#008 - Let's Not Party Like It's 1999
We made it! We really it did it, y'all: we survived 2020!This year was filled with death, heartache, sickness, and sadness. However, we learned how to truly appreciate life. For a lot of us, we prioritized our communities, our mental health, and our survival. But, we didn't do this alone. With the help of family, friends, therapists, and musicians, we withstood this horrid year. As we enter 2021, we must remember we are still in the midst of a pandemic. Life didn't just go back to normal when the clock struck 12, on January 1st, 2021. We do have a light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccine. Spoiler Alert: I will take the vaccine. With that said, many Black people are being necessarily precautious, myself included. It is not because we are anti-vaxxers, it is because we know the long and twisted history of Black people being unethically used in medical experiments. You cannot recognize our fear, but not understand the trauma that got us there. The majority of 2020 was focused on Black Lives Matter and equality and justice for all. It is funny now, how people can pick and choose what they will acknowledge or dismiss when it comes to our struggles. Black people have had one of the hardest years of our existence. From COVID and police brutality affecting us disproportionately to us honestly, waking up everyday just trying to live. But, our people overcame, as per usual. In fact, a lot of our country came together to proclaim that bigotry may have been breeding here, but we will no longer allow it. 2020 was about triumph. And, for those of you reading and listening to this episode, you were able to make it through. Remember that. You are alive. You are significant. You are a champion. Trigger Warning: 53:54-58:35: Discussion of the deaths of Casey Goodson, Jr., Ernie Serrano, and Andre Hill 100:05-104:13: History of Medical Racism and Unethical experiments conducted on Black people. Discussion of Dr. Marion Sims performing surgeries on Black females, who were enslaved, without anesthesia, The Tuskegee Experiments, Henrietta Lacks, continuously high mortality rates of Black patients, and the unfortunate and recent death of Dr. Susan Moore.
