Collected Item: “Joya Ahmad Oral History, 2021/06/25”
Title
Interview with Joya Ahmad
Who conducted the interview? List all names, separated by comma.
Kit Heintzman
Who was interviewed? List all names, separated by commas.
Joya Ahmad
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?
#2020election, #6Jan2021, #ableism, #activism, #activist, #anxiety, #Bangladesh, #bereavement, #BLM, #BreonnaTaylor, #Brooklyn, #capitalism, #care, #cats, #CDC, #chronicpain, #collectivism, #cruiseship, #Delta, #disabled, #disability, #embodiment, #GeorgeFloyd #guilt, #healthcareworker, #homelessness, #India, #kindness, #marathon, #MCAT, #medstudent, #mentalillness, #morgue, #neuroscience, #NewYork, #panic, #partnership, #patents, #pets, #police, #policebrutality, #PPE, #prideweekend, #prisonabolition, #protest, #publictransit, #onlinelearning, #onlineteaching, #Quakereducation, #race, #racism, #rapeculture, #runner, #sexualassault, #safety, #selfcare, #slampoetry, #streetmedic, #student, #teaching, #therapy, #trauma, #tutoring, #queer, #violence, #volunteer
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.
Brooklyn, NY
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.*
she/her/hers, cisgender woman I suppose? Not sure how much room there is for nuance in this data collection.
What is the age of the interviewee?
25 to 34
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.*
Asian (South Asian/Bangladeshi)
Describe the oral history.
Associated video found in Heintzman's shared drive
Self-description:
“I think the most pandemic relevant thing about me is that I run a national nonprofit called MedSupplyDrive that does PPE donations across the country, as well as doing health equity education for high schoolers. So I’m one of the national logistics directors; I’ve been in that position since April of 2020, though I started working with the organization in March. So, I’ve been in this seat for kind of as long as the US has been experiencing the pandemic. The other hat that I wear that’s been particularly salient is that I’m a medical student, I’m a rising first year, and have been operating in various healthcare roles or healthcare adjacent roles: I was a scribe, I’ve been street medic, I’m a crisis counselor. I spend a lot of time in healthcare space and a lot of time in nonprofit PPE space. ”
Some of the things we discussed included:
The pain, strife, stress of the pandemic, as well as awe at humanity and all that we did right
Healthcare as bureaucratic to its detriment; American healthcare as broken beyond repair; health as a for-profit business
Distrust in the healthcare system as a patient and as a provider, being a queer woman of color receiving healthcare
Working as a medical scribe and volunteering at rape crisis support worker
First hearing about the pandemic through friends in China
Cruise ships as an early indicator of crisis in the USA
The emotional need to help during the pandemic; deciding how to best help
Volunteering in the emergency COVID morgues in March and April; helping find and deliver PPE
Mr. Rogers, a Quaker education, Zakat, and parents as activists and influencing ideas about donation, charity, and service
Having people’s lives depend on you
Tutoring online
Giving up public transit
Moving in with partner during the pandemic in a studio at first, and then moving into a larger apartment
Friendships changing during the pandemic over ideas about safety and care
Comparisons between experiences working as a street medic at protests pre-pandemic and mid-pandemic
Militarization of the police and police brutality
Working in the morgues in trucks
What homelessness looked like during the pandemic with reduced shelter capacities
Losing work during the pandemic
Struggling with self-care, guilt
Being disabled and in community with disabled people and people who are immuno-compromised during the pandemic
CDC guidelines in theory and practice
Pandemic fatigue and watching people move from being quite cautious to less cautious over time; hearts and wallets closing
Universal compassion
Putting down roots
The danger of living in the USA 2016-2020, escalating racist harassment; the attack on the capital
The impact of trauma and anxiety on the experience of the pandemic; fight and flight responses; panic attacks
Rape culture
Saying goodbye to a dying friend
Pride weekend in New York 2021 and concerns about safety
Having friends and family in India and Bangladesh
Vaccine patents
Adopting two cats: Pesto and Gnocchi
Scientific vernacular and exclusion of many people; ivory tower; expertise and ego; poor science communication kills people
