csmonitor--2020-06-03--Face masks unleash creativity: ‘You can be part of the bigger story’

Mexico is “ a country of masks , ” says Ms. Fernández .
“ We dance with masks ; there ’ s lucha libre , carnivals , parties .
Now we ’ re using them in different ways.
” In Mexico , for example , many artists are harnessing the nation ’ s vibrant culture , and traditional mask designs , to save jobs and keep each other safe .
Out-of-work lucha libre wrestlers make masks mimicking sparkly , lace-up ones worn in the ring .
Artisans who typically craft wooden or leather masks now print them on fabric .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ company to produce tens of thousands of masks covered in brilliant images , donated to frontline workers and for sale to the public .
COVID-19 has wrought chaos , but also unleashed an international wave of creativity and solidarity as artists adapt .
Designs vary , but the underlying ethos is the same : This pandemic is ugly , but we can respond with beauty .
Three months ago , in much of the world , face masks were a no-nonsense medical tool .
But today , as the pandemic drags on , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attire , from the Czech Republic to Sierra Leone .
And as more public health officials have recommended face coverings , shortages in vital protective gear have turned citizens , designers , and luxury brands into lifesaving mask-makers – fashionable ones , at that .
Pink flamingo masks in Florida .
Lucha libre wrestler masks in Mexico City .
Futuristic masks on Parisian catwalks and bold prints splashed across Sierra Leonean markets .
Three months ago , in much of the world , face masks were a no-nonsense medical tool .
But today @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they ’ ve become a de rigueur part of daily attire – from DIY superhero masks for kids to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ’ s pantsuit-coordinated silks .
As more public health officials have recommended face coverings , shortages in vital protective gear have turned ordinary citizens , fashion designers , and luxury brands into lifesaving mask-makers .
At times , it ’ s a political act .
At times , a gesture of generosity .
And increasingly , a fashion statement .
COVID-19 has wrought chaos , but also unleashed an international @ @ @ @ @ @ @ designs vary , but the underlying ethos is the same : This pandemic is ugly , but we can respond with beauty .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , all our coronavirus coverage is free .
No paywall .
“ By wearing a mask you ’ re indicating that you care about the people around you , ” says Valerie Steele , director of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York .
“ It is so easy to include a mask with your ensemble.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ largely on where you come from .
Western culture is not keen on masks – sometimes associated with thieves , or even beak-like bubonic plague doctor attire – and many European countries ban face coverings .
“ Choosing a fashionable mask , color-coordinating it with your outfit , is taking that extra step towards making it seem friendly , ” says Dr. Steele .
She predicts masks will remain in the Western wardrobe post-pandemic , but less so than in Asia , where they have been common for years to protect against colds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Europe played good Samaritan during the worst of the crisis , making face masks for health workers and linking mask purchases to charitable donations .
Many remain hesitant to chase profits , but other retailers are charging ahead .
French designer Marine Serre proved prescient , featuring masks in her collections since 2019 .
One even included a high-end air filter .
“ Fashion is just a translation of what is happening around us , ” says Ms. Serre , who found inspiration biking in polluted Paris .
Now , her priority is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not just fashionable .
“ The pandemic has broken an ice wall , ” she says .
“ We can wear masks and it is fine and we can also have fun .
Let ’ s see how the mask evolves with our lives.
” The Czech Republic was one of the first European nations to make masks mandatory , sparking a sewing frenzy .
A Facebook group called “ Czechia sews face masks ” gathered a following of more than 40,000 people , mainly women willing to make free masks for health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hung up their creations on “ mask trees ” outside , where anyone in need could take them .
An exhibit at the National Museum in Prague showcased this outburst of solidarity .
“ People wanted to wear something that is interesting , that is fashionable , ” says curator Mira Burianova .
Some masks are by local designers , but most are homemade creations quickly stitched together to confront the crisis .
“ It is a symbol of this period , but I hope that our children will not need to wear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Mexico , meanwhile , reflect a history of creative resilience .
“ Mexico is a country of masks , ” says designer Carla Fernández .
“ We dance with masks ; there ’ s lucha libre , carnivals , parties .
Now we ’ re using them in different ways.
” The coronavirus pandemic snuffed festivals and tourism .
But many are harnessing the nation ’ s vibrant culture to save jobs and keep each other safe .
Out-of-work wrestlers make masks mimicking sparkly , lace-up ones worn in the ring .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ traditional wooden or leather masks , such as of animals or devils , are now printed on fabric .
