Our Message
This was originally sent to our newsletter subscribers in April.
So much has shifted in the world since we last emailed. We know that people are overwhelmed by uncertainty with respect to a number of issues—childcare and elder care, healthcare, employment, to name a few—so we write to acknowledge that this is a truly difficult moment and that our thoughts are with you and your communities.
We are witnessing the imbrication of political decisions, capitalism, and racial inequality play out in a situation that is both disrupting and taking the lives of loved ones. While there are many unknowns in the immediate future as it relates to COVID-19, one is clear: we cannot return to the previous system. The deeper crisis is the structure of our economic, political, and legal institutions. This pandemic has shown that people need health care, paid family and medical leave, housing security, labor protections, debt relief, abolition, and solidarity. People need support more than ever. We hope that others come out of this moment skeptical of individualism and hungrier with demands for the collective good.
It is our hope to provide updates on future programming and book releases soon, but in the meantime, we want to remind you that this is a time to pause. Although many of us remain indoors at home, we believe that now is not the time for increased productivity but a moment of intentional stillness rooted in self-care and community-care. The Race and Capitalism Project is an initiative that is not only interested in exploring frameworks but also people as they encounter capitalism’s crises.
We hope that you are doing as well as one can under these circumstances, and we look forward to sharing news soon.
Mutual Aid Resources
This is not an exhaustive list of organizations doing important mutual aid work:
Additional Resources
Stop AAPI Hate Reporting Center—individuals can fill out incident report forms documenting any cases of microaggressions, bullying, harassment, violence, etc.
Vera Institute of Justice: Criminal Justice and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Best practices for justice systems in order to ensure the safety and health of vulnerable populations.
The Marshall Project: A State-By-State Look at Coronavirus in Prisons
Racial Data Transparency (Johns Hopkins University)
Map showing which states have released breakdown of COVID-19 data by race.
Indian Country’s Covid-19 Syllabus
Navajo Epidemiology Center Coronavirus Response Hub
VIDEOS & PODCASTS
“Covid-19 may not discriminate based on race—but US health care does,” PBS News Hour, April 2, 2020.
“The Coronavirus Doesn’t Discriminate. U.S. Health Care May Be A Different Story,” KGOU Fresh Air, April 1, 2020.
“Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: Communities Enduring Racism & Povery Will Suffer Most Due to COVID-19,” Democracy Now!, March 31, 2020.
ESSAYS & NEWS
“What Black America Knows About Quarantine,” by Brandi T. Summers, NYT, May 15, 2020.
“The Anti-Lockdown Protesters Have a Twisted Conception of Liberty,” by Jamelle Bouie, NYT, May 8, 2020.
“The Pandemic’s Impact on Racial Inequity and Violence Can’t Be Ignored,” by Fatimah Loren Muhammad, The Trace, May 7, 2020.
“Flatten whose curve? COVID-19 response overlooks built-in racial inequities,” by Aresha Martinez-Cardoso and Robert Vargas, Chicago Reporter, April 30, 2020.
“The Fed could undo decades of damage to cities. Here’s how,” by Destin Jenkins, Washington Post, April 27, 2020.
“Racial Capitalism: A Fundamental Cause of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Inequities in the United States,” by Whitney N. Laster Pirtle, Health, Education, and Behavior, April 26, 2020.
“The Racial Time Bomb in the Covid-19 Crisis,” by Charles M. Blow, NYT, April 1, 2020.
Anti-Asian
“Asian Americans Are Dealing With a Wave of Bigotry and Assaults Because of Coronavirus,” by Andrea Park, Vice News, May 19, 2020
“’Reality is hitting me in the face’: Asian Americans grapple with racism due to COVID-19,” by Rob Buscher, WHYY, April 21, 2020
Anti-Black
“The Disproportionate Impact of Covid-19 on Black Health Care Workers in the US,” by Adia Harvey Wingfield, Harvard Business Review, May 14, 2020.
“Covid-19 Is Killing Black People Unequally—Don’t Be Surprised,” by Emma Grey Ellis, Wired, May 2, 2020.
“Why are Blacks dying at higher rates from COVID-19?” by Rashawn Ray, Brookings, April 9, 2020.
Indigenous Peoples
“How Covid-19 is impacting indigenous peoples in the U.S.,” Randall Akee, EconoFact/PBS News Hour, May 13, 2020.
Anti-Immigration
“The Trump administration is using the pandemic as an excuse to target immigrants and asylum seekers,” by John Washington, Vox, May 15, 2020.
“As COVID-19 spreads in ICE detention, oversight is more critical than ever,” by John Hudak and Christine Stenglein, Brookings, May 14, 2020.
“Undocumented U.S. Immigrants and Covid-19,” by Kathleen R. Page, Maya Venkataramani, Chris Beyrer, and Sarah Polk, The New England Journal of Medicine, March 27, 2020.
“Why the coronavirus pandemic is especially dangerous for immigrants,” by Becky Beaupre Gillespie, UChicago News, April 22, 2020.
“Fearing deportation, many immigrants at higher risk of Covid-19 are afraid to seek testing or care,” by Usha Lee McFarling, Stat News, April 15, 2020.
Prisons
“Covid-19’s Toll on Prison Labor Doesn’t Just Hurt Inmates,” by Emma Grey Ellis, Wired, May 19, 2020.
“Special Report: ‘Death Sentence’ – the hidden coronavirus toll in U.S. jails and prisons,” by Peter Eisler, Linda So, Ned Parker, Brad Heath, Reuters, May 18, 2020.
“Will the coronavirus make us rethink mass incarceration?” by Sarah Stillman, The New Yorker, May 18, 2020.
“As Coronavirus Spreads Behind Bars, Prisons Release Very Few People,” by Alice Speri, The Intercept, May 14, 2020.
“The Industry Behind Prisons Profits, Even During the Coronavirus Outbreak,” by Associated Press, LA Times, May 9, 2020.