I rarely write on Medium. It’s not that I have anything against the platform per se — just the idea of self publishing is a little disconcerting to me. I’m used to being edited to oblivion, using to pitching my ideas, used to saying “for [insert publication here], I wrote about”. But lately I’m finding there are some ideas that I can’t pitch because I don’t really know how to explain them. They are just a stream of consciousness that can’t be appropriately summarized in an e-mail. Perhaps you can relate — this is one of those streams.

You may…

Every morning, I make the commute from my bed to my desk — with pit stops for a shower and coffee. While I get ready for a day of Zoom calls and writing, millions of other people in the US are getting ready to head out to work in person. Whereas they don a mask for most of the day and will interact with strangers, I will be at home — not doing either of those things. This is the case for most of us in academic public health and media. …

Today — Joe Biden becomes the 46th President of the United States. Like him, many new elected officials are starting their terms this month.

We also passed a grim milestone this week.

More than 400,000 lives lost.

Today, we are releasing the second set of #publichealthforpoliticians posters, to remind politicians (old and new) — that we cannot stop the spread of this virus on our own.

It’s a new dawn and we can do better.

Feel free to download the images below and spread on social media. Use the hashtag #publichealthforpoliticians. @ your local politician.

Yesterday 3,964 people died from COVID-19 in overwhelmed hospitals while armed white supremacists stormed the US capitol in an attempt to subvert democracy and continue a reign of racist terror perpetuated by the president, who encouraged them to do so.

Yesterday was not an aberration but a culmination; not just of this presidency, but of the history of this nation. This is the legacy of violence in this country that we must reckon with. Democracy has existed on paper for over 200 years, but in reality it is more like 55. …

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We have watched this pandemic unfold for months now. People are being told to follow good public health practices while being provided with little to no relief.

So we’re introducing a new type of public health campaign called: #publichealthforpoliticians.

Feel free to download the images below and spread on social media. Use the hashtag #publichealthforpoliticians. @ your local politician. Make your own posters if you wish.

This pandemic has taken a toll on us all. Either we are actually experiencing trauma from having to treat people in hospitals, worry about sick family members or bury our dead, or we are worrying about contracting the virus because we work a job in which the government has deemed us essential, or a more accurate term might be sacrificial. Even for those who are stuck at home and do not have care responsibilities — there’s levels of vicarious trauma that can come from reading the news. All the stories about increasing cases, rising deaths, unemployment, people facing evictions, families…

Por: El Laboratorio Marshall y los Dream Defenders

Translation: Tania Lobo Paz

Seguir las noticias estos días puede ser dificultoso. Con una pandemia global, desastres de clima, una depresión economica y una crisis de brutalidad policial y racismo anti-Negro, es demasiado facil someterse a la desesperacion que nos rodea. Pero hemos estado aquí antes: históricamente, cuando las personas han enfrentado retos que aparentan ser imposibles, comunidades y organizadores han asumido el reto y lo han enfrentado de frente. La respuesta a nuestros problemas hoy no es diferente — debemos organizar, demostrar, protestar e involucrarnos en nuestras comunidades.

La pandemia de…