Ms. Fernández worried COVID-19 would hit the nearly 60 % of Mexicans in the informal economy especially hard .
She teamed up with a beverage company to produce 50,000 masks donated to public transportation workers and medical professionals .
More are for sale to the public .
The pivot helped keep afloat the 175 artisans and 20 employees she regularly works with , and 25 % of all sales go back to the traditional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Even for Ms. Fernández , a well-established designer , finding appropriate fabric and functional patterns was a challenge .
But the results are masks covered in brilliant images , like the sharp , triangular-toothed , bright-orange jaguar .
She says Mexican adaptability – dating back to indigenous practices mixing with Spanish culture – is evident in how citizens reacted .
“ There ’ s always someone to give you a hand , ” says Ms. Fernández , and it ’ s typically not the government .
“ Family , friends , and community @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s in our blood : If you see a problem , you help.
” Jesús Ortiz shares that instinct .
The father of three went to the United States when he was 19 and was deported almost 10 years later , separating him from his family .
Lately , he ’ s spent his Fridays traveling across Mexico City , delivering face masks made by fellow deportees and returnees .
“ It keeps me busy and it ’ s a way to help fewer people get exposed , ” he says .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ are criminals or victims .
“ It ’ s really important for deportee and returnee communities to mobilize together because they often don ’ t have those family safety nets that many Mexicans – and even Mexican public policy – rely on to respond to crises , ” says Jill Anderson , co-director of Otros Dreams en Acción ( ODA ) , an organization Mr. Ortiz belongs to , which supports deportees and returnees .
Three members make masks covered in cactuses to donate or to sell .
Experts credit a past pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ masks .
In 2009 , when the H1N1 “ swine flu ” emerged here , masks were the central measure pushed by the government , not stay-at-home orders , notes urban anthropologist José Ignacio Lanzagorta .
“ We ’ ve assimilated to the use ... little by little , ” he says .
Many African countries , meanwhile , have already made face covers compulsory .
And the continent ’ s designers have responded with masks designed to turn a drab public health protocol into something beautiful .
“ I thought , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ safe and fashionable at the same time , ” says Cape Town designer Tracy Gore , who introduced masks to match her flower print tops and bomber jackets when masks became mandatory in South Africa .
Mask-wearing took root fairly easily across many parts of Africa , thanks in part to a culture of made-to-order fashion , facilitating companies ’ pivot toward the latest health accessory .
In Freetown , the capital of Sierra Leone , thousands of tailors usually work from tiny studios tucked between barber shops and corner stores , or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of markets .
When the government began restricting movement and enforcing social distancing measures , customers disappeared .
No one needed a new dress for church or a birthday or a wedding .
But Mary Ann KaiKai , who runs a label called Madam Wokie , found purpose and opportunity .
Ms. KaiKai had noticed how most of the thousands of women who sold fish , plantains , and neon orange bottles of palm oil in overcrowded markets didn ’ t wear masks .
She rustled up donations , hired 100 out-of-work tailors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mask-making assembly line .
Within three weeks , her team had made and distributed 72,000 masks across Freetown .
“ Our question was , how do you make something that addresses this need but also is something where people will say , ‘ This is colorful , this is vibrant , and I want to keep wearing this because it ’ s beautiful , ’ ” says Ms. KaiKai , who made luxury clothes before the crisis .
The masks she designed are made from ankara , a printed fabric known for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ geometric patterns .
“ Especially with the health system in Sierra Leone being weak , it ’ s important to protect yourself before you get sick , ” she says .
“ I ’ m not going to win any fashion awards producing masks .
But it ’ s about how you can be part of the bigger story of defeating this disease.
” Editor ’ s note : As a public service , all our coronavirus coverage is free .
No paywall .

Mexico is “a country of masks,” says Ms. Fernández. “We dance with masks; there’s lucha libre , carnivals, parties. Now we’re using them in different ways.”
In Mexico, for example, many artists are harnessing the nation’s vibrant culture, and traditional mask designs, to save jobs and keep each other safe. Out-of-work lucha libre wrestlers make masks mimicking sparkly, lace-up ones worn in the ring. Artisans who typically craft wooden or leather masks now print them on fabric. Designer Carla Fernández partnered with a beverage company to produce tens of thousands of masks covered in brilliant images, donated to frontline workers and for sale to the public.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And when you need to wear a face mask – well, why not make it a beautiful one? Resourceful artists are adapting their businesses to produce, and often donate, 2020’s must have.
COVID-19 has wrought chaos, but also unleashed an international wave of creativity and solidarity as artists adapt. Designs vary, but the underlying ethos is the same: This pandemic is ugly, but we can respond with beauty.
