Protect Yourself and Others
A THREAD >> swipe.
Sometimes the world calls on us to behave in a way that is about supporting the collective, us. In this moment, the call is for protecting ourselves and our fellow humans, to the best of our ability in the middle of a pandemic.
I am not a doctor. I am not pretending to be one, but what I do know is that COVID-19, in many humans, results in acute lung damage.
This version of the coronavirus is approximately six months old.
We don’t have longitudinal data on the pulmonary impact of surviving COVID-19 yet. It’s not because bad science, it’s because this disease is too f’ng new. We don’t know if young people who acquire & survive COVID will experience persistent lung challenges for the rest of their lives. Because the rest of their lives hasn’t happened yet.
It is in your best interest to protect yourself from acquiring this disease. Moreover, it is in the best interest of the humans around you, with less access, fewer privileges, & generally less access to healthcare, to protect yourself & the them, from getting this disease.
Remember when the news started reporting on the disproportionate number of Black & Brown humans being affected by this coronavirus? And at the beginning, the newscasters seemed to be truly dumbfounded?
I anticipate similar news stories in the future saying similar things.
“We don’t know why we are seeing disproportionate rates of COPD in Black & Brown & oppressed bodies but, we are. And it will likely be followed by some bullshit...These conditions were preventable with appropriate lifestyle change, or weight loss, or eating fruits and vegetables.”
Racism & systematic oppression were the reasons these communities were affected disproportionately, in the first place. They will remain the primary reasons for any secondary fallout from this pandemic in these communities.
As many of us are engaging in anti-racism efforts, examining white privilege, white supremacy, and how racism is alive and well today, please don’t stop there.
Anti-racism learning without doing EVERYTHING possible to prevent COVID-19 spread is not anti-racist.
