People who have the power to fix specific problems harming Black people always want to remind you of how much they care, all that they have done, and why they are offended that you do not appreciate them. Their feelings and intentions trump their impact: Your pain, suffering, and death. This is the path that advocating for Black people will lead you down. It does not matter the issue, we could be fighting for affordable housing or to keep people alive during COVID-19. You have to brace yourself for the hurt feelings and violently defensive responses of people who make it about themselves.
In April of 2020, the Black Boston COVID-19 Coalition (BBCC) sent a set of demands to state and local elected officials. They were presented proactively and with a sense of urgency because we knew that Black and Latinx communities were going to disproportionately bear the burden of the novel coronavirus. The best practices in emergency management and public health were clear on what needed to be done to reduce the blindingly-obvious devastation that was looming on the horizon. We demanded a coordinated strategy in Black communities for communication, mobile testing, contact tracing, cleaning of public spaces (including housing developments), and weekly information sharing of cases and deaths by race, ethnicity, neighborhoods, and country of origin.
As we awaited the response, we coordinated efforts to distribute information, food, gift cards, masks, cleaning supplies, and any other resources we could muster. We met several times a week to keep everything moving. With volunteers and no funding, we leveraged the collective resources individuals and organizations brought to our table. In the middle of chaos, the deafening silence from elected officials was disappointing, but not unexpected.
So, to start, we held a press conference to get a meeting with Mayor Martin J. Walsh. The meeting began with pleasantries and then Mayor Walsh said “Why do you have to call them demands?” As people were dying, we were discussing a word. We are not supposed to demand anything, we are expected to ask nicely and keep everyone comfortable while we are in excruciating, soul-crushing, and life-ending pain.
We also followed up with the governor’s office. No response. So BBCC members showed up at a press conference Gov. Charlie Baker was holding in a predominantly Black neighborhood. There was a meeting scheduled. During the meeting, we expressed major concerns about Partners in Health’s track record. He took the usual defensive posture and vouched for their vast experience in third world countries. To which one of our members responded, our communities are not third world countries. It was clear by the end of the meeting that the engagement was performative. We can tell many stories of people and organizations in the private and public sector with the direct power to address major problems and inequities who instead made it about themselves.
It is a sign that our democracy is broken, when your community reaches out to partner with government officials on urgent issues threatening people’s lives and your hand is slapped away. We need leaders who understand that democracy is hard, messy, and necessary; and it is not about them but the communities they swore to serve and the systems and structures they can fix.
Now here we are riding the beginning of Wave Three with Black lives again on the line. Once again we know what to expect because of racism: Black people will continue to bear the disproportionate burden of cases and deaths.
We are growing our coalition, we are now at over 180 people representing over 60 organizations. Our concerns continue to be:
· Testing & Contact Tracing: We are still committed to a coordinated strategy for mobile testing and contact tracing.
· Education: With the pivot to fully remote learning for students, we stand ready to partner with those who can help families with reliable internet access, computers, and support to parents.
· Resources + Supplies: We are going to continue to fund and distribute gift cards and PPE as well as small stipends to community members, including youth, to help with distribution.
· Priority Populations: We will continue to advocate for and do wellness checks on our elders, families, and other vulnerable people.
This is not a story of victimhood, and it is true that we have experienced attempts to ignore, silence, and fail us. However, we are fighters and will not succumb to the overt and covert ways racism continues to erode the fabric of our city, state, and country through personalizing, inaction, misdirection, and "worst" practices.
