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'We Have a Full ICU': Inside a NYC Hospital Ravaged by the COVID-19 Crisis
“It’s hard to think that some of your patients that you diagnosed today might not be here tomorrow.” — Dr. Melanie Malloy text Dr. Melanie Malloy remembers a time when a 21-year-old patient experiencing nausea and vomiting could be exhibiting symptoms of appendicitis, gastritis or another malady. But in today’s medical landscape, that moment is…
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The Root Joins PBS' Independent Lens and the film Bedlam for a Discussion on Mental Health and Mass Incarceration
The numbers are staggering. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than one in five adults—essentially 40 million Americans—are living with mental illness, including severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia, severe depression and bipolar disorder, of which I, too, am a sufferer. But when it comes to me, someone who enjoys a great career…
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God Is Love: Why Finding Common Ground Is Paramount to LGBTQ Folks Feeling Welcomed In Religious Spaces
“God loves me radically. And any member of faith, any leader of faith should also love me radically.” — Alphonso David, President of the Human Rights Campaign Growing up, Alphonso David spent a lot of time at the Lord’s house. Whether he was attending his mother’s three and a half hour long Baptist services or…
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The 'Rona Isn't a Joke: Black New Yorkers Share Their Frightening COVID-19 Experiences
The tongue-in-cheek assertion that “black folks can’t get the coronavirus” hasn’t aged well. New data show that black people are disproportionately contracting and dying from the coronavirus. Experts suggest this is due to current health disparities already faced by black Americans in this country, such as underlying medical conditions and limited access to medical care.…
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Locked in the House (Like the Rest of Us)? Here Are Five Ways to Stay Civically Engaged
“Now, more than ever, your leadership is so necessary. Do not abandon your responsibilities and your role to be a leader in your community, just because we’re in the house. It just requires us to pivot and use different tools and resources to then move our community forward.” —Tiffany D. Loftin, director of the NAACP…
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The 'Forgotten Population': Yusef Salaam Speaks Out About COVID-19 and the Prison Industrial Complex
“There’s going to be a more serious health crisis as it relates to the prison industrial complex and a prison population. Whatever we are seeing in the world is going to be times ten—it’s going to be magnified in the prison industrial complex.” —Yusef Salaam, Ph.D. text In the state of New York alone, there…
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The 2020 Census Is Critical for Black People. Here's Why We Need to 'Make Black Count'
“People are aware of the power of the numbers and they also are aware that this country is with every tick of the clock, is becoming browner and browner. So there’s this death grip really on the status quo and the whiteness of America that is fading and disappearing with every tick up the clock.”…
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How This Black Woman Is Helping Advance Black Pathways Toward Financial Freedom
Thasunda Brown Duckett is considered one of the most powerful women in banking. She is currently the CEO of Chase Consumer Banking at JPMorgan Chase and helps lead Advancing Black Pathways. The initiative serves as an opportunity to “help black people chart stronger paths toward economic success and empowerment.” In this episode of A Word,…
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Before the 'Chinese Virus': A Brief History of White People Blaming America's Problems on Everyone Else
Donald Trump is a white supremacist. Donald Trump is a racist. While those two previous sentences might seem redundant, they mean two different things. Racists ascribe (consciously or unconsciously) characteristics and attributes to certain races, while white supremacists perpetuate and maintain the superiority of the white race. Even though white supremacists often use racism as…