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Collected Item: “Velvet Moore-Owen Oral History, 2022/10/21”

Title

Velvet Moore-Owen

Who conducted the interview? List all names, separated by comma.

Kit Heintzman

Who was interviewed? List all names, separated by commas.

Velvet Moore-Owen

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?

#author, #autoimmune, #biracial, #Black, #cats, #church, #corrections, #housing, #kind, #marriage, #masking, #motherhood, #prisons, #queer, #race, #racism, #sports, #suburbs, #travel, #vaccination, #Wisconsin

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.

Oak Creek, Wisconsin

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

What is the age of the interviewee?

55 to 64

Describe the oral history.

Some of the things we discussed include:
The importance of Black history, of learning the real history of the USA.
Traveling in February 2020, and the sense that things were normal, but also a little different.
Masking on planes pre-pandemic for health reasons; white men commenting on the behavior.
Difference masking norms state-to-state.
Race, racism, and masking; whiteness and the feeling of invincibility.
Decipher “bullshit from truth”; following advice out of the Harvard Medical School.
Refusing to be treated by certain medical professionals because of their COVID views/policies.
Working in corrections and retiring in 2016; seeing colleagues die of COVID.
Losing a colleague who was a few months from retiring to COVID, Sgt. Michael Binns; corrections officers threatened with retaliation for coming in sick.
Having family members who refused vaccination (an aunt named Grace, an uncle named Tommy, and a cousin named Gloria) die of COVID; the death of family members one has little connection with.
American entitlement, entitled to die.
Shopping for a new home out of state during the pandemic; enforcing safety boundaries with contractors.
Politics and COVID management: doctors Fauci and Brooks.
Liars running for public office; white politicians not facing consequences for their actions.
Daughter graduating from highschool during the pandemic; oldest daughter doing law school online; spouse graduating with her doctorate from Harvard during the pandemic.
Living with cats (Tiger & Juani); traveling long distances for veterinary care from Dr. Amy Rogowski.
Working with children in sports who’ve had COVID; the impact of COVID on children.
Regular COVID testing.
Considering moving to Canada.
The enduring legacies of colonialism and slavery and the impact of history on the youth today.

Other cultural references: Lycol, Google reviews, CDC, Jim Jones, Ryan Johnson and the 2020 election, Governor Scott Walker, Milwaukee Police Department, Marquette University, The Handmaid’s Tale, Herschel Walker, Henry Maier, Black Wall Street, Henrietta Lacks, Charles Drew

See also:
https://www.amazon.com/Incarcerated-Memoir-Velvet-R-Moore-Owen/dp/B08NVZPGKH
https://agendaforchildrenoutofschoo2017b.sched.com/velvetr.mooreowen
https://madison.com/news/local/courts/man-pleads-guilty-in-2017-stabbing-death-sentenced-to-25-years-in-prison/article_7ea06ee7-c703-5a86-97a6-4f35fe489d01.html
https://dontreaddrunk.buzzsprout.com/1824396/9842235-episode-19-incarcerated

On what date did you record this oral history?

2022-10-21T11:05
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