Everything you Should Know About the Covid-19 Vaccines

Although there are more Covid 19 vaccines on the horizon, only three have been authorized and recommended by the CDC (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson/Janssen). They are all considered safe and the CDC has recommended that people get whatever vaccine is available to them when they get the chance rather than waiting on a specific one because they all do the same thing. But of course for people with allergies and serious health conditions, that isn’t always an option. One of the biggest questions when it comes to the difference between the vaccines is do they have the same efficacy, what’s in them and what kind of side effects do they produce? Here’s everything you should know about all three vaccines:

Pfizer (95% effective)

Name: BNT162b2

Manufacturer: Pfizer, Inc., and BioNTech

Type of vaccine: mRNA

Number of shots: 2 shots, 21 days apart

How given: Shot in the muscle of the upper arm

Does not contain:

• Eggs
• Preservatives
• Latex

For a full list of ingredients click here

The Pfizer vaccine has been recommended for people 16 years of age or older.

Do Not get the Pfizer vaccine if the following applies:

• If you have had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or an immediate allergic reaction—even if it was not severe—to any ingredient in an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (such as polyethylene glycol), you should not get an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.*
• If you have had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or an immediate allergic reaction—even if it was not severe—after getting the first dose of the vaccine, you should not get a second dose of either of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.*
• An allergic reaction is considered severe when a person needs to be treated with epinephrine or EpiPen^© or if they must go to the hospital. Learn about common side effects of COVID-19 vaccines and when to call a doctor.
• An immediate allergic reaction means a reaction within 4 hours of getting vaccinated, including symptoms such as hives, swelling, or wheezing (respiratory distress).

Additional Info:

• 94% effective in elderly patients
• 90% effective at preventing asymptomatic infection after the second dose
• In clinical trials, reactogenicity symptoms (side effects that happen within 7 days of getting vaccinated) were common but were mostly mild to moderate.
• Side effects (such as fever, chills, tiredness, and headache) throughout the body were more common after the second dose of the vaccine.
• Most side effects were mild to moderate. However, a small number of people had severe side effects—defined as side effects affecting a person’s ability to do daily activities.
• Although few people in the clinical trials went to the hospital or died, data suggest that people who got the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were less likely to have these more serious outcomes compared to people who got the saline placebo.

Moderna (94.1% effective)

Name: mRNA-1273

Manufacturer: ModernaTX, Inc.

Type of vaccine: mRNA

Number of shots: 2 shots, one month (28 days) apart

How given: Shot in the muscle of the upper arm

Does not contain:

• Eggs
• Preservatives
• Latex

For a full list of ingredients click here

The Moderna vaccine has been recommended for people 18 years of age or older.

Do Not get the Moderna vaccine if the following applies:

• If you have had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or an immediate allergic reaction—even if it was not severe—to any ingredient in an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (such as polyethylene glycol),  you should not get an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.*
• If you have had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or an immediate allergic reaction—even if it was not severe—after getting the first dose of the vaccine, you should not get a second dose of either of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.
• An allergic reaction is considered severe when a person needs to be treated with epinephrine or EpiPen^©or if they must go to the hospital. Learn about common side effects of COVID-19 vaccines and when to call a doctor.
• An immediate allergic reaction means a reaction within 4 hours of getting vaccinated, including symptoms such as hives, swelling, or wheezing (respiratory distress).

Additional info:

• 86% effective in those over 65 years old
• An effectiveness of about 66% at preventing asymptomatic infection
• In clinical trials, reactogenicity symptoms (side effects that happen within 7 days of getting vaccinated) were common but were mostly mild to moderate.
• Side effects (such as fever, chills, tiredness, and headache) throughout the body were more common after the second dose of the vaccine.
• Most side effects were mild to moderate. However, a small number of people had severe side effects that affected their ability to do daily activities.

Johnson & Johnson

Name: JNJ-78436735

Manufacturer: Janssen Pharmaceuticals Companies of Johnson & Johnson

Type of vaccine: Viral vector

Number of shots: 1 shot

How given: Shot in the muscle of the upper arm

Does not contain:

• Eggs
• Preservatives
• Latex

For a full list of ingredients click here

The J&J/Janssen vaccine is recommended for people 18 years of age or older.

Do Not get the J&J/Janssen vaccine if the following applies:

• If you have had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or an immediate allergic reaction—even if it was not severe—to any ingredientexternal icon in the J&J/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine (such as polysorbate), you should not get the J&J/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine.
• An allergic reaction is considered severe when a person needs to be treated with epinephrine or EpiPen© or if they must go to the hospital. Experts refer to severe allergic reactions as anaphylaxis. Learn about common side effects of COVID-19 vaccines and when to call a doctor.
• An immediate allergic reaction means a reaction within 4 hours of getting vaccinated, including symptoms such as hives, swelling, or wheezing (respiratory distress).

Additional Info:

• 42% effective in those over 60
• About 74% effective at preventing asymptomatic infection 
• In clinical trials, side effects were common within 7 days of getting vaccinated but were mostly mild to moderate.
• Side effects were more common in people 18–59 years old compared to people 60 years and older.

The side effects for all three vaccines are essentially the same and are as follows:

• Pain
• Redness
• Swelling
• Tiredness
• Headache
• Muscle pain
• Chills
• Fever
• Nausea

The main difference between the vaccines is that Pfizer and Moderna are made using messenger RNA, or mRNA, a technology that delivers a bit of genetic code to cells and are done in two doses. This is a a recipe to make the surface protein (known as spike) on the SARS-2 virus. Essentially the proteins made with with the mRNA will activate the immune system, spiking protein as foreign and developing antibodies and other immunity weapons to fight.