Three months ago, in much of the world, face masks were a no-nonsense medical tool. But today, as the pandemic drags on, they’ve become part of daily attire, from the Czech Republic to Sierra Leone. And as more public health officials have recommended face coverings, shortages in vital protective gear have turned citizens, designers, and luxury brands into lifesaving mask-makers – fashionable ones, at that.
Pink flamingo masks in Florida. Lucha libre wrestler masks in Mexico City. Futuristic masks on Parisian catwalks and bold prints splashed across Sierra Leonean markets.
Three months ago, in much of the world, face masks were a no-nonsense medical tool. But today, as the pandemic drags on, they’ve become a de rigueur part of daily attire – from DIY superhero masks for kids to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s pantsuit-coordinated silks. As more public health officials have recommended face coverings, shortages in vital protective gear have turned ordinary citizens, fashion designers, and luxury brands into lifesaving mask-makers.
At times, it’s a political act. At times, a gesture of generosity. And increasingly, a fashion statement. COVID-19 has wrought chaos, but also unleashed an international wave of creativity and solidarity. Mask designs vary, but the underlying ethos is the same: This pandemic is ugly, but we can respond with beauty.
Why We Wrote This When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And when you need to wear a face mask – well, why not make it a beautiful one? Resourceful artists are adapting their businesses to produce, and often donate, 2020’s must have.
Editor’s note: As a public service, all our coronavirus coverage is free. No paywall.
“By wearing a mask you’re indicating that you care about the people around you,” says Valerie Steele, director of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. “It is so easy to include a mask with your ensemble.”
Luxe look
The meaning and look of masks depends largely on where you come from. Western culture is not keen on masks – sometimes associated with thieves, or even beak-like bubonic plague doctor attire – and many European countries ban face coverings.
“Choosing a fashionable mask, color-coordinating it with your outfit, is taking that extra step towards making it seem friendly,” says Dr. Steele. She predicts masks will remain in the Western wardrobe post-pandemic, but less so than in Asia, where they have been common for years to protect against colds and pollution.
Major luxury brands in Europe played good Samaritan during the worst of the crisis, making face masks for health workers and linking mask purchases to charitable donations. Many remain hesitant to chase profits, but other retailers are charging ahead.
David W Cerny/Reuters View caption Hide caption A worker prepares a face mask exhibition at the National Museum amid the coronavirus outbreak in Prague, Czech Republic, May 21, 2020.
French designer Marine Serre proved prescient, featuring masks in her collections since 2019. One even included a high-end air filter. “Fashion is just a translation of what is happening around us,” says Ms. Serre, who found inspiration biking in polluted Paris.
Now, her priority is to make masks that are safe, not just fashionable. “The pandemic has broken an ice wall,” she says. “We can wear masks and it is fine and we can also have fun. Let’s see how the mask evolves with our lives.”
The Czech Republic was one of the first European nations to make masks mandatory, sparking a sewing frenzy. A Facebook group called “Czechia sews face masks” gathered a following of more than 40,000 people, mainly women willing to make free masks for health workers. In some areas, sewers hung up their creations on “mask trees” outside, where anyone in need could take them.
An exhibit at the National Museum in Prague showcased this outburst of solidarity. “People wanted to wear something that is interesting, that is fashionable,” says curator Mira Burianova. Some masks are by local designers, but most are homemade creations quickly stitched together to confront the crisis.
“It is a symbol of this period, but I hope that our children will not need to wear masks,” she adds.
“A country of masks”
Masks in Mexico, meanwhile, reflect a history of creative resilience.
“Mexico is a country of masks,” says designer Carla Fernández. “We dance with masks; there’s lucha libre, carnivals, parties. Now we’re using them in different ways.”
The coronavirus pandemic snuffed festivals and tourism. But many are harnessing the nation’s vibrant culture to save jobs and keep each other safe. Out-of-work wrestlers make masks mimicking sparkly, lace-up ones worn in the ring. The designs of artisans who typically craft traditional wooden or leather masks, such as of animals or devils, are now printed on fabric.
Ms. Fernández worried COVID-19 would hit the nearly 60% of Mexicans in the informal economy especially hard. She teamed up with a beverage company to produce 50,000 masks donated to public transportation workers and medical professionals. More are for sale to the public. The pivot helped keep afloat the 175 artisans and 20 employees she regularly works with, and 25% of all sales go back to the traditional mask-makers whose images are being used.