Marginalized people showing up over and over again to help not just their own communities, but also people in more privileged positions who haven’t showed up for those more marginalized
Donations; how far money goes in non-profits; money saves lives
Other cultural references: Zoom, Cassandra (the Trojan Princess), 9/11, the History Channel, Sohla El-Waylly, The 2017 Huffington Post article “I don’t know how to explain to you that you should care about other people”, Mr. Rogers, Staples
See also:
https://www.medsupplydrive.org
https://catapult.co/stories/joya-ahmad-an-enzyme-and-a-marathon-gave-me-hope-after-sexual-assault
https://www.medpride.org/meet-financial-affairs
https://fundraisers.hakuapp.com/joya-ahmad
http://www.thelostkeysnyc.com/members
Self-description:
“I think the most pandemic relevant thing about me is that I run a national nonprofit called MedSupplyDrive that does PPE donations across the country, as well as doing health equity education for high schoolers. So I’m one of the national logistics directors; I’ve been in that position since April of 2020, though I started working with the organization in March. So, I’ve been in this seat for kind of as long as the US has been experiencing the pandemic. The other hat that I wear that’s been particularly salient is that I’m a medical student, I’m a rising first year, and have been operating in various healthcare roles or healthcare adjacent roles: I was a scribe, I’ve been street medic, I’m a crisis counselor. I spend a lot of time in healthcare space and a lot of time in nonprofit PPE space. ”
Some of the things we discussed included:
The pain, strife, stress of the pandemic, as well as awe at humanity and all that we did right
Healthcare as bureaucratic to its detriment; American healthcare as broken beyond repair; health as a for-profit business
Distrust in the healthcare system as a patient and as a provider, being a queer woman of color receiving healthcare
Working as a medical scribe and volunteering at rape crisis support worker
First hearing about the pandemic through friends in China
Cruise ships as an early indicator of crisis in the USA
The emotional need to help during the pandemic; deciding how to best help
Volunteering in the emergency COVID morgues in March and April; helping find and deliver PPE
Mr. Rogers, a Quaker education, Zakat, and parents as activists and influencing ideas about donation, charity, and service
Having people’s lives depend on you
Tutoring online
Giving up public transit
Moving in with partner during the pandemic in a studio at first, and then moving into a larger apartment
Friendships changing during the pandemic over ideas about safety and care
Comparisons between experiences working as a street medic at protests pre-pandemic and mid-pandemic
Militarization of the police and police brutality
Working in the morgues in trucks
What homelessness looked like during the pandemic with reduced shelter capacities
Losing work during the pandemic
Struggling with self-care, guilt
Being disabled and in community with disabled people and people who are immuno-compromised during the pandemic
CDC guidelines in theory and practice
Pandemic fatigue and watching people move from being quite cautious to less cautious over time; hearts and wallets closing
Universal compassion
Putting down roots
The danger of living in the USA 2016-2020, escalating racist harassment; the attack on the capital
The impact of trauma and anxiety on the experience of the pandemic; fight and flight responses; panic attacks
Rape culture
Saying goodbye to a dying friend
Pride weekend in New York 2021 and concerns about safety
Having friends and family in India and Bangladesh
Vaccine patents
Adopting two cats: Pesto and Gnocchi
Scientific vernacular and exclusion of many people; ivory tower; expertise and ego; poor science communication kills people
Marginalized people showing up over and over again to help not just their own communities, but also people in more privileged positions who haven’t showed up for those more marginalized
Donations; how far money goes in non-profits; money saves lives
Other cultural references: Zoom, Cassandra (the Trojan Princess), 9/11, the History Channel, Sohla El-Waylly, The 2017 Huffington Post article “I don’t know how to explain to you that you should care about other people”, Mr. Rogers, Staples
See also:
https://www.medsupplydrive.org
https://catapult.co/stories/joya-ahmad-an-enzyme-and-a-marathon-gave-me-hope-after-sexual-assault
https://www.medpride.org/meet-financial-affairs
https://fundraisers.hakuapp.com/joya-ahmad
http://www.thelostkeysnyc.com/members
On what date did you record this oral history?
2021-06-25T20:36