The J & J vaccine is a viral vectored vaccine, which can be done in only one dose. The vaccine instructs human cells to make the SARS-2 spike protein ,triggering an immune response. Once the harmless adenovirus, the cause of many common colds, enters cells the code is used to spike proteins.

The consensus is that yes the vaccines are all very similar and as the CDC recommends many people may get the first one that is available to them, but for others health problems, allergies, age, etc. may play a part in which one they get. Remember that everyone is different and the vaccines/side effects may effect everyone differently.

*Note- A new CDC study found that Moderna and Pfizer were 80% effective in preventing Covid after a single dose and jumped to 90% effective two weeks after the second dose.

Address the Disconnect Series 1: Systemic Racism in Healthcare

It’s Worse Than You Think:

 The Fierce Spread of Covid-19 in Black Communities

The data came too late, the relief took too long, the word “essential” proved interchangeable with the words poor and desperate. Covid-19 unveiled the depths of systemic racism that cost Black communities profoundly.

By: Ally Christiani

Creator: Caroline Brehman | Credit: CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

In 2020, I started listening to podcasts, like everyone else, a new way to kill time. In my pursuit to uncover more truths on American history, I came across the 1619 podcast by New York Times writer Nikole Hannah Jones. It is the audio version of her famous 1619 journalism project released by the NYT in 2019, documenting the long suffering of African Americans since being transported to America 402 years ago. One of her episodes speaks explicitly on healthcare; its inception, errors, and biases.

She begins the episode with a personal story about the loss of her beloved Uncle to cancer. She explained how her Uncle was in pain for a while but could only afford to be seen by free clinics who misdiagnosed his pain. Free clinics are most Americans only option if they’re unemployed and therefore, do not have health insurance. After a while, he finally visits an ER where a doctor makes the decision to give him the X-Ray and CAT scan he needed. Those revealed the tumors that had been growing throughout his back. They learned he had Stage 4 terminal cancer.

With this diagnosis, he qualified for government provided disability aid that pays for medical treatment when your physical health is so bad you cannot work.

“It took my Uncle getting a death sentence before he was able to get health insurance.”

This story made me think about the poverty in this country. The way the poor are cast into this cycle that spins so uncontrollably; it appears built to be impossible to escape.

Not having access to adequate healthcare, education and housing, as well as unemployment, and the growing wealth gap are all bi-products of the poverty cycle. Unsurprisingly, implicit bias and racist antecedents are immersed in these determinants; and that is where we begin to understand the horrific realities that black communities have been facing in the age of COVID-19.

The “profile” Azar speaks of concerns the idea that there are certain underlying conditions that are more predominant in those dying from COVID-19. The conditions are hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes. Research has shown that black people develop these diseases at a greater rate and at a younger age.  In a study by the CDC, 90% of the hospitalizations with severe COVID-19 had at least one of these underlying conditions.

The reasons for the prevalence of these health conditions in the black community involve several factors. Studies have shown stress is related to immunity and black people have increased stress in their life that has a physiological effect on the body’s ability to defend itself. Stressors include; income inequality, discrimination, violence, and institutional racism. This type of stress has actually been identified by the medical community with a term called “weathering,” which concludes that “the stress of living as a member of a minority in itself takes a toll on the body, weakening one’s cardiovascular, neuroendocrine and immune systems.”

In addition to a higher rate of disease, when they develop the disease it is harder to get adequate healthcare. The hospitals in black communities are commonly underfunded—mainly based on the fact that the hospitals located in these particular communities are impoverished as a result of housing discrimination from the age of red-lining.  Red-lining originated in the aftermath of The Great Depression when the federal government set out to evaluate the riskiness of mortgages in major metropolitan areas of the country—black people were deemed by the housing market as high-risk buyers. This process of systemic racism in housing trapped black communities in underfunded, polluted, and unhealthier areas to reside. I will provide more on red-lining and housing discrimination in subsequent articles.

Past research also revealed the disparities in receiving medical treatment. In 2002, the Institute of Medicine’s report, Unequal Treatment, revealed this fact. “According to the report, minorities were less likely to be given appropriate cardiac medications or to undergo bypass surgery, and were less likely to receive kidney dialysis or transplants, compared with their white counterparts.” In addition, when modern medicine became more reliant on the use of technology in the 20^th century, racial biases engrained themselves into the coding.

“In 2019, an algorithm that helps manage healthcare for 200 million people in the US was found to systematically discriminate against black people. According to research published in the Journal Science, people who self-identified as black were given lower risk scores by the computer than white counterparts, leading to fewer referrals for medical care.”

Despite the black patients being sicker, the computer calculated that black people will receive fewer referrals for care because the costs on average were less over a year than white patients.

Some States including Michigan and California have taken action to decrease implicit bias in the medical field by making it mandatory to earn a State licensure on implicit bias training. Michigan approved the measure after analysing the data of COVID-19 in their black counties and taking note of the disparities that are apparent in their health system.

When it comes to employment and COVID-19, the black community is struck with a double-edged sword. Black people have higher rates of both unemployment and employment in jobs that do not include health insurance in their benefits package. The jobs deemed “essential” by society in this pandemic disproportionately affect black people who find themselves on the spectrum of these lower paying jobs including: fast food servers, grocery store clerks, nurses, teachers, and public transportation.

“In the U.S., according to the CDC nearly 25% of employed Hispanic and Black or African Americans work in the service industry, compared with 16% of non-Hispanic white workers. Black or African Americans also account for 30% of licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses.”