Courtesy of Carla Fernández View caption Hide caption A model wears a mask printed with the jaguar design (right) from traditional masks (left) by Santos and Claudio Najera, artisans in San Francisco Ozomatlán, Guerrero, Mexico. Mexican fashion designer Carla Fernández is using designs like this on washable face masks. Some 25% of the proceeds go to the artisans.
Even for Ms. Fernández, a well-established designer, finding appropriate fabric and functional patterns was a challenge. But the results are masks covered in brilliant images, like the sharp, triangular-toothed, bright-orange jaguar. She says Mexican adaptability – dating back to indigenous practices mixing with Spanish culture – is evident in how citizens reacted.
“There’s always someone to give you a hand,” says Ms. Fernández, and it’s typically not the government. “Family, friends, and community are a pillar of society. It’s in our blood: If you see a problem, you help.”
Jesús Ortiz shares that instinct. The father of three went to the United States when he was 19 and was deported almost 10 years later, separating him from his family. Lately, he’s spent his Fridays traveling across Mexico City, delivering face masks made by fellow deportees and returnees. “It keeps me busy and it’s a way to help fewer people get exposed,” he says. It also helps counter stereotypes that deportees are criminals or victims.
“It’s really important for deportee and returnee communities to mobilize together because they often don’t have those family safety nets that many Mexicans – and even Mexican public policy – rely on to respond to crises,” says Jill Anderson, co-director of Otros Dreams en Acción (ODA), an organization Mr. Ortiz belongs to, which supports deportees and returnees. Three members make masks covered in cactuses to donate or to sell.
Experts credit a past pandemic in Mexico for its openness to face masks. In 2009, when the H1N1 “swine flu” emerged here, masks were the central measure pushed by the government, not stay-at-home orders, notes urban anthropologist José Ignacio Lanzagorta.
“We’ve assimilated to the use ... little by little,” he says.
Covered, and beautiful
Many African countries, meanwhile, have already made face covers compulsory. And the continent’s designers have responded with masks designed to turn a drab public health protocol into something beautiful.
“I thought, we can find a delicious way to be safe and fashionable at the same time,” says Cape Town designer Tracy Gore, who introduced masks to match her flower print tops and bomber jackets when masks became mandatory in South Africa.
Courtesy of Tracy Gore View caption Hide caption After masks became mandatory in public in South Africa, Cape Town designer Tracy Gore began creating masks to match the bomber jackets and crop tops from her own line.
Mask-wearing took root fairly easily across many parts of Africa, thanks in part to a culture of made-to-order fashion, facilitating companies’ pivot toward the latest health accessory.
In Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, thousands of tailors usually work from tiny studios tucked between barber shops and corner stores, or in clattering rows in the fabric section of markets. When the government began restricting movement and enforcing social distancing measures, customers disappeared. No one needed a new dress for church or a birthday or a wedding.
Courtesy of Madam Wokie View caption Hide caption A tailor sews masks in the atelier of Madam Wokie, a Sierra Leonean designer who began making African print face masks to distribute to saleswomen at local markets in May 2020.
But Mary Ann KaiKai, who runs a label called Madam Wokie, found purpose and opportunity. Ms. KaiKai had noticed how most of the thousands of women who sold fish, plantains, and neon orange bottles of palm oil in overcrowded markets didn’t wear masks. She rustled up donations, hired 100 out-of-work tailors, and turned her three-story atelier into a mask-making assembly line. Within three weeks, her team had made and distributed 72,000 masks across Freetown.
“Our question was, how do you make something that addresses this need but also is something where people will say, ‘This is colorful, this is vibrant, and I want to keep wearing this because it’s beautiful,’” says Ms. KaiKai, who made luxury clothes before the crisis. The masks she designed are made from ankara, a printed fabric known for its swipes of bright colors and angular geometric patterns.
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“Especially with the health system in Sierra Leone being weak, it’s important to protect yourself before you get sick,” she says. “I’m not going to win any fashion awards producing masks. But it’s about how you can be part of the bigger story of defeating this disease.”
Editor’s note: As a public service, all our coronavirus coverage is free. No paywall.


csmonitor--2020-06-24--Daily for June 24, 2020

Daily for June 24, 2020

George Mitchell holds up a megaphone to amplify his words to the crowd waiting for boxes of free food .
“ If you can ’ t use it , don ’ t take it , ” Mr. Mitchell says .
Donations are gratefully accepted , but “ if you don ’ t want to pay , that ’ s OK. ” The lines for this twice-weekly event in Baltimore have grown significantly longer since the coronavirus shuttered major segments of the economy and sidelined millions of workers .
