The Pride events that normally are live and in-person are now going to be going virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though, this may be seen as a bad thing it is to keep all participants safe as the pandemic has been raging and the goal is to still celebrate Pride and also keep everyone safe. There is one positive that comes out of this online pride this year which is that allows people who may normally not participate in other parts of the world who could not travel to New York City or their area or country outlaws LGBTQ things can simply just have internet and log on and participate and celebrate pride. This being online may impact others in a positive manner by allowing these new people to have the courage to be advocates for LGBTQ people.

"There has been direct correlation with mental health disparities and sexual and gender minority (SGM) compared with cisgender heterosexual individuals. SGM members report having elevatedrates of emotional distress, symptoms related to mood and anxiety disorders, self-harm, and suicidal ideation and behavior. Social support is inversely related to psychiatric symptoms, regardless of SGM status. The COVID-19 pandemic—with its associated limited social interactions—represents an unprecedented period of acute distress with potential reductions in accessibility of social support, which might be of particular concern for SGM individuals' mental well-being. In the present study, we explored the extent to which potential changes in mental health outcomes (depressive symptoms, worry, perceived stress, positive and negative affect) throughout the duration of the pandemic were related to differences in perceptions of social support and engagement in virtual social activity, as a function of SGM status. "-Front Psychiatry. 2020; 11: 590318. Published online 2020 Dec 22. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.590318

This interview speaks about a teenager, Mohammed Husain, who has described her life through the course of the pandemic including how she has felt what she had experienced including some losses, things that have changed and ways she has coped. The set of questions provided are descriptive and offer directed questions that allow the interviewee to answer them thoroughly. Mohammed speaks about how she felt lonely during the pandemic. She describes things she has missed such as shopping going out with friends and effects on her mental health. She has also spoke about the limitations and how they have made her enjoy her own presence and made her evolve into a person who enjoys her own presence. She lists some positive aspects of the pandemic including closer relationships with family members along with a time to reflect on her own self. She has included that she has taken advantage of the time of the pandemic to really look back on her life and understand the moment as not everyone in their lifetime gets to live through such a scene.

The pandemic has exacerbated the Chinook’s lack of the kind of social safety net recognized tribes possess. While the COVID-19 mortality rate of Indigenous people is almost 2.5 times that of white people, unrecognized tribes have not received any of the $8 billion in government aid passed by Congress last spring. Nor have they received priority for tests or vaccines. Instead, they have to rely on neighboring tribes like the Grand Ronde and the Shoalwater Bay Tribe to vaccinate their elder knowledge-keepers. Chinook tribal members sometimes refer to the lack of recognition as slow-motion genocide. “Explain how it’s not genocide,” Johnson said to me. “Someone explain to me how it’s not.”

In a historic first, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Debra Haaland (D-N.M.) on March 15, 2021, as President Biden’s secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior, making the second-term Democrat the first ever Native American to be a member of a White House Cabinet in U.S. History. In this role, Secretary Haaland, an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo, will oversee 70,000 employees and the country’s natural resources. The Department manages nearly 500 million acres of land, and notably, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education.

Last summer, 21 Indigenous people and allies, including Nick Tilsen, the president and CEO of NDN Collective, were met with force from the state police and arrested for protesting Trump’s rally at Mt. Rushmore. Though Trump and his group were violating multiple treaties with their presence, including one through the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Land Defenders faced multiple charges. Tilsen himself was facing a felony and up to 17 years in prison. Today, NDN Collective announced that the charges for Tilsen and all other activists arrested on July 3 will be dropped. This announcement comes after months of political pressure from grassroots groups, including petitions, social media campaigns, and local and national media coverage of the cases.

This is a story about how college student's mental health has been affected during COVID as a unique population. I wanted to include this to provide context about why my interviewee may have been reluctant to seek out resources due to the extra stress that he had been experiencing. This study goes into how the factors that college students, in particular, are experiencing. This article was done by a survey and shows how common these feelings are that may have deterred students from seeking help due to stress.

