The African Medical Paradigm: Delineating Tradition from Pathology During the Coronavirus Pandemic by Tarik A. Richardson, M.A. Temple University
Uzima haubadilishwi mali “Life (health) and wealth are not bartered” – Swahili proverb Now more than ever, African communities across the globe have unprecedented access to a wealth of information. However, as demonstrated within the last several years, communities of African descent across the world have been flooded with an almost equally unprecedented amount of misinformation. This misinformation serves as a major danger to these communities as their members navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. This report does not intend to refute western scientific achievements, efforts, or approaches to fighting the coronavirus, but instead to give agency to a global community that has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. By exploring the experiences of these communities, and investigating the historiography of the African medical paradigm, these communities can be better informed about the implications of their medical possibilities. COVID-19 and African Americans During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the insecurities concerning the medical industry within African and diasporic communities have manifested themselves through a heightened sense of vulnerability. Over the last several years, members of the African communities, particularly those who are most vulnerable, expressed their anxieties about both COVID-19 and institutional apparatuses designed to deal with the ongoing situation. In November of 2020, the NAACP as part of a COVID Collaborative conducted a comprehensive survey on the coronavirus vaccine within Black and Latinx communities. This survey demonstrated a lack of confidence that these communities have in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 14% of African Americans surveyed indicated that they trust the vaccine will be safe, only 18% of African Americans surveyed believed that the vaccine will be effective, and 127