On this recent Friday , one of the people lined up outside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who lost her job as a security worker at M & T Bank Stadium .
Another is Elizabeth Rice , an aspiring young educator whose school employment dried up .
A retail opportunity also fell through , and she hasn ’ t been able to access unemployment benefits .
And there ’ s Daniel , who asked that his last name not be used .
He says he ’ s struggling to support his wife and two children with now-rarer home-improvement gigs .
“ It ’ s just been too hard , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ months .
Economic recessions tend to be especially rough on some of the very Americans who have few resources to begin with : people who are young , work in low-wage jobs , or have less education .
And in a nation where African Americans have experienced deep and persistent inequalities from the era of slavery forward , times of economic hardship have historically expanded existing gaps .
The coronavirus downturn looks to be following that same pattern , and perhaps even amplifying it – in the process expanding already deep fault lines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the news more for social unrest than for being a model of shared prosperity .
During the pandemic , while many office-style jobs have been able to be done from home , many lower-paid jobs , such as those at restaurants and football stadiums , have not .
The road to recovering those jobs may be slow as the economy gradually reopens .
Meanwhile , as of early June , death rates attributed to COVID-19 have been more than twice as high for African Americans as for white Americans .
And now all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through a different lens – one of deep indignation over a fatal instance of police brutality against George Floyd in Minneapolis .
While policing and criminal justice issues are the main fuel behind the nationwide protests , vast racial gaps in incomes and opportunities are an inextricable part of the context .
“ Now is the time to ask the tough questions .
...
There are real windows for a radical significant policy change that open infrequently in the course of history , at least in this country , ” says Kenan Fikri @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Group , a Washington think tank that tracks inequality and focuses on boosting economic growth .
“ And I believe that we ’ re facing one right now.
” Mr. Mitchell , megaphone in hand , is doing his part to lift long-standing burdens .
In this largely African American part of Baltimore , he ’ s working to shift the dynamics that have left so many in his community with little sense of hope or progress .
“ Everybody ain ’ t doing it .
But he ’ s doing it , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also waiting for her number to be called to fill up a box of food .
“ This is definitely a five-star light , not only for this community but for people who come from other communities.
” Amid a deep economic downturn and a national election year , the United States is searching for economic hope .
President Donald Trump has cut taxes , sought to use trade policy to revive U.S. manufacturing jobs , and this year supported pandemic relief for affected workers and businesses .
Democrats are proposing even bigger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ideas to narrow the income divide , ranging from a wealth tax to a universal basic income and other bulwarks against poverty .
But on the ground here in a city that is home to some of this nation ’ s most distressed African American neighborhoods , many residents don ’ t see much point in waiting for a rescue from on high .
That doesn ’ t mean help would be unwelcome .
It ’ s just that hopes have been raised and dashed many times before .
“ This virus has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ especially in our most impoverished neighborhoods , ” Sharon Green Middleton , the City Council member for this part of Baltimore , said at a recent council meeting .
The virus is , in fact , giving fresh salience to an appeal made by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 , just before his assassination prompted demonstrations of outrage and protest in Black communities nationwide .
“ One day our society will come to respect the sanitation worker if it is to survive , ” Dr. King said .
Today ’ s equivalent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who are deemed essential and keeping the nation fed and supplied , generally at low wages and sometimes with few benefits or protections against the virus .
“ The person who picks up our garbage , in the final analysis , is as significant as the physician , for if he doesn ’ t do his job , diseases are rampant .
All labor has dignity , ” Dr. King said as he lent his voice to the cause of striking Black sanitation workers in Memphis , Tennessee , at the time .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ people in hard economic circumstances the most visible path upward is local action .
It ’ s efforts like those of Mr. Mitchell and his band of more than 70 fellow volunteers .
Four years ago , after an unsuccessful fight to keep Langston Hughes Elementary School from closing , Mr. Mitchell led a campaign to repurpose the building .
Once a coordinator for after-school activities , he now heads the renamed facility – the Langston Hughes Community , Business and Resource Center .
It , too , has been adversely affected by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s food pantry is up , but various job skills classes are on hold ( except for ones on nursing ) .
In normal times , the center hosts everything from free hot meals to financial literacy training , Spanish classes , and “ Black business Fridays.
” For Mr. Mitchell , it all fits together .
When people learn life skills from balancing a checkbook to cooking a meal , it ’ s a step toward freedom from financial anxiety or debt .