These occupations cannot be done remotely and require public interaction. They are considered “necessary” to allow other members of society to stay at home in an attempt to “flatten the curve.” These workers often travel either by car-pool or via public transportation; all of which increasing their exposure to the virus. Systematically, those working these types of jobs have less job options due to inequities in access to higher levels of education. According to the Census, 10.8% of the country lives in poverty (median yearly household income is $23,500 for a family of 4). Black people account for 20.8% of that figure.  A 2015 income report found that for every dollar a white household makes, a black family receives 59 cents. Anyone making that amount of money a year, is not afforded the comfort of taking time off work, even if they are not feeling well.

These disparities were already widely known, especially in the counties that are most affected; however, the data explaining how these conditions blend to create these spreading zones in communities of color came very late in the containment.

This delayed data, consequently, delayed aid. Andi Egbert, a senior researcher at APM Research Lab said: “We are in the midst of this tremendous crisis, and data is the best way of knowing who is suffering and how.” Egbert was one of the authors of the APM report that criticized the federal government for their inaction with collecting and categorizing data based on race. Some researchers believe that they could have gotten a better grip of decreasing spread in these communities if the data became available sooner and resources allocated appropriately. Necessary hospitals would have gotten the first flow of more funding and PPE like masks, gloves, Purell, would have been more fairly distributed to all essential workers.

               Egberts is skeptical of the now former administrations intention behind this lag, “I won’t speculate about motive, but I can’t believe in a modern economy that we don’t have a mandated, uniform way of reporting the data across States.”

               Researchers are anticipating changes in policies that can limit these disparities in society that are causing the poor to suffer unequivocally. A handful of States are already working towards mending this tear. Michigan Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist, was put in charge of specifically handling the racial disparities with COVID-19 in the State. Once Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was alerted of the disproportionate spread of COVID-19 in their predominately black counties, she sent a taskforce to go directly into the communities and provide mobile testing in hotspots and PPE distributed in nursing homes and homeless shelters. She also committed to testing all the incarcerated in her State.  New York, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland have made similar commitments.

The rise of racial justice awareness in this country last year could not have come at a more pressing time for black communities. As COVID-19 destroyed families and social injustices played out on our screens, society began to recognize the unequal suffering a large portion of our society endures. Acknowledging the connection of race and economic inequality as a vital explanation for why the virus is attacking black communities disproportionately, will hopefully continue to lead to constructive conversations of racism on a larger scale and therefore, new policy implementation. Understanding healthcare, as a basic human right, is what I hope this country will learn and evolve from this relentless pandemic.

Sources:

1. www.ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305290
2. www.povertyusa.org/facts
3. www.secure.jbs.elsevierhealth.com/action/getSharedSiteSession?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelancet.com%2Fjournals%2Flancet%2Farticle%2FPIIS0140-6736%2820%2932032-8%2Ffulltext&rc=0
4. www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/racial-differences-doctors.html
5. www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/07/medical-racism-history-covid-19/
6. www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/07/medical-racism-history-covid-19/
7. www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32032-8/fulltext
8. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4194634/
9. www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-ethnicity.html
10. www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/expert-answers/coronavirus-infection-by-race/faq-20488802
11. www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/racial-inequalities-in-covid-19-the-impact-on-black-communities#Making-sense-of-incomplete-data
12. www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/population-care/why-african-american-communities-are-being-hit-hard-covid-19
13. www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/podcast/2020/jun/why-are-more-black-americans-dying-covid-19
14. www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/covid19-racial-disparities
15. www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2020/05/27/covid-19-is-crushing-black-communities-some-states-are-paying-attention
16. www.cnbc.com/2021/01/12/factors-affecting-covid-19-spread-among-lower-income-communities.html
17. www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-01-14/racial-bias-in-medicine-a-barrier-to-covid-health-equity
18. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1047279720301769
19. Spotify: 1619 Project Episode 2: How The Bad Blood Started

The Challenges of Remote Learning

What have the challenges been and how do we keep students engaged in a difficult remote learning climate?

Remote learning is a role that parents and caregivers were thrown into with little to no warning or ways of preparing. There have been some success and some failure with the process. A big determining factor of whether or not parents have had any success with their children through remote learning plays a lot into the ways their children learn best. Some kids are thriving in remote learning and others work better in a classroom setting where they can be more social. Regardless of whether children are doing well in remote learning is the fact that some of the problems that have come up have been ones that are completely out of their control. Many parents and students in low-income families worried about how they would keep up without any access to the internet or laptops, computers and tablets. Some schools, including CPS, sent out tablets and provided hard copies to students who were unable to get their hands on internet access. Comcast even offered up free Wi-Fi to students with no internet access. Despite all this though, there were still many problems with remote learning that would cause many people to say that it was unsuccessful.

Online Training

Many teachers are trained to teach in the classrooms so transferring their teaching methods to online zoom calls hasn’t necessarily been easy. Some teaching methods may not be as successful online as they would be in person. It’s also harder for teachers to get students to engage and participate. It also makes it harder on the teacher to come up with homework assignments and tests/quizzes and actually ensure that the students are retaining the information.

Solution: Authoring tools have been very helpful for teachers because they provide them with software to create their own e-learning programs. Click here for a list of helpful authoring tools.

Technical Issues

When dealing with the internet it’s inevitable that problems will arise such as no Wi-Fi, bad internet connections, problems with apps and software and simply people not knowing how to work certain things. These things can be a headache on all parties involved (parents, students and teachers) and interrupt important learning lessons.

Solution: The biggest way to prevent any technical problems is to login to class early to ensure that you have a stable internet connection and your logins/passwords are working. It might also be helpful for schools to have technical support people on standby to help anyone that may be experiencing technical difficulties.

