Explore the Archives
A Journal of the Plague Year Arizona Collection Australia Boston Bronx Community College New York Brooklyn College New York Canada Las Americas Lockdown Staten Island New Orleans Oral Histories Philippines Sacramento Community Based Organizations Southwest Stories Teaching the Pandemic The City College of New York

Collected Item: “The Class of 2020”

Give your story a title.

The Class of 2020

What sort of object is this: text story, photograph, video, audio interview, screenshot, drawing, meme, etc.?

Screenshot

Tell us a story; share your experience. Describe what the object or story you've uploaded says about the pandemic, and/or why what you've submitted is important to you.

This is a screen shot of a post shared by Dyami Thomas. She does not name the young man, but says he was unable to graduate because of Covid-19 so he took a photo in his cap and gown as the protests took place behind him. As a teacher, it has been incredibly difficult to watch my students struggle during what would have been the time of their lives, graduating and starting their next chapters. I just received news that several of my students lost their jobs and returned to work in the fields with their families because they needed the income. Some of my students are attending protests daily for BLM. I worry for them all, even this young man in the photo I have never met. They are experiencing the most turbulent year I have ever seen, and they embarking on their adult lives amidst the chaos.

Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your story. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?

class of 2020, graduate, protest, BLM,

Enter a URL associated with this object, if relevant.

https://imgur.com/Gtwi8Us

Who originally created this object? (If you created this object, such as photo, then put "self" here.)

Nathan Aguirre

Give this story a date.

2020-05-29
Click here to view the corresponding item.