Zhana: Netflix’s Tiger King has become essential quarantine viewing. I was first made aware of the docuseries by my students. Like many schools around the nation, we have transitioned to online learning. For our first zoom session, I thought my students would want to share their anxieties and fears about the coronavirus and how this […]
My Experience
Out of fear I took the advice of my lawyer and signed a plea of second-degree murder. Webster’s Dictionary describes murder as “the unlawful and malicious or premeditated killing of a person.” That is not me. I was just an ordinary, church-going mother of three beautiful children, all wanted and very much loved. I was […]
What the virus said
“I’ve come to shut down the machine whose emergency brake you couldn’t find.” [from lundimatin, March 27, 2020, https://lundi.am/What-the-virus-said] You’d do well, dear humans, to stop your ridiculous calls for war. Lower the vengeful looks you’re aiming at me. Extinguish the halo of terror in which you’ve enveloped my name. Since the bacterial genesis of the […]
Coronavirus and the Crisis Laid Bare
Jarrod: Two weeks ago I stood on the corner of Stony Island Ave and 71st Street on Chicago’s South Side, a major intersection and level crossing for the Metra commuter train. A shrill warning siren, blinking red stop lights, and retractable safety gates heralded an approaching train. But none came. As the minutes dragged on, […]
“Amazon is Knowingly Putting Their Customers at Risk”: A Florida Amazon worker speaks out
I work for Amazon out here in Miami. Working conditions are less than optimal. We are constantly breathing in a bunch of dust all day, in the back of trailers for hours on end with no respiratory protection, just breathing it all up. Since there’s no air purification or filtration system, I’ve been asking for […]
“Right Now Everything is a Mess!”: Conversations with an MTA Train Conductor
The MTA in New York City and the surrounding suburbs employs 74,000 workers. It has disclosed that there are 23 people who have tested positive for the Covid-19. Leo is one of 7,000 workers in his division. Leo is 37 years old. He works as a train conductor for the MTA, mostly on the D […]