Black Americans fight back against COVID-19

As concerns over the disproportionate impact COVID-19 on the nation’s minority communities reach wider audiences, members of the Black community aren’t taking the crisis lying down.

Already skeptical of the medical establishment due to the awful legacy of the Tuskegee Experiment, in which the U.S. government secretly infected African American males with syphilis in a 40-year medical experiment, the Black community is making sure people are getting the medical and economic help they need to weather this storm. Black Americans are disproportionately at high risk of death from COVID-19 due to poor access to adequate healthcare while working in a number of jobs deemed essential services during the crisis such as retail.

Myra Anderson, a Virginia-based activist, for example, reportedly (https://www.cbs19news.com/story/42027900/local-activist-spearheads-mask-initiative-for-african-americans) raised $5,000 dollars to purchase masks for her local African American community in Charlottesville and the surrounding area. Anderson’s fundraiser has the potential to reach up to $14,000 thanks to the combined help of a new stretch goal and the generosity of a donor willing to match up to $5,000 in donations.

African American churches are also stepping up to help provide for their congregations. In a recent U.S. News & World Report story (https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-04-21/aha-news-as-african-americans-struggle-with-covid-19-disparities-churches-step-in), for example, a Texas church is helping members with food and paying their utility bills.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot told reporters (https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-chicago-lori-lightfoot-stay-home-order-june-20200421-cshdcgoatfgsxpf2rt473d72t4-story.html) on Tuesday that Illinois’ stay-at-home order could extend into the end of June after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said earlier that day that infections in the state aren’t expected to peak until mid-May. Lightfoot also recently announced (https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-chicago-african-american-population-20200420-c2nyvnq4vrcundwdfvhdldtlfe-story.html) the creation of response teams to provide strategic help to the city’s neighborhoods hardest hit by the crisis.