No One-on-One Time For Students

Some students require extra attention and may need to have a one-on-one with teachers to ask questions and get additional help. That is not entirely easy to do through e-learning, which may leave some students falling behind in the classrooms.

Solution: For students who need help during the e-learning session let them know how they can ask questions during class, i.e. using the “hand up” function or using the chat feature. It might also be helpful to have another person on standby to help answer the questions of students that need additional help. Aside from that teachers can elect to hold individual calls with a student if they need more help.

Even with addressing the problems above, remote learning still had some problems that were hard to solve. For starters many students were disinterested and failed to show up to class; and with parents too busy to keep track of their kids’ work and teachers not able to get in contact with them many students fell behind. Some districts even stopped requiring students to do any work at all or told them that no one wouldn’t fail either way, which in turn causes students to stop caring. Many teachers also were putting in minimal effort with their teaching methods hopping on calls for only a few minutes leaving parents to deal with the fallout of how to teach their children in something they weren’t trained for.

In the future, in order for educators to keep children engaged during remote learning the following needs to happen:

1. Allow students to feel like they are actually learning something rather than just doing busy work
2. More strategy and planning
3. Equal opportunity across the board for low-income families and families of color
4. Better support for students without internet access
5. Better support for students with disabilities
6. Unique and creative ways for students to learn and socialize besides sitting in front of the screen all day
7. More enforcement on making sure students are actually attending classes, engaging, learning and getting the help they need
8. More communication and effort between teachers and parents

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/local/305/2020/03/18/817691597/as-classes-move-online-what-happens-to-students-without-internet-or-computers

https://www.wsj.com/articles/schools-coronavirus-remote-learning-lockdown-tech-11591375078

https://www.chalkbeat.org/2020/6/26/21304405/surveys-remote-learning-coronavirus-success-failure-teachers-parents

https://trainingindustry.com/articles/remote-learning/5-remote-learning-challenges-and-how-to-overcome-them/

It’s Time to Give the Confederate South a Real Burial

By: Rohit Iyer

In 1877, the United States Supreme court commissioned, built, and placed a statue of former chief Justice Roger B. Taney in the chamber of the highest court in the land. Heralded as a southern icon, a proponent of state’s rights, Taney is held in high regard by many southerners to this day. However, many don’t realize the impact the bust of Taney holds for many Americans. He represents an era in history where African Americans were not considered humans or citizens and was the deciding vote in the notorious Dredd Scott V. Sanford supreme court case. Due to the ramifications of his decision and the resulting trauma, the bust of Roger Taney must be removed and relocated from the Supreme Court, as it represents centuries of suffering and injustice.

The bust of Roger Taney was placed in the Supreme Court in continuance of tradition. Each former justice becomes immortalized in the chambers of the building, with either a statue or bust being sculpted and placed in the central chambers. The statue has remained in place for 133 years, serving as a constant reminder of the Dredd Scott v. Sanford decision. Recently, the controversy around the statue has erupted following the re-emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, looking for racial equality and healing in America. To achieve these goals, a statue idolizing a man who deemed African Americans to not be human cannot continue to stand in the U.S Supreme Court.

Roger Taney’s racist decision to deem African Americans as property and not humans holds awful connotations that must be left in the past. The fateful decision left deep wounds in America, and we should not commemorate it, “It ruled that ‘African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States-‘” (Hopkins, Daily Mail). This ruling invalidated the citizenship, and essentially humanity of African American citizens, and as Taney continued, they were deemed property. In a state that prohibited slavery, such as Missouri, Taney’s ruling set a dangerous precedent of slavery and southern values drifting into Northern states and threatened the humanity of African American citizens. This was not merely a decision based on beliefs of state’s rights or southern beliefs, but a decision rooted in racist ideals. In his reason for decision, Taney reinforced the idea that Black Americans were inferior to the white race. “…he believed that the federal government had no right to limit slavery. He mistakenly thought he could save the Union when he ruled that the Framers of the Constitution believed slaves were so inferior that they possessed no legal rights.” (Oyez.org). The decision to rule Dredd Scott as property and not a human was rooted in the racist and entirely false belief that Black Americans were simply not as much humans as whites. This perpetuated belief manifesting itself into the most infamous supreme court ruling of all time harmed African Americans for years after, showing the lasting impacts of Taney’s ruling. As a nation, we should not continue to affirm and immortalize the man behind the racist decision by honoring him with a bust in the Supreme Court. It does nothing but remind African Americans of the oppression faced just 150 years ago, and makes confederate sympathizers feel as though their heroes maintain power over the nation to this day. By allowing his bust to remain in the Supreme Court, we idolize the decision in Dredd Scott v. Sanford.

Relocating statues to “confederate graveyards” as well as teaching the 1619 project would help to heal the racial divide stemming from statues commemorating confederate icons. To begin the healing process, the Taney bust should be removed from the supreme court and handled in ways seen in former Soviet nations. A confederate graveyard would help to quell the persisting effects of the Antebellum south. As seen in former Soviet nations, a “graveyard” to monuments such as the Justice Taney bust would go to lengths to condemn white supremacy and the actions of former confederate icons. “We envision a cemetery for the American South where removed Confederate statues would be displayed, perhaps, in a felled position – a visual condemnation of the white supremacy they fought to uphold” (Brasher and Alderman, The Conversation). This method of relocation using other nations as a model would help to preserve the history surrounding the monument while also removing it from a place of power. The other way in which the United States should move forward towards a more racially equal nation is to implement the teaching of the 1619 project in schools nationwide. The 1619 project, while flawed, must be taught to our nation’s youth to show the racist past of our nation. “The goal of the 1619 Project is to reframe American history by considering what it would mean to regard 1619 as our nation’s birth year. Doing so requires us to place the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are as a country.” (Silverstein, The New York Times). To ensure all Americans understand the broad scope of racism in America, the 1619 project must be taught.