Both vaccine makers, Pfizer and Moderna, have tested the effectiveness of their vaccines against the UK variant and tests are showing the vaccines are effective against this strain. The POL EOC strongly encourages that we all take individual responsibility to get vaccinated to protect ourselves and our children who are still not able to receive the vaccine. The virus still has a hold of us and is putting our community at risk so we must continue to remain vigilant.

This is an article about selling a house during COVID. I wanted to include this source because one of my interviewees discussed some of the anxiety and stress that they experienced while trying to sell their home in March of 2020. This article provides context for what it is like to sell a home during COVID and how that market has changed. This article is by a realtor and provides advice and comparisons to what it may be like to sell a home during COVID and how that compares to selling during another crisis such as a recession.

This is the Arizona State University-specific COVID-19 resources for students. I wanted to include this University's specific resources because one of the people I interviewed attends ASU as a student and I want to provide this source as a supplement for some of the difficulty that he mentioned having in finding resources while living as a person experiencing housing instability. The website houses all messages and updates the university has sent to students with regard to the Coronavirus. The site focuses on health and staying healthy for students but seems to lack a clear guide on how to access resources and aid that students may qualify for.

The Navajo Nation has reinstated the “Stay-At-Home” order due to an increase of Covid-19 cases. Two weeks ago, there was one day with zero reported cases. On Friday, there were 26 reported new Covid-19 cases.

"A Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (APIB) apresenta um plano emergencial indígena de enfrentamento da Covid-19 no Brasil e conclama todos a apoiarem medidas que possam salvar vidas e exercitarem a solidariedade. Os povos indígenas estão entre os grupos mais vulneráveis ao avanço da pandemia e encontram-se desprovidos de condições para enfrentar a doença. Precisam do apoio de todos." "The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) presents an indigenous emergency plan to confront Covid-19 in Brazil and calls on everyone to support measures that can save lives and exercise solidarity. Indigenous peoples are among the groups most vulnerable to the advance of the pandemic and are devoid of conditions to cope with the disease. They need everyone's support."

During difficult times, many people often turn toward religion or faith to provide hope. According to Pew Research, as a result of the pandemic, no Western country with “advanced” economies report that the pandemic has had a net negative impact on religion and faith. In fact, all have a net increase on the reliance of religion and faith. Citizens in the United States, however, are much more likely to say the pandemic has strengthened their faith as opposed to citizens in other countries. While the pandemic has had a net positive for strengthening the faith of people, it has had an even higher positive result for strengthening familial bonds. Family bonds and religious faith has grown stronger for most during the pandemic.

The Catholic monasteries have had to change a great deal about how they practice their lifestyles. For nuns and monks alike, they have not been able to enjoy their monastic communities as usual. The majority of monks and nuns are in a higher risk category simply due to their age. Thus, the monastic communities have had to take extra precautions during the pandemic. This has made life more difficult and less enjoyable. Such restrictions have also impacted their ministry outside the monastery.

In China, there are only a small number of state-approved religions. Taoism, or Daoism, is one of the approved religions. As COVID-19 began in China, many were quickly infected and died as it was a new virus about which little was known. This article discusses how a Taoist priest in China honors those who died of COVID-19. Taoism, as a religion, has a unique history as originally the religion began as a philosophy. Thus, there are very unique ways of thinking in the heavily philosophical religion. Memorializing the dead is extremely important in Taoism, because as the article relays, true death within the system of Taoism only occurs when one is completely forgotten. In order to make sure people are remembered, the priests create memorial tablets for the dead.

