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COVID-19

Panel from the Florentine Cortex depicting smallpox outbreaks in the Americas during the 16th century.

Aztec Kings Had Rules for Plagues, Including ‘Do Not Be a Fool’

By Commentaries/Opinions, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

But When Cortés’s Soldiers Arrived Carrying a Novel Virus, the Empire First Succumbed to Smallpox and Then Fell to Spain. By David Bowles, Zocalo Public Square — Every civilization eventually faces a crisis that forces it to adapt or be destroyed. Few adapt. On July 10, 1520, Aztec forces vanquished the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and his men, driving them from Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec empire. The Spanish soldiers…

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May 4, 2020 - Volunteers line up to begin taking hundreds of free COVID-19 tests at a pop-up site at the House of Hope in Decatur, Ga. Many African Americans watching protests calling for easing restrictions meant to slow the spread of the new coronavirus see them as one more example of how their health, their safety and their rights just don’t seem to matter.

In clamor to reopen, many black people feel overlooked

By COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

By Jay Reeves, AP News — Many African Americans watching protests calling for easing restrictions meant to slow the spread of the new coronavirus see them as one more example of how their health, their safety and their rights just don’t seem to matter. To many, it seems that the people protesting — who have been predominantly white — are agitating for reopening because they won’t be the ones to suffer the consequences.

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Armed protesters provide security as demonstrators take part in an "American Patriot Rally," on the steps of the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, on April 30, 2020

For many cautious African Americans, the move to reopen America is not a ‘black friendly’ campaign

By COVID-19 (Coronavirus), News & Current Affairs

“Nothing about this movement is really black friendly.” By Nick Charles, NBC News — As protests erupt over stay-at-home orders and the clamor to reopen the economy becomes louder, the coalition of people storming state Capitols — some armed with semi-automatic weapons and most not wearing masks or observing social distancing guidelines — have had one thing in common: Almost all of them are white. African Americans, for the most…

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People who believe they have COVID-19, and who meet the criteria, wait in line to be pre-screened for the coronavirus outside of the Brooklyn Hospital Center on March 20 in Brooklyn, New York

Coronavirus Is Making the Case for Black Reparations Clearer Than Ever

By Commentaries/Opinions, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Reparations

By William A. Darity Jr. and A. Kirsten Mullen, Newsweek — The COVID-19 crisis only heightens the urgency of black reparations. Long overdue, they are now more essential than ever. Mounting statistics confirm disturbing evidence of racial disparities in reported coronavirus deaths. In Wisconsin, perhaps the state with the most extreme ratio of black morbidity, black people represent 6 percent of the population and 40 percent of the deaths. Those…

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People attempt to social distance as they wait in line in downtown Port-au-Prince on March 26, 2020

Haiti faces hunger as Covid-19 looms

By COVID-19 (Coronavirus), News & Current Affairs

By Chandler Thornton and Etant Dupain, CNN — Haiti is no stranger to crisis. Amid civil unrest, staggering unemployment, lack of quality health care and severe poverty, the country now faces a global pandemic that officials say could worsen its hunger crisis. “The situation has been described as a perfect storm approaching,” Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said in a briefing Tuesday, warning the spread of…

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The body of Ethel Freeman, in the wheelchair, was found outside the convention center in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

When Blackness Is a Preexisting Condition

By Commentaries/Opinions, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

How modern disaster relief has hurt African American communities By Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, The New Republic — Ethel Freeman became famous in death, even though no one knew her name. For months, she was one of the many nameless people who lost their lives in the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s deadly intersection of race and class. Her son, Herbert Freeman Jr., had successfully rescued the 91-year-old retired school employee from…

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