Excitement about the vaccine
Homophobia and biphobia in the family
Racism and resistance in the 1970s, familial experiences
Moving a book club online and changes in accessibility
The importance of the experiences of everyday people
Other cultural references: Aunt Jemima Pancake Syrup, Washington Redskins, Zoom, George Floyd, Netflix, Habitica, FocusMate, Tamagotchi, Body Doubling Technique, Gettysburg, More or Less: Behind the Stats podcast
On what date did you record this oral history?
2021-03-15T20:05