This is a post from a popular Instagram page, mrfactsalberta on Trans Day of Visibility on March 31st, 2021. This message of solidarity and love towards Trans Albertans, stating that together we have the potential to challenge the discrimination in our province, which is known as one of the most socially conservative provinces in Canada which has a dark history of oppression and discrimination towards members of the LGBTQ+ community. The description of the post reads, “We all know the truth. This province is notorious for keeping Trans People on the fringes of society. But it’s important that we work to make it better and easier to live here because nobody should feel like an outsider in their own province.” Albertans must be able to call out discrimination towards Transgender people on a daily basis, this day alone represents the urgent need for Alberta to work together to defend Albertans against bigotry and discrimination, to protect Trans people and Trans rights for now and forever. The call to work however is more than just a call to visibility; it is a call for liberation.

This website is the official COVID-19 data tracker for the province of Alberta, this one in particular covers the increase of cases in Alberta on April the 7th, the increase in cases mirrored Ontario’s own massive outbreak of 3,000 new cases. Because of this, it is becoming more and more apparent that Alberta will be forced into another lockdown or at least a return to ‘step 1’ reopening restrictions. More and more Albertans are suffering from lockdown fatigue, and there is blatant unrest as many are becoming fed up with the constant opening and reopening, returning to step one – there has not been a decisive ‘win’ over the pandemic and many would point the government’s inaction to prove this. In regards to my small town of Cochrane Alberta, some businesses are stating that they will not shut-down with the return to step 1 or a renewed lockdown. Largely, they are stating that a lockdown would further gut small businesses which have suffered immensely from these restrictions – stating that smaller businesses have been largely left out to dry without provincial aid, while larger corporations continue to operate. Many of these larger businesses have operated throughout the pandemic while smaller businesses have been forced to shut their doors. On top of this, the same penalties apply to these larger stores, there have been large congested crowds lining up outside of such stores such as Ikea, or Wal-Mart; a condition which would result in a deathly fine if it were given to smaller businesses; but for these international corporations, these fines are nothing. While I’m personally in favor of lockdowns, it is hard to ignore the leniency given to these major corporations and the harm to these smaller businesses. Fore mostly we must protect human life by preventing the spread of COVID-19, yet we must also provide sufficient financial aid to these businesses; while also adjusting penalties to actually hurt these mega-corps when they break pandemic restrictions. However under a government which prides itself on austerity and corporate tax cuts, this will not happen. The attached image is the spike in cases on the 7th.

This is a screenshot of a post from the official Communist Party of Canada’s Instagram account. This post calls for the introduction of a $23/hr minimum wage, 14 paid sick leave for all on behalf of the employers, and a cut to the work week to 32 hours with 40 hours of take-home pay. These reforms are more than needed, and will help alleviate struggles which have been exaggerated by the pandemic on everyday people. As strategies of austerity, and cutting of social security/benefits, empowering the private sector has not been working; rather these strategies have only brought suffering to the people, who are already struggling with a global pandemic. The Communist Party of Canada calls for united action in this post, stating that these reforms will not be freely given by the bourgeois ruling class as history has shown. Only through direction action and the mobilization of the worker will the just rewards of our labor be secured – as these interests are directly opposed to the interests of the capitalist ruling class. I feel this item in particular would be useful in documenting radical history during the pandemic, how left wing politics/activism functioned in a digitally quarantined setting. As primarily Instagram and Twitter were used to mobilize advocacy for direct action and to generate class consciousness amongst Canadians in this time of pandemic; which has seen the growth of income inequality and a shocking lack of federal support for Canadians.

Prince Phillip died after many jokes of him dying due to his last hospital visit at the drop of a hat. Well today, as of 4/9/2021, he has been pronounced dead, and my favorite thing about it all is how people are just now realizing that he and Queen Elizabeth were related, I thought it was more known but in hindsight, I guess that being more public would not be a very good image for the Royal Family. As someone who disagrees with the concept of the Royal Family probably knows too much about their transgressions and issues than the average person.

Intel creates a new program called Bleep to help more people feel comfortable in the online gaming community, the only issue is that the program looks ridiculous. With toggleable n-word and a scale of misogyny you can choose from, it seems more like a right-wing pundit piece on how censoring will end up, as much as tackling the issue of hate on the online gaming community is it is just baffling how hilarious the interface is.