And by contrast , when worries about money or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enough to eat , “ it provides a situation where it is hopeless.
” So every box of food counts .
“ All we got to do is change one block at a time .
It ’ s working , man , ” Mr. Mitchell says .
But he ’ s far from naive about the magnitude of the challenge .
“ We ’ re running out of time.
” Whether complacency is close to his home or in affluent communities far away , “ the culture has to change , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ off of our misery .
... How much money should you make off of people who are poor ?
” “ Things could be so different ” A couple of miles from the Langston Hughes center , Dion Thompson is wielding a video camera , documenting another local effort to give food to those in need .
He ’ s now jobless himself .
The payment-processing firm he worked for suddenly found itself with fewer businesses that he could pitch as a telemarketing specialist .
Mr. Thompson , who had been making $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t be long before he can be rehired .
But what he really wants is something longer term , a career – and to put a criminal record behind him .
The downturn is making that harder .
But like Mr. Mitchell , he ’ s also thinking about how to build up his community .
This is the neighborhood that was devastated five years ago by protests after local resident Freddie Gray died of a spinal injury incurred during a police arrest .
Promises of investment and jobs have largely bypassed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would like to create a studio where people can perform rap or spoken-word poetry .
“ I ’ m trying to change , ” he says , and trying to help other young people avoid trouble in a city known for a high murder rate , and also for its packs of “ squeegee boys ” who seek cash from passing drivers in exchange for a window wash. “ Things could be so different , ” Mr. Thompson says .
“ We should not be looking at skin .
We should be looking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seeking cash handouts .
But he wonders why more money isn ’ t spent improving schools .
He questions why a billionaire can send an automobile into outer space and yet there ’ s “ not enough money to give to the community.
” The pandemic ’ s effects are also being felt , of course , in places that aren ’ t known as impoverished .
But if the effects are widespread , the disparities are also very real .
Even in good times , African Americans face delays in catching an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that began in 2009 had brought some gains , with Black unemployment hitting a record low 5.4 % last August .
Now the officially reported unemployment rate for white Americans has surged from 3.1 % in February to 12.4 % in May , according to Labor Department estimates .
But unemployment for Black Americans has jumped from 5.8 % to 16.8 % in that same time .
For Latino and Hispanic Americans , the rate went from 4.4 % to 17.6 % .
Pandemic-related gaps are also significant based on age , gender @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among women , young workers , and those without a college degree .
All this comes after several decades of generally widening inequality between those at the top of the earnings scale and the rest of Americans .
From 1979 to 2015 , household income for the top 1 % of earners grew five times faster ( a total gain of 229 % ) than for the bottom 90 % ( with gains of 46 % ) .
And with costs for education and health care rising faster than wages , legions in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rather than meaningful gains in living standards .
As revealed in Baltimore or virtually any other U.S. city , the gaps are starkly geographic .
In the new millennium , the gains of economic growth have increasingly been concentrated in “ superstar cities ” and college towns , while the overall number of counties or ZIP code areas in economic distress has actually been rising , according to Economic Innovation Group data .
With the coronavirus , “ we see that distressed people and places are staring down a triple whammy , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He refers to higher rates of poor health , weaker health care infrastructure , and now the risk that a depressed job market could persist “ for a very long time.
” While places like West Baltimore are vastly different from struggling rural areas in Kentucky or New Mexico , their challenges can have some similar roots : a dearth of jobs or investment , education gaps , health burdens including drug addiction , and challenges maintaining strong community bonds .
From the urban Northeast to the rural South and beyond , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own weight .
“ The legacy of slavery has not been resolved , ” says economist Lisa Cook at Michigan State University in East Lansing .
She sees this as the greatest among “ a whole lot of other challenges ” tied to economic inequality .
She calls for blue-sky thinking reminiscent of the New Deal .
Fellow Black scholars , she notes , are proposing measures such as a federal jobs guarantee or “ baby bonds ” that create a nest egg for young people to use for college or other goals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ argue that policies aimed at redistribution could lead the nation into a future of higher taxes or reduced overall prosperity .
The counterargument is that greater equity can enhance economic growth by broadening markets and talent pools .
After all , recent years of high inequality – with chief executive salaries up 940 % since 1978 – have coincided with a decrease in , rather than a blossoming of , new-business formation .
“ We ’ re missing out on higher living standards if we ’ re not incorporating more women and African @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dr. Cook .
And it has wider political implications , she adds .
“ If people don ’ t believe that they are participating in the shared prosperity of the country , they won ’ t believe in the system and they won ’ t believe in the social contract.