These reforms would heal the United States racially, moving forward and removing the power inequities seen by placing confederate statues in important federal sites. By implementing confederate graveyards, statues such as the Taney bust would be removed from their high positions, and relocated to a museum style cemetery, where it would be displayed fallen, a remnant of an evil time, broken. This would signify a major shift in the way confederate era monuments are displayed in America. Many believe, however, that by removing statues, people run from the issue on hand and risk forgetting history. “He warned that moving the statue would take Taney’s impact out of context. “When you lose that context, you’re left with bias, you’re left with prejudice,” he said. “Let’s use it as a learning experience. Let’s not run from it.” (Levin, The Fredrick News-Post). However, with a graveyard, these issues would not be an issue, as history would not be removed or forgotten. Simply, it would be put into context. The ultimate goal of the confederate graveyard is to reduce the power the Taney bust holds, and to ensure the nation does not idolize the man who stated Black Americans were not humans in the U.S. By implementing the 1619 project as curriculum across America, racism and misguided beliefs about our nation’s history could be weeded out at a fundamental level. The 1619 project is integral to the progress of the nation, ensuring the racially evil history of the nation be taught in a clear manner, and to help move forward as one. Some believe that by teaching the 1619 project in schools, anti-Americanism would prosper. “The banning of the 1619 project is the latest effort by Trump against new progressive interpretations to history that he deems un-American. Trump has in the past defended Confederate statues, called the phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ a symbol of hate…” (Edwards, Alexander, Mail Online) Trump’s rhetoric is emblematic of a divided nation, in that he and his base believe the phrase “black lives matter” is a hate symbol, and that the 1619 project teaches unamerican Values. Once again, this is unequivocally false. The 1619 project, while with its flaws, does more than any other nationalized curriculum to address the atrocities of America’s past, while educating the nation’s youth, attempting to forge forward for racial unity. Both implementing a confederate graveyard and teaching the 1619 project extensively would ensure statues like the Taney bust lose their stature, rather being placed in an ecosystem where historical context is preserved, and idolatry doesn’t occur in the highest court in the land. The 1619 project ensures that the historical context of Taney’s actions among many others does not get lost in education, but rather gets elevated. By doing so, the confederate south’s power begins to fade, finally becoming history rather than a current issue. 

By allowing the bust of Roger B. Taney to sit elevated in the middle of the Supreme Court’s chamber, the decision of Dredd Scott v. Sandford becomes further legitimized, treating Taney as a hero rather than viewing him through a critical lens. The man who deemed African Americans as non-citizens, perpetuating racist ideologies cannot be held highly, immortalized in the Supreme Court, but must rather be part of a confederate graveyard, symbolizing the fall of white supremacy and the confederate south once and for all. By teaching the 1619 project, racism and distorted American history can be rooted out, rather teaching the nation’s youth about all of history, not just a rosy picture. By implementing these reforms, we do not forget or wash away history, we enhance it. That is why the confederate south must be given a proper burial, with the 1619 project its moving eulogy.

Works Cited

Brasher, Jordan, and Derek H. Alderman. “A Confederate statue graveyard could help bury the Old South.” The Conversation, 26 July 2019, advance.lexis.com/document/?pdmfid=1516831&crid=4f441433-c706-4784-beb5-9be09a14fedb&pddocfullpath=%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A5WNF-6VC1-JB75-9088-00000-00&pdcontentcomponentid=463575&pdteaserkey=sr0&pditab=allpods&ecomp=fzx2k&earg=sr0&prid=96f93af1-b1fb-4166-86d7-5a38f23f7700. Accessed 11 Nov. 2020.

Edwards, Valerie, and Harriet Alexander. “‘Democrats want to remove America’s guts’: Trump tells cheering North Carolina crowd that he wants to ‘restore patriotic education’ after threatening to defund schools that are trying ‘to take away history’ by teaching The 1619 Project.” Mail Online, 9 Sept. 2020, advance.lexis.com/document/?pdmfid=1516831&crid=8b3dce3f-22b9-4f02-910f-8e052a48c7d8&pddocfullpath=%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A60T0-C6K1-JCJY-G0B6-00000-00&pdcontentcomponentid=397135&pdteaserkey=sr3&pditab=allpods&ecomp=fzx2k&earg=sr3&prid=eb805b44-80e8-4e45-b553-4298928c886a. Accessed 11 Nov. 2020.

Hopkins, Anna. “Ancestors of judge who sentenced Dred Scott to a life of slavery finally apologize to his family after 160 years but the relatives liken the gesture to ‘bringing a Band-Aid to an amputation.'” Daily Mail, 7 Mar. 2017, advance.lexis.com/document/?pdmfid=1516831&crid=5dd2eddb-bfd3-4655-80b8-c8e109c453c0&pddocfullpath=%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A5N1R-0S51-F021-633C-00000-00&pdcontentcomponentid=397135&pdteaserkey=sr2&pditab=allpods&ecomp=dzx2k&earg=sr2&prid=21e77a64-46a8-4c92-ad1d-ca4324861e19. Accessed 24 Nov. 2020. Lavin, Nancy. “Community weighs in on Taney statue relocation.” The Frederick News-Post (Maryland), 13 Aug. 2015, advance.lexis.com/document/?pdmfid=1516831&crid=23e1c576-49f4-400b-b46b-6af43ca62653&pddocfullpath=%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentIt

The Legacy We Leave

The federal government has been executing federal inmates at an alarming rate. This article explores the racial bias that plagues this system and the history that it was built on.