DAY 2: 4/7/21 8:30am. I woke up feeling a bit better. My eyes were very sore and hurt, and my body was slightly sore. I definitely was not feeling 100%, but I managed to take an 9 am exam and attend two more classes right after that. My friend had asked if I wanted to study together and maybe go to the pool the day before. I told her that if my side effects weren't bad, I'd be down to study, but I was probably not able to swim that day. When I woke up, I was in the mood to swim, but was not feeling well enough. 4:00pm: I finished most of my work and got ready to go out. I went to Starbucks to grab a coffee and work outside with my friend. By then, I was feeling much better emotionally. 5:00pm: My friend asked if I wanted to go to her pool. I realized that I felt so much better, and accepted. By the time we got to her pool, I felt 100% better and was able to socialize with my regular energy. This concludes the end of my diary for my Johnson and Johnson Vaccine experience. I am writing this from Day 3, and I no longer have any symptoms. I have asked various people about their experiences, and the overall conclusion is that it depends on the person. Some people get symptoms the next day, some people's symptoms last more than 2 days, and some people don't get any side effects at all. My symptoms only lasted around 6 hours. Overall, my vaccine experience was nothing surprising and went smoothly. Although the side effects were not ideal, they are more of a minor inconvenience.

This article is important because it discusses why we are seeing more wildlife out and about during the pandemic. They discuss the topic of “is more wildlife out, or are people just noticing wildlife more?” and other topics related to this. This article also discusses the difference between seeing bigger or smaller animals and the reasoning behind it. This article gives a good insight on wildlife during the pandemic and reasons for more sightings.

In this article by PBS it is discussed how climate change, wildlife, and the pandemic all have a connection. One of them being that with more habitats for wildlife being destroyed, the higher risk for contact with wildlife increases which increases the chances of another pandemic. This is a short but informative article and they interview a doctor from Harvard as well who gives his input to this topic. He explains that direct contact with animals is the cause of the pandemic and if we do not do something about this soon, it will just reoccur again.

This journal entry is important because it gives insight as to why the wildlife sightings were important to note during the pandemic. During the pandemic it was noted by many people across the world that wildlife was a lot more active and out. This could be for a variety of reasons, some of the obvious reasons being that there is less human interaction and traffic therefore the wildlife feels comfortable exploring. This journal entry also explains how it may just be that people are noticing wildlife more, not that there is more wildlife. This journal explains how wildlife scientists were able to study them during the pandemic period which can help answer long term questions.

Indian Health Services is an agency of the United States federal government that oversees and administers healthcare to that nation's Native American populations and tribal reservations. This webpage from the Indian Health Services has three sections that address general Coronavirus (COVID-19) information and links, COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution and Administration by IHS Area, and COVID-19 Cases by IHS Area. it also includes a hyperlink to an interactive map for up-to-date COVID-19 Cases by IHS Area: https://maps.ihs.gov/portal/apps/StoryMapBasic/index.html

My personal collection of masks that I have gained over the course of the plague year.

This text file shows data from the Arizona Department of Health Services for confirmed COVID-19 infections tied to the patient's residential zip code. The data runs through 04/08/2021 and can be searched by "Ctrl + F" and entering specific zip codes. AZDHS suppressed tribal data from this data file prior to its publication on the organization's website.

"La presente herramienta recoge el esfuerzo de la CONFENIAE y sus organizaciones filiales por levantar, sistematizar y monitorear el avance del COVID-19 en nuestros territorios como una respuesta a la ausencia de información pública clara, oportuna y diferenciada para nuestra realidad pluricultural. La información presentada se actualiza automáticamente según la disponibilidad de la información que proviene de fuentes confiables a través de las cuales la CONFENIAE y sus organizaciones filiales gestionan apoyo para canalizar y coordinar atención emerhente a la pandemia. " "This tool reflects the effort of CONFENIAE and its affiliated organizations to raise, systematize and monitor the progress of COVID-19 in our territories as a response to the absence of clear, timely and differentiated public information for our multicultural reality. The information presented is automatically updated according to the availability of the information that comes from reliable sources through which CONFENIAE and its affiliate organizations manage support to give and coordinate emerging attention to the pandemic."

