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Editorial / Editorial
The Economic and Healthcare Fallout of the COVID-19 for People of Color On April 24, 2020, a report was released by the office of Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), that explains why Black, Latino, and low-income communities are disproportionately impacted by the Coronavirus or Covid-19. According to the report, African American, Latino and low-income Americans are more likely to have pre-existing conditions such as hypertension, chronic lung disease, diabetes and heart disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report had found that 9 of 10 Americans hospitalized for Covid-19 had these health conditions. This population tends to be employed in the service industry, often doing person-to-person work. In addition, many oof them don’t have health insurance neither the flexibility to work from home. According to the report, this is the same group that is more likely to be impacted by the economic recession that results in high unemployment rates, part-time jobs with lower incomes and less benefits.“ Not everyone has a job that will allow them to work from home and those that do not are disproportionately low-income and people of color,” Congressman Beyer said. In an article published in the Center for American Progress by Connor Maxwell and Danyelle Solomon on April 14, 2020, the authors highlight
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2 Editorial / Editorial The Economic and Healthcare Fallout of the COVID-19 for People of Color
the same socio-economic inequalities in this sector of the population, “Nowhere are the effects of this current emergency more acute than in communities of color, which have long endured occupational segregation, economic exploitation, and employment discrimination. These factors put people of color at greater risk of unemployment and limit their ability to weather economic downturns. The coronavirus does not discriminate based on race, but without immediate action, its economic fallout will disproportionately affect communities of color. “
3 Portada / Front Page Coronavirus Compounds Inequality and Endangers Communities of Color
“As a result of a corrosive cocktail of systemic inequalities, tens of thousands of people across the country are more likely to die from the coronavirus because of who they are, what they do and where they live,” Congressman Beyer said.
7 EforAll Holyoke Launches Spanish Accelerator Program, EparaTodos Holyoke
This portray of the current situation affecting people of color was shared by Swapna Reddy in an interview for The State Press newspaper on April 16, 2020. She explained that while COVID-19 is an egalitarian disease that can affect anyone or a “kind of an equal opportunity offender,” it impacts some groups more than others because of existing inequalities. Reddy is a clinical assistant professor in the College of Health Solutions who researches health disparities and health law.
9 Increasing Need for Food Assistance
Cita del Mes/ Quote of the Month “When we get this virus that is, quote-unquote, kind of an equal opportunity offender, it is going to seep into those cracks,” Reddy said. “And really where we have our largest weaknesses already — before we were dealing with the virus — those extreme areas of inequity, those extreme cracks in our society, are really going to feel the pressures of these viruses the most.”
4 Growing Data Underscore that Communities of Color are Being Harder Hit by COVID-19 5 COVID-19 is Hitting Black and Poor Communities the Hardest, Underscoring Fault Lines in Access and Care for those on Margins 6 Mass Graves for Coronavirus Victims shouldn’t come as a Shock – it’s how the Poor have been Buried for Centuries
8 Opinión / Opinion New England Pubilc Media: Un Recurso Valioso para la Comunidad 10 Libros/ Books Patria: formación de la comunidad puertorriqueña en Nueva York 11 Sunbelt Diaspora: Race, Class, and Latino Politics in Puerto Rican Orlando 12 Educación / Education STCC Virtual Tea Series to Highlight Women in Leadership Roles
HCC Student First from a Community College to Win Prestigious Poetry Contest
13 Ciencias / Science Unidos el RUM y la Universidad de Vermont por la Resiliencia Alimentaria
Swapna Reddy • TheStatePress.com /April 16, 2020• Swapna Reddy, a clinical assistant professor in the College of Health Solutions who researches health disparities and health law. Founded in 2004
Foto del Mes/Photo of the Month
Donation Made to the Holyoke Senior Center On April 21, 2020, Holyoke Old Timers Softball League partnered with Golden Years Elderly Services to donate100 masks and 100 bottles of sanitizer to the Holyoke Senior Center. The items will be distributed by Western Mass Elder Care. Emil Morales, a police officer with the Holyoke Police Department, and President of the Holyoke Old Timers Softball League, is shown above with the donated items.
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Volume 16, No. 6 n May 2020
Editor Manuel Frau Ramos manuelfrau@gmail.com 413-320-3826 Assistant Editor Ingrid Estrany-Frau Managing Editor Diosdado López Art Director Tennessee Media Design Business Address El Sol Latino P.O Box 572 Amherst, MA 01004-0572
Editorial Policy
El Sol Latino acepta colaboraciones tanto en español como en inglés. Nos comprometemos a examinarlas, pero no necesariamente a publicarlas. Nos reservamos el derecho de editar los textos y hacer correcciones por razones de espacio y/o estilo. Las colaboraciones pueden ser enviadas a nuestra dirección postal o a través de correo electrónico a: info@elsollatino.net. El Sol Latino welcomes submissions in either English or Spanish. We consider and review all submissions but reserve the right to not publish them. We reserve the right to edit texts and make corrections for reasons of space and/or style. Submissions may be sent to our postal address or via electronic mail to: info@elsollatino.net. El Sol Latino is published monthly by Coquí Media Group. El Sol Latino es publicado mensualmente por Coquí Media Group, P.O Box 572, Amherst, MA 01004-0572.