” Here on the streets of West Baltimore , there ’ s no doubt about whether the community needs a boost .
Richard Francis , an immigrant from Trinidad who goes by the name Farmer Chippy , is trying to do it from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after all , isn ’ t just a welcome form of emergency assistance during the pandemic .
It ’ s also something residents worried about long before .
Many residents live in “ food deserts ” – places without supermarkets let alone farm stands .
“ Grow more food !
” Farmer Chippy says , as he walks among rows of young corn plants , kale , and other vegetables in formerly vacant lots along Park Heights Avenue .
“ We must be respected for the talents that exist in our community .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ The vision is one of empowerment for the community ; partnering with local groups , he tries to ignite interest in urban farming in young and old alike .
Start these steps toward better health and food security , and he says a stronger neighborhood ( he calls it an “ agrihood ” ) will follow .
It ’ s not just that he ’ s stopped waiting for policymakers to help what he says is “ the greatest city in America.
” He is actively rejecting an economic system that he says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I have dynamic , excellent children ” coming to learn in programs at the farm , he says .
“ We want to prepare children to lead organizations , ” to promote “ Black excellence.
” On a recent Saturday afternoon , some of the young people attracted by that vision are helping out at the farm .
“ The whole system needs to be remodeled , ” says Kamryn Washington , a political science major at Morgan State University , not far up the road .
“ This is America , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be helping out everybody.
” Bria Morton-Lane , a biology major at Howard University in Washington , D.C. , similarly wants to see new generations of young people growing up nourished , not just with food but with education .
“ It ’ s not about moving away and making a better life for yourself .
I want to make a better life for this community , ” the lifelong Baltimore resident says , as she adds handfuls of topsoil to help kale plants thrive .
This is just one upstart project , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seeing food as a building block toward wider progress .
At the storefront of BeMore Green , where Mr. Thompson was doing his videography , the boxes of fresh produce bring smiles to grateful recipients – some of whom bite into crunchy apples .
One of the people growing and delivering the food , Dominic Nell , sees his work as blending physical and mental health in an area that needs more of both .
“ [ We ’ ve been ] left out of the wealth conversation , ” he says .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mule ” – the promise that formerly enslaved people hoped would come to fruition after the Civil War – he asks for “ 40 vacants and some tools , ” referring to vacant lots .
“ We ’ ve got to love each other a little more.
” Marvin “ Doc ” Cheatham is a community leader just a few blocks away – a longtime advocate of voting , of civil rights , and of taking kids to Orioles baseball games .
As he looks back to the tumultuous year of 1968 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as unrest flared over the assassination of Dr. King , he says he sees some progress for Black Americans .
His view is born out by evidence like rising incomes and education levels since then , and the election of a Black president in 2008 .
But Mr. Cheatham also sees big gaps left to bridge , at a time when wealth of the average Black household is one-tenth that of white counterparts .
In his neighborhood , the disparity is even greater than that .
“ We don ’ t have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ No laundromat .
No bank.
” Yes , no supermarket either .
And with all this , he says , hope in some corners of his neighborhood has “ almost disappeared.
” It ’ s possible that the exigencies of the current moment – an election-year economic crisis coupled with national outrage over racial injustice – will spur a push for new policies to address economic inequalities as well as police misconduct .
It ’ s notable that many white Americans are marching along with African Americans against racial injustice .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ enduring racism , political pressure in recent years has resulted in some state-level policies to support working-class Americans , such as a higher minimum wage , paid family leave , and higher taxes on rich people to help pay for such efforts .
People like Mr. Cheatham say local actions must also play a key role in moving distressed communities forward .
When he sees vacant lots , his first thought is not of farms but of parks .
He has already carved out one in his Easterwood neighborhood , where people can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a more ambitious project – a skateboard park – is on the way .
“ Baltimore is a city that ’ s not going to let itself be defined by its past , ” says Stephanie Murdock , another community leader who ’ s helping to make it happen .
She is white .
Mr. Cheatham is Black .
But they speak of each other as “ brother ” and “ sister ” in this effort to bring positivity , health , and excitement to young people .
America more broadly may need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inequality rarely shows up in polls as a top voter priority .
But that ’ s a bit misleading .
The American penchant for economic freedom is matched by deep concerns over economic security .
And 79 % of U.S. adults called inequality a “ top ” or “ important ” priority in a 2019 Pew Research Center survey .
Even the long-stodgy U.S. Federal Reserve system , charged mainly with maintaining a stable banking network , now has a regional institute focused on inequality .