An opinion piece by Ally Christiani

In college, my favorite part when it came to essay assignments was writing the introduction and conclusion. The introduction was like a palette cleanser, it prepared my reader for what was sure to be a lengthy argument.

I was taught to always make the conclusion powerful, encapsulating, and memorable. The word memorable is obviously subjective with its connotations.

After 4 years of divisive speech, erratic behavior, and misogynistic actions, we land on the question of the conclusion. President Trump has managed to at least prove consistency in the need to demonstrate power over responsibility. Sadly, the easiest way one can show power is through the oppression of the most vulnerable in society. He will exercise, without question, all the powers the Presidency entitles him to have, despite the moral consequences and declare it as the needs of the people.

President Trump broke a 130-year-old precedent of pausing federal executions during the transition period to a new President. Despite the voices of the people (A 2020 Gallup poll cited in the report shows the highest level of opposition to the death penalty among Americans since 1966, with 43% against it and 55% in favor of it.) and a global pandemic  (some States issued stays and no State-level executions took place past July 8)  10 executions have taken place so far in the past 5 month period with 3 remaining. President-elect Joe Biden (who opposes the death penalty) is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 20^th, President Trump has an execution scheduled for January 15^th.

In July 2019, now former US Attorney William Barr announced the administrations decision to resume federal executions after a 17-year pause. The federal death penalty was re-established by the Supreme Court in 1988, and since then only three federal executions have taken place, all of which occurred under the Bush Administration. Barr announced they would oversee 13 executions in 2020, the most in a year by any president since 1896.

Although the death penalty falls under the literal meaning of law, it is far from law and order. Capital punishment in America is amongst the most flawed system in the criminal justice system. Since its re-establishment, it has consistently been used disproportionately against African Americans.

“African Americans make up 42% of people on death row and 34% of those executed, but only 13% of the US population is black.” (as per the Equal Justice Imitative report on the death penalty).

The explanation for this racial disparity can be traced back to the Reconstruction Era (1865-1876), where its predecessor lynching was first introduced.  During this period, almost 2,000 African Americans were killed, with an additional 4,400 documented lynching’s post-Reconstruction (1877-1950). In 1972, Furman vs. Georgia, the Supreme Court first struck down the death penalty calling it “lynch law,” and said in their decision: “of these few to be sentenced to die…it is the constitutionally impermissible basis of race.” As attitudes and consequently, government evolved, new ways to oppress and discriminate hid themselves in legislation and precedents.

This years’ executions followed the trend of inherit bias and systemic discrimination that evolved from the past, and ingrained itself into the criminal justice system. Almost half of the defendants executed are people of color and 76% of the executions are for the deaths of white victims.

“As of October 2002, 12 people have been executed where the defendant was white and the murder victim black, compared with 178 black defendants executed for murders with white victims.” (as per as an ACLU report on the death penalty).

One of the more concerning flaws when it comes to the death penalty, is the number of inmates that are exonerated yearly after spending sometimes decades sitting on death row, awaiting an execution date, for a crime they did not commit. This error again, affects African Americans disproportionately.

The blockbuster movie Just Mercy brought death row stories to the big screen and forced people to face the widespread bias that reaches deep into the system. In death penalty cases, the rate of exonerations has steadily increased with 172 people being exonerated since 1973. 1,529 people have been executed in the US since 1973, 502 of those (including those this year) were African American. The Equal Justice Initiative reports that for every 9 people executed, one person on death row has been exonerated.52% of exonerees, were African American.

Despite public outcry, letters from victims’ families urging the administration to stop the executions, and activists tying up the phone lines of the White House, nothing has managed to slow down the Trump Administration’s agenda to exhaust the use of the death penalty. President- elect Joe Biden has vowed to eliminate the use of the federal death penalty and create incentives for the states who follow suit once he is sworn into office.

The death penalty in this country is nothing more than vengeance hidden through the idea of justice—an eye for an eye. It is possible that soon to be former President Trump is seeking his own vengeance, using these executions as his vessel.

Miriam Krinsky, a former federal prosecutor and executive director of Fair and Just Prosecution, said the busy execution schedule in the last days of an administration is “a sad legacy to leave.”

But I am sure, this is the exact conclusion Mr. Trump wanted to write.

Sources:

1. www.cnn.com/2020/12/17/politics/federal-death-penalty-2020-trnd/index.html
2. www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/upcoming-executions
3. www.eji.org/issues/death-penalty/
4. www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55236260
5. www.aclu.org/other/race-and-death-penalty
6. www.nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/12/trump-cranks-up-executions-on-his-way-out-of-the-white-house.html
7. www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/12/03/law-officers-call-halt-executions-trumps-final-weeks/3806399001/
8. www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/dpic-and-black-history-month

The Truth Behind Microaggressions Including Ones Your Child Might be Facing In the Classroom

Microaggressions are extremely dangerous because in most cases people are unintentionally projecting them unto others. At the same time, microaggressions can also be intentional and used as a passive-aggressive way to spread bias or stereotype about a specific group without coming off too hateful. This includes “hostile, derogatory, or negative attitudes toward stigmatized or culturally marginalized groups.” In other words they can be instances of racism, homophopia, sexism, etc. masked as innocent comments, gestures, jokes, etc. They also be often masked as back-handed compliments that compliment you, but bashes the community you belong to. They can cause people to feel slightly uncomfortable. Nonetheless, whether intentional or not, microaggressions are not cool and can cause a lot of damage. Let’s take a look at some variations of microaggressions and what they look like.

