Category: COVID-19

This country’s institutions treat Blackness like the most toxic comorbidity of all. I have asthma.” Growing up in my beloved St. Louis, I thought this might be the most common middle name for Black kids like me. Brittany “I have asthma” Packnett. We were strong in numbers. It just seemed like a fact of life. […]

A Bronx state lawmaker who used to work as a nurse has ditched her business attire for a pair of scrubs to join healthcare workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus battle.  “When you become a nurse you take an oath to help people. How can I not help at a time like this?” Assemblywoman Karines […]

Black people are being disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Now, lawyers, lawmakers, and medical professionals alike are calling on the government to collect and release daily racial and ethnic demographic data related to COVID-19 testing, cases, and patient outcomes. On Monday, The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and nearly 400 medical professionals […]

If you loved the hit show Reading Rainbow, you’ll be happy to know that LeVar Burton will be livestreaming his podcast, “LeVar Burton Reads” on Twitter. NBCBLK recently reported that Burton has teamed up with Twitter to promote early literacy and continue his relationship with his fans. In a Twitter announcement to his audience, Burton wrote, “I figured that during […]

The administration’s policies have exacerbated the health conditions that are leading to more coronavirus fatalities among black Americans. Trump administration officials — including President Donald Trump himself — have increasingly begun to recognize the fact that black Americans are dying of Covid-19 at a greater rate than Americans of other ethnicities. But in attempting to […]

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser joins Andrea Mitchell to update with the latest on how Washington, DC is handling the coronavirus outbreak as it looks to become a new hot spot. She also says that, like much of the country, DC is observing racial disparities in the impact of the virus, with African-Americans making up about […]

As cities across the nation report that coronavirus is killing blacks in disproportionate numbers, Los Angeles County health officials released preliminary data Tuesday that showed black residents were dying at a slightly higher rate than other races. The data, which LA County public health director Barbara Ferrer cautioned were based on just 57% of reported […]

Wise teamed up with Councilman Bill Perkins, Harlem District Leader Keith Lilly and local youth to lead the effort. From hosting toy drives for underprivileged youth to donating money to help others fight wrongful convictions, Korey Wise—a member of the Exonerated Five—has been dedicated to paying it forward. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Harlem native furthered […]

Data on race and the disease Covid-19 is too limited to draw sweeping conclusions, experts say, but disparate rates of sickness — and death — have emerged in some places. In Louisiana, one of the states most devastated by the coronavirus, about 70 percent of the people who have died are African-American, officials announced on Monday, though […]

Hip-hop legend DJ Jazzy Jeff is the latest celebrity to reveal that he contracted coronavirus. In a pair of posts on Instagram, Jeff revealed that he had a particularly tough bout with the virus. “I’m recovering from pneumonia in both my lungs,” Jeff wrote. I lost my sense of smell and taste – which is the main […]