My daughter often has medical procedures and my husband and I have a system of working together to care for her during hospital stays and surgeries. Since the pandemic, there have been tons of restrictions and we are not able to physically support each other. Only one parent can go inside for appointments and procedures. Only one parent can stay in an inpatient room at a time. We had the appointment scheduled for over a month, but did not get the news that some restrictions had been lifted until the day before the procedure. My schedule is more flexible than my husband's so the original plan was for me to take our daughter and FaceTime him for the doctor consult. Luckily, my husband was able to get off work on short notice and we both were able to be there at the hospital! The only restriction was that only one parent could go back into recovery room and parents could not switch out. We did not receive good news, so it was good my husband and I were able to be together.

These screenshots show COVID-19 data from the Arizona Department of Health Services for each of Arizona's 15 counties and their cumulative state-wide total. The counties' respective case rate and death rate data are expressed as a percentage of their population and further demonstrate the dichotomies between pandemic experience by residential locale: Arizona statewide: 11.77% population infection rate (0.236% population fatality rate) Greenlee County: 5.47% (0.096%) Yavapai County: 7.91% (0.210%) Cochise County: 8.92% (0.214%) Mohave County: 10.26% (0.318%) Pima County: 10.84% (0.226%) Pinal County: 10.93% (0.188%) La Paz County: 11.08% (0.353%) Coconino County: 11.69% (0.221%) Gila County: 11.92% (0.402%) Maricopa County: 12.06% (0.222%) Graham County: 13.95% (0.200%) Navajo County: 13.96% (0.462%) Santa Cruz County: 14.77% (0.325%) Apache County: 15.60% (0.586%) Yuma County: 16.01% (0.357%)

Our Sunday morning coffee/hiking group, professional women 60 or over, took to Zoom to stay connected. We started in April 2020 wearing Easter hats; we upgraded our haberdashery on Easter April 2021. Wishing to escape daily Covid fears, we chose a topic each week. One individual shared and then we moved on to the next. Topics were seasonal, from Mother's Day, Father's Day, Veteran's Day, Christmas, New Year's. We learned more about each other than we ever knew. Women out-of-state who were part of our circle could join us from D.C., Portland, and Wisconsin. As a former teacher and oral historian, I began to take notes on the conversations and realized these stories were too important to lose. I wrote them up weekly, edited them with the ladies, added photos or clip art, and provided a printed notebook to each friend for her birthday or Christmas. Some of us who are fully vaccinated can now meet in person, but we have decided to meet once a month online to continue telling the stories we might not share in person.

This article titled "Coming of Age" is a great article that provides various art pieces from children all around the world. Who, through their art display the feelings they feel during the pandemic, certain stepping stones of their life that they were unable to celebrate fully, and even self-development that was limited. More can be said about the article by looking at the images provided and the unique descriptions below them.

This article speaks about obesity in children during the pandemic. With lots of parents work being closed as well as schools, parents struggle to provide healthy options to children and are stuck with buying cheaper option that is mostly filled with preservatives and high calories that is causing obesity rates to increase. Effects of diet during youth effects eating habits that a child developss as it grows. As weight plays a role mentally and physically in a person's health, the pandemic affects children in such away.

This article speaks about birth rate spikes around the world during the pandemic. The chart provided shows birth increases. Many families are now welcoming children after 5-6 years. This is described as the next baby boom. The correlation this has with my research topic involves the idea that increased birthrates, and their effects on children at home along with the development of these children as they are born in the middle of the pandemic.

The occult experience of Covid19, from my perspective as an adept occultist.