Racism	Sexism	Homophobia
You don’t talk like a black person.	Act more like a lady.	It’s just a phase.
You must be good at math.	Women are bad drivers.	You don’t act gay.
Are you the new diversity hire?	Stop being so emotional.	Who’s the man/woman in the relationship?
You all look alike.	Men don’t cry.	You’re too pretty to be gay.
Can I touch your hair?		What are you?
You’re pretty for a black girl.

Microaggressions can also be found in the classroom. According to Derald Wing Sue, Ph.D., these are the microaggressions to watch out for in the classrooms:

 Failing to learn to pronounce or continuing to mispronounce the names of students after they
have corrected you.
 Scheduling tests and project due dates on religious or cultural holidays.
 Disregarding religious traditions or their details. (Ex. Impacts of fasting)
 Setting low expectations for students from particular groups, neighborhoods, or feeder
patterns.
 Calling on, engaging and validating one gender, class, or race of students while ignoring other
students during class.
 Assigning student tasks or roles that reinforce particular gender roles or don’t allow all students
flexibility across roles and responses.
 Anticipating students’ emotional responses based on gender, sexual orientation, race or
ethnicity.
 Using inappropriate humor in class that degrades students from different groups.
 Expressing racially charged political opinions in class assuming that the targets of those opinions
do not exist in class.
 Using the term “illegals” to reference undocumented students.
 Hosting debates in class that place students from groups who may represent a minority opinion
in class in a difficult position.
 Singling students out in class because of their backgrounds.
 Expecting students of any particular group to ‘represent’ the perspectives of others of their race,
gender, etc. in class discussions or debates.
 Denying the experiences of students by questioning the credibility and validity of their stories.
 Assigning class projects or creating classroom or school procedures that are heterosexist, sexist,
racist, or promote other oppressions, even inadvertently.
 Using sexist language.
 Using heteronormative metaphors or examples in class.
 Assuming the gender of any student.
 Continuing to misuse pronouns even after a student, transgender or not, indicates their
preferred gender pronoun.
 Assigning projects that ignore differences in socioeconomic class status and inadvertently
penalize students with fewer financial resources.
 Excluding students from accessing student activities due to high financial costs.
 Assuming all students have access to and are proficient in the use of computers and applications
for communications about school activities and academic work.
 Assuming that students of particular ethnicities must speak another language or must not speak
English.
 Complimenting non-white students on their use of “good English.”
 Discouraging students from working on projects that explore their own social identities.
 Asking people with hidden disabilities to identify themselves in class.
 Forcing students with non‐obvious disabilities to “out” themselves or discuss them publically.
 Ignoring student‐to‐student microaggressions, even when the interaction is not course‐related.
 Making assumptions about students and their backgrounds.
 Featuring pictures of students of only one ethnicity or gender on the school website.
 Having students engage in required reading where the protagonists are always white

Now that you know exactly what microaggressions are, I’m sure majority of you can say you’ve experienced it at least once. So, how do you react the next time someone hits you with one? How you respond is up to you. You can either let it go if you decide it isn’t that big of a deal or if you feel the person meant no harm or you can decide to address it. If you do decide to address it, you have the power to decide how and how much time you want to spend on it. You can simply tell them not to do that anymore or you can decide to challenge and educate them. The point is to not allow these microaggressions to consume you and take up your life, but to use them as a teaching point especially in a time when race relations and conversations are so pivotal.

8 Tips for Parents Starting the Homeschooling Journey

This year has been unlike any year before. As majority of schools have already started the fall semester, some have opened classrooms back up while others remain remote. Some parents refuse to send their children back to school in the middle of a pandemic, understandably so. We’ve just seen a alarming number of children test positive for coronavirus and frankly for some parents it’s hard to put your faith in the schools that they are doing everything necessary to keep your child safe. For very young children, who are prone to touch everything and are walking germs, it’s going to be harder to get them to follow the rules, social distance, wear a mask, etc. because they don’t understand the extent of the virus. For those reasons many parents are opting to home-school their children whether their child’s school is back open or not. For those embarking down that journey, we’ve got you covered with some helpful tips.

1. Schedule: First things first a schedule is very important for both you and your child. You can start by creating a schedule similar to one your child would have in school. This will help them keep that same sense of routine. A schedule will also help you as well because you can map out when you have time to tackle your tasks (perhaps when they’re taking a nap or eating lunch).
2. Get Creative: We know it’s not going to be easy, especially if you have no experience being a teacher, but your best bet will be to get creative. As parents you have the luxury of knowing your child better than any teacher could, try incorporating their likes/hobbies into the lesson as a way to get them excited to learn.
3. Patience: Patience is a virtue, so remember to be patient with both yourself and your child. It might take some time to get into a good rhythm.
4. Work Space: For parents of younger children, it could be helpful to create a small workplace with a desk, supplies, etc. to resemble the classroom. This can help them feel like they are at school and not home.
5. Set Goals: It can be helpful to set some beginning of the year goals for your child based off of their age (for example maybe you want your child to be able write their name by the end of the year). This will allow you to track your child’s progress throughout the year and keep them up to date with other children their age. Also make sure they are on target for their age group with math, writing and reading skills.
6. Keep in Contact with your child’s teacher: Older children are homeschooling, so their teacher is still available for contact. Use this to your full advantage for any questions or concerns you may have about your child’s learning.
7. Family Activities: Have multiple children or a big family? Try making everyday family activities into a learning experience. This kills two birds with one stone. It is helping the children learn, but can also be something fun for the family to do together as everyone struggles to stay entertained in a pandemic.
8. Allow Break Time: Everyone needs a break, including children. Allow them some break time much like the recess they would have in school. You can come up with different activities everyday. This will help keep them active as well.
9. Work with other parents: The best thing about this, is that you aren’t going through it alone. There are parents all over the country embarking on the same journey. You can try contacting a friend with children or even contact one of your child’s parents to share what works for you and get some advice or tips from them. If nothing else, it may help you feel better to just know that they’ve experienced the same challenges as you.

