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Collected Item: “El Jay'Em Oral History, 2022/09/23”

Title

El Jay'Em

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

Kit Heintzman

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

El Jay'Em

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?

#anxiety, #artist, #Black, #Cleveland, #election, #emotions, #masking, #media, #medicalracism, #Ohio, #productivity, #SouthCarolina

What is the format of your recording?

Audio

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.

Cleveland Ohio

Describe the oral history.

Some of the things we discussed include:
Providing conflict resolution strategies with art therapy.
Working on the Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign.
Getting marooned in South Carolina at the beginning of the pandemic, not knowing anyone there.
The imperative for BIPOC people to be “productive”; taking time to sit and think during lockdown; re-evaluating priorities.
First hearing about the pandemic; questions about the origins of the virus.
Media, fear, and propaganda trying to keep people inside; media as triggering; the mental stress of uncertainty.
Medical racism and the impact on personal healthcare use.
Instead of going back to the pre-pandemic norm, re-imagining different futures.
The American Constitution; being 12th generation living under the laws of 8th generation.
Poor messaging around masking and prevention.
Shopping: Lysol, toilet paper, bottled water.
The importance of paying attention to emotions.

Cultural references: Michael Jackson’s death, Fox News, CNN, The Walking Dead

See also:
https://www.news5cleveland.com/a-better-land/cleveland-woman-turns-pain-of-losing-best-friend-into-passion-to-help-others-through-trauma-of-gun-violence
http://voyagela.com/interview/hidden-gems-meet-el-jayem-of-speakezie-go-hard/
https://eljayem.bandcamp.com/album/evo
https://thelandcle.org/stories/why-has-childhood-lead-testing-plummeted-in-cleveland-and-what-can-be-done-about-it/
https://thelandcle.org/stories/coalition-against-gun-violence-demands-solutions-from-local-officials/
https://www.busboysandpoets.com/events/th-evt-27194961/

On what date did you record this oral history?

2022-09-23T11:11
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