"The most well-known Yanomami shaman and leader, Davi Kopenawa, with French anthropologist Bruce Albert. Inspired by his words and teaching, Ye'kwana Leadership Forum produced the film "The Shaman’s Message", to bring the #MinersOutCovidOut​ campaign to the world. The campaign calls for the immediate removal of illegal miners who are active in the Yanomami Territory, destroying the forest and rivers, bringing violence and now COVID-19 with them into the communities."

Early March 2020. We were out of toilet paper and stopped at the grocery store to get some. We sort of knew things were about to get crazy but this scene really cemented it for us. About a week later, LAUSD shut down for “two weeks.”

Indigenous Rights Radio, part of Cultural Survival, shares interviews with Indigenous Peoples on the world wide web. This interview covers the topics of Indigenous Peoples and vaccines, human rights, Indigenous rights, land rights, and climate change and the environment.

Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang distributes information about vaccination opportunities in her district. The notice contains information about registering in various languages including English, Spanish, Arabic, Hmong, and Vietnamese. Vaccination clinics have just begun to offer vaccinations to everyone aged 16 and up in Sacramento.

Our headline comes from adapting the title of a novel by the Nobel prize-winning Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez, replacing the infectious Corona for the infectious Cholera. In his love-triangle story, he speaks of the lessons learned from a particular woman, but he may as well have been speaking about the now-global crisis we humans are facing: “(she) stood him on his head, tossed him up and threw him down, made him as good as new, shattered all his virtuous theories, and taught him the only thing he had to learn about love: that nobody teaches life anything.”

A Caracas, Venezuela artist is using his graffiti skills to cheer people up during COVID-19. Wolfgang Salazar has gained popularity for his spray-painted murals of Venezuelan heroes and regular people.

"Due to the need to present information disaggregated by Indigenous Peoples, Cultural Survival is producing this map to collect and disseminate information to show the situations Indigenous communities are facing as a result of COVID-19. As the number of cases increase daily, and the lack of access to testing in rural areas, the data presented here will evolve over time. Empty areas do not imply that there are no cases of COVID-19 or human right violations. This is a continuous and not exhaustive effort and we invite Indigenous Peoples and their communities to contribute. [...] Our COVID-19 response features a holistic, multi-layered approach including curating a global monitoring system for COVID-19 for Indigenous communities using Google maps technology to document COVID-19 cases and related human rights violations."

Impacts, understandings, and variants to data of the impacts of COVID-19 on Indigenous People discussed by Cultural Survival.

Like many other states, North Dakota has started to test their sewage for COVID-19 variants. Although the testing can't track down the virus to specific households, it can determine if the city still has COVID-19 and what variants are present.

This is an interview with Presley McBride about how Corona Culture has affected her personal life and United States Society. Presley first describes any pandemic-related purchases or activities she has participated in and also highlights how her favorite Youtube personalities have incorporated COVID crafts into their shows. She also includes reflections on the impact of plexiglass shields and sanitization on human interaction and socialization. Presley also touches upon the political divide caused by a sense of shame that people in society feel when they are pressured to get vaccinated or wear a mask. Presley includes a description of how businesses have been using more packaging to protect their products since the start of the pandemic. Finally, Presley shares her insights on the negative effects of the stay-at-home mentality on U.S. mental health and culture. Contributed by Kayla Phillips, URE, for Arizona State University for the #CoronaCulture, #HST494, #ASU, #Texas #OralHistories collections.

