Below, find information about the dual impacts of racism and COVID-19 on black communities across the globe, as well as writings and song to buoy and inspire.
The Virtual Barbershop
Health and Wellbeing
Structural Racism
Black Women and Tears
- The Tears, Struggles and Hopes of Black Women, Celeste Henery, Black Perspectives
- Where Do Black Mothers Go To Cry?, Kelly Glass, The Washington Post
Racial Violence and Anti-Blackness
COVID-19
- Van Jones calls out to African-Americans to pay attention to the warnings about COVID-19 and to dispel myths about the spread of the virus: Black America Must Wake Up To This Viral Threat, CNN.
- Oprah talks with CBS Sunday Morning about her COVID-19 talk series on Apple TV. Watch an episode of Oprah’s series.
- Uche Blackstook shares an opinion piece in Scientific American: What the COVID-19 Pandemic Means for Black Americans.
- National Public Radio segment on how pre-existing health conditions impact a COVID-19 diagnosis:Who’s Hit Hardest By COVID-19? Why Obesity, Stress and Race all Matter.
- CNN segment: COVID-19 is Affecting Latinos at an Alarming Rate.
Racial Wellness Toolkit
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation…” –Audre Lorde
Boston College’s Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture (ISPRC) has developed a Racial Wellness Toolkit.
- View a PDF that summarizes the toolkit.
- Watch a video in which the ISPRC team walks through the toolkit step by step.
- Attribution for this toolkit.
Mental Health Resources
- For students of color, The Steve Fund offers a specialized texting support service through the Crisis Text Line. Text “STEVE” to 741741.
- Therapy for Black Girls is a resource that includes help with finding a therapist, as well as a popular Podcast by Psychologist Joy Harden Bradford, PhD
- Liberate is a mindfulness app developed by and for people of color.
Inspiration
- An excerpt from Nobel laureate Toni Morrison’s classic, Beloved: “In this here place, we flesh…”
- British-born and Hollywood leading man, Idris Alba, narrates a poem of hope: Don’t Quit, BBC News
- Charles Hunt, African-American entrepreneur, talks about his journey through childhood trauma to resilience in his adulthood: What Trauma Taught Me About Resilience, TEDx Charlotte
- A popular African-American MC spins old school music: How D-Nice United a Socially Isolated World with Club Quarantine, GQ
Song
- Wintley Phipps, accomplished African-American vocalist, sings Amazing Grace and gives a short history of the Negro Spiritual
- The Detroit Mass Choir sings The Storm is Passing Over
- Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir sings My Life is In Your Hands
- The Mississippi Mass Choir sings When I Rose this Morning
- Karen Gibson and the Kingdom Choir, UK, sing Stand By Me
- Sheku Kanneh-Mason, UK, plays No Woman No Cry on the cello
- Soweto Gospel Choir sings I Bid You Good Night
- Clifton Ross III sings A Change is Gonna Come
- Nina Simone sings To Be Young Gifted and Black
- Marvin Gaye sings What’s Going On
- Marvin Gaye sings Mercy, Mercy Me
- Harold Melvin and Bluenotes sing Wake up Everybody
Life Across The Diaspora
- Opal Tometi, cofounder of Black Lives Matter, talks about life across the African Diaspora: How Nigeria Helped Inspire #BlackLifesMatter, BBC Africa
- Narratives of Black life across the diaspora: A black British woman tells the story of her family’s migration to England and the threat of displacement that the family currently faces. From Slavery to Windrush: My Family’s Story, BBC News
- An interview with Shaniqua McClendon and Phil Branch, who made the award-winning documentary, Searching for Shaniqua, which explores the experiences of individuals with Afro-centric names