Oral Histories of COVID 19, an update from Emily
Hello.
It’s been a while since I began this project, a while since I’ve recorded these interviews. In life’s way, this project escaped my attention for a long time. With very few updates to stories I present to you these oral histories. Though months have past since these were recorded, these serve as documents to a specific time in each participants’ experience navigating this prolonged global pandemic.
Much has happened in our country and world since many of these were recorded: police brutality has rocked our cities as people march for Black lives, wild fires ripping through the West Coast, hurricanes and tornadoes, forced sterlization for women in ICE detentions, missing Indigenous women and constant threats to land protectors, an absolutely insane election and even more insane Presidental debate. So so much. These oral histories focused on the pandemic. They are meant to serve as a looking glass into moments in each person’s life and experience. They are not meant to cover the entire range of what humans are dealing with in 2020, though they welcome the intersections.
Below is documentation and a recording of my personal update from when I last shared my pandemic experience on May 24, 2020.
It is October 1. We still do not have relief from COVID 19, masks still aren’t mandated, and a lot in my own life—like the lives of my participants and others—has changed.
Thank you for listening. Stay tuned for the stories, ranging from May to July. And if you are interested in sharing a snapshot of your experience—do reach out. I’d love to preserve your story—whichever part you’d like preserved.
Photos, unless indicated, are by me.