This is an interview with an anonymous narrator about how Corona Culture has affected the narrator's personal life and United States Society. The narrator first describes any pandemic-related purchases or activities he/she has participated in and also highlights how his/her favorite Youtube personality has dealt with COVID on her show. The narrator also shares his/her perspective about COVID themed items that have appeared in U.S. consumer culture over the past few months and includes his/her assessment of Dr. Fauci and his work. The narrator includes a reflection on the impact of plexiglass shields and sanitization on human interaction and socialization. The narrator also emphasizes the potentially harmful effects of strong chemicals used to produce the various kinds of sanitizers used to disinfect surfaces in public. The narrator touches upon the sense of shame that people in society feel when they are pressured to get vaccinated or wear a mask and elaborates on how Corona vocabulary has affected U.S. social mores. Finally, the narrator shares his/her opinion about the effects of the stay-at-home mentality on U.S. culture. Contributed by Kayla Phillips, URE, for Arizona State University for the #CoronaCulture, #HST494, #ASU, #Texas #OralHistories collections.

My name is Yesenia, and I am a DACA recipient and a nurse. As of a few weeks ago, I have been a nurse primarily in the COVID-19 unit at my local hospital in Indiana, where I live. Since COVID-19 began, my world, along with everyone else's, has been flipped upside down. It is hard to express how much my job has changed since COVID-19. I knew when I went into critical care nursing that I would have unexpected situations at work. I never thought there would be a whole floor of uncertainties. It is really overwhelming when you know that you are not enough for what is to come. But you always try your best.

Indigenous land stewardship is a relatively new term, forged to compel more people to live in closer relationship with the land. As our world passes through multiple crises of our making, racial justice is the ultimate issue, and goal. As such, across many of the pieces commissioned by Nia Tero is the relationship between Black liberation and Indigenous sovereignty. A key message in these posters is the encouragement for people to get out and vote, use their voices to effect change on these critical issues and uplift diversity in leadership. The poster on the back of this newspaper page that you’re currently reading is part of a new series made in collaboration with Nia Tero, IllumiNative, and Amplifier Art, which debuted on Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2020 to elevate the work of Indigenous land stewardship, and to promote support of Indigenous peoples every day. The purpose of this collaboration is to demonstrate how coming together now, in this moment, is critically important for racial justice, climate action and collective liberation.

I just wanted to make a brief comment on the new controversy over “vaccine passports.” This phrase refers broadly to the idea of a sort of digital certificate to verify that a person has received one of the COVID-19 vaccines. The idea is that certain businesses, schools, etc., could use this digital certificate to instantly verify who has and has not received the vaccine. I think this is a fantastic idea and I wholeheartedly support it. As for those claiming that this is the latest sign of big government tyranny, a recent editorial about this issue in the Washington Post articulated a fantastic response: “Vaccination is voluntary, and the principle of voluntariness goes both ways. The government is not going to make anyone get a vaccine; every civilian has a right to abstain. By the same token, every restaurant should have the right to know whether a customer is immune before opening its doors: no shot, no shoes, no service.” Exactly -- voluntariness does indeed go both ways. If you make the decision not to get vaccinated, you should be willing to deal with the consequences of that decision, which may include contracting COVID-19 and/or being excluded from certain public places like restaurants, sporting events, or even schools or universities. If a person understands and accepts the risks and limitations they are putting on themselves and still insists on abstaining from the vaccine, I respect that. However, people insisting that they have the right to abstain from the vaccine while opposing the rights of businesses and other institutions to create a safer and more comfortable environment for their customers strikes me as a classic example of having your cake and eating too.

Pilot Projects Artist Talk: "La Morena" is a conversation with Arizona-based muralist and painter Lucinda Yrene Hinojos and director Pita Juarez about the short film “La Morena,” on view Sept. 15–19, 2020 as part of Pilot Projects: Art. Response. Now. Lucinda talks about the process behind her murals, art and activism, and what she is working on next. The short film “La Morena” features Arizona artist, Lucinda Yrene Hinojos, who is claiming her roots and activism through her art. She brings all her love, inspiration and pain into creating murals with the guidance of her ancestors who energize her art. The result is a mural that focuses on the power of community, family and healing. This film was produced in association with Mango Skies and Poder in Action. To learn more about La Morena, check out: https://lamorenaart.com/ ***They discuss art during the pandemic, police brutality, social justice, how Covid-19 has affected their art.