Got some more tips for homeschooling share? Share them below.

8 Ways to Keep your Mental Health in Order While Dealing With Racial Injustice

These past few weeks have been trying. We’ve had to see countless black people killed (George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, etc.) We’ve had to deal with the racist comments and overall ignorance of others, one of them being the President of the United States. We’ve had to deal with this all while fighting for justice in our own way, whether it be through protesting, donating, educating, etc. We’ve had to deal with the backlash of peaceful protesting, be sprayed with tear gas, rubber bullets, etc. All of this has been very painful, but at the core of it all; the lives lost and lives we are continuing to lose as I write this serve as a reminder of all the lives we’ve lost in the past that have not gotten the justice they deserve. It also serves a reminder that we’ve been dealing with oppression for over 400 years and it goes much deeper than racism and white privilege. It lies withing our justice system as well. Despite what some may think, America has never been great for us and we’ve been fighting for as long as we’ve been alive and before that it was our parents and our parents’ parents.

We know all this can be heavy and weigh down on many people’s mental as people try to find the right balance between doing their part and taking a much needed break to decompress. Here are some ways you can keep your mental health in order right now:

 

1. Self-care

We’ve heard the phrase you can’t help anyone if you don’t take care of yourself first. That phrase is just as relevant now. Take the time for yourself to just be, relax and do what makes you happy.

 

 2. Connect with other Black people

During these times it’s important that you have someone to talk to that understands what you are going through and how you feel.

 

3. Limit your Social Media Intake

It’s okay to turn your social media off or choose to not watch or engage in certain things you may see. You may also seek to follow more lighthearted or upbeat pages as well.

 

4. Blocking/Unfollowing

We live in a society where cancel-culture can be overbearing, but at this time give yourself permission to distance yourself from anyone who you feel isn’t behind you without worrying about what others may say. This applies to both social media and real life.

 

5. Celebrate your culture/Support other Black people

Now is the time more than ever to celebrate how great black culture is. It’s also important to stick together as a community. One of the best ways of doing that is supporting black artists and creators, buying black, etc.

 

6. Remind yourself that you don’t have to discuss things when it gets too heavy nor is it your job to educate others.

 

7. Mantras

It’s important to remind yourself that you matter in a world that on a daily is trying to convince us otherwise. Mantras/positive affirmations are a great way to do that. Find one that’s good for you and repeat it daily.

 

8. Let yourself have feelings. Everyone is going to react in different ways. There is no right or wrong way. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

 

Know of any other ways to protect your mental health during difficult times? List them below.

White Privilege And How it Can Be Used to Help the Black Community

In the wake of everything that is going in on the country right now, white privilege is at the helm of it. Everything from the death of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor to the calling of the police on members of the black community for simply bird watching, working out or going about their day-to-day business relate back to white privilege. Yes, we know all cops aren’t bad. Yes, we know all white people aren’t racist. But the thing we need white people to understand now more than ever is that whether they are racist or not, they have white privilege. Their skin tone does not warrant the level of fear for their lives that black people have had to deal with for far too long. Right now what we need is for white people to understand the white privilege, accept it, speak on it and use it to become allies to the black community so that change can be made. Now is not the time to be silent or mutual. Now is the time to take action and if you don’t know how to take action, learn, research, ask questions, etc. At this point it is not enough to simply not be racist, if you aren’t on the front line with the black community helping to make change and putting your white privilege to good use, you aren’t helping create change. If you question what white privilege has to do with all the recent events, look at Amy Cooper and how she deliberately lied on Christian Cooper when calling the cops and made sure to mention his race. Those actions could of led to the same thing that happened to George Floyd. In fact it did, back in the 50s with Emmett Till. This is the kind of harm white privilege does, especially if people like Amy Cooper are using it in the way they are and putting black people in even more danger than they are on the daily. Black people have been fighting for years, it’s time members of other communities join us. And for those that have, we see you and we thank you. But make sure to ask yourself how can I take it further than social media?

For those looking to learn more about white privilege and address the issue, check out girlupcampaign’s post on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Girl Up (@girlup)

Or theconsciouskid’s post

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAx4-8GpHvK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

What You Should Teach Your Children About Black Culture Ahead of Black History Month

With January quickly coming to an end, that can only mean one thing: Black History Month is approaching. Of course we celebrate our culture and our people year round, but February gives us a chance to really reflect and bask in our accomplishments a little more than usual. It’s also a good time to celebrate with your kids and teach them about our history as well as why February is an important month. Here are a list of things you should talk to your child about to prepare them for Black History Month:

1. Jim Crow laws
2. Ancestry
3. Important black leaders
4. The history of black artists/musicians/actors/authors, etc.
5. Black scientists
6. Slavery
7. The history of racism
8. Civil Rights Movement
9. The Black Panthers
10. Africa
11. HBCU’s
12. Black Lives Matters
13. Black Veterans
14. African Americans and politics
15. Juneteenth
16. Thurgood Marshall/Supreme Court Cases that helped African Americans secure rights

Know of any more things that are important to teach children about Black History? Share them below.