Some wonder if America can afford to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wonder if this rich but highly stratified nation can afford not to .
The debate will surely be part of this fall ’ s presidential race .
Back at the Langston Hughes center , George Mitchell flips some switches in a modest studio to go on air with his daily call-in show on local radio .
On this day he ’ s partly soul-searching about how another African American man with his same first name ( George Floyd ) died after a police officer pressed a knee into his neck .
“ Is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A counterfeit $ 20 bill ?
” he asks , referring to the suspected crime for which Mr. Floyd was being arrested .
“ They want to label us : stupid , drug addicts ... lazy , ” Mr. Mitchell says .
Even as he appeals for greater justice , he goads his listeners to lift their own lives higher through compassion and grit .
“ Take care of your kids .
Respect Black women.
” Above all , he says , it ’ s time for a society with more love .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that can span across racial boundaries .
“ Because I ’ m pro-Black , I ’ m not anti anything , ” he says .
“ We ’ ve got to love each other a little more .
”

Rising inequality in a crisis: The view from Baltimore Collapse
George Mitchell holds up a megaphone to amplify his words to the crowd waiting for boxes of free food. “If you can’t use it, don’t take it,” Mr. Mitchell says. Donations are gratefully accepted, but “if you don’t want to pay, that’s OK.”
The lines for this twice-weekly event in Baltimore have grown significantly longer since the coronavirus shuttered major segments of the economy and sidelined millions of workers.
On this recent Friday, one of the people lined up outside the red-brick former school is Cassandra Branch, who lost her job as a security worker at M&T Bank Stadium. Another is Elizabeth Rice, an aspiring young educator whose school employment dried up. A retail opportunity also fell through, and she hasn’t been able to access unemployment benefits.
And there’s Daniel, who asked that his last name not be used. He says he’s struggling to support his wife and two children with now-rarer home-improvement gigs.
“It’s just been too hard,” he says of the past several months.
Michael Bonfigli/Special to the Christian Science Monitor View caption Hide caption George Mitchell, head of the Langston Hughes Community, Business and Resource Center, gives instructions to people standing in line to receive free food in Baltimore. The center offers job skills classes and other services to local residents, but many of the activities were shut down during the coronavirus.
Economic recessions tend to be especially rough on some of the very Americans who have few resources to begin with: people who are young, work in low-wage jobs, or have less education. And in a nation where African Americans have experienced deep and persistent inequalities from the era of slavery forward, times of economic hardship have historically expanded existing gaps.
The coronavirus downturn looks to be following that same pattern, and perhaps even amplifying it – in the process expanding already deep fault lines in a country that is now in the news more for social unrest than for being a model of shared prosperity.
During the pandemic, while many office-style jobs have been able to be done from home, many lower-paid jobs, such as those at restaurants and football stadiums, have not. The road to recovering those jobs may be slow as the economy gradually reopens. Meanwhile, as of early June, death rates attributed to COVID-19 have been more than twice as high for African Americans as for white Americans.
And now all this is being processed by many citizens through a different lens – one of deep indignation over a fatal instance of police brutality against George Floyd in Minneapolis. While policing and criminal justice issues are the main fuel behind the nationwide protests, vast racial gaps in incomes and opportunities are an inextricable part of the context.
“Now is the time to ask the tough questions. ... There are real windows for a radical significant policy change that open infrequently in the course of history, at least in this country,” says Kenan Fikri, research director at the Economic Innovation Group, a Washington think tank that tracks inequality and focuses on boosting economic growth.
“And I believe that we’re facing one right now.”
Mr. Mitchell, megaphone in hand, is doing his part to lift long-standing burdens. In this largely African American part of Baltimore, he’s working to shift the dynamics that have left so many in his community with little sense of hope or progress.
“Everybody ain’t doing it. But he’s doing it,” says Jeanette Snowden, who is also waiting for her number to be called to fill up a box of food. “This is definitely a five-star light, not only for this community but for people who come from other communities.”
Amid a deep economic downturn and a national election year, the United States is searching for economic hope. President Donald Trump has cut taxes, sought to use trade policy to revive U.S. manufacturing jobs, and this year supported pandemic relief for affected workers and businesses. Democrats are proposing even bigger emergency aid and are abuzz with long-term ideas to narrow the income divide, ranging from a wealth tax to a universal basic income and other bulwarks against poverty.
But on the ground here in a city that is home to some of this nation’s most distressed African American neighborhoods, many residents don’t see much point in waiting for a rescue from on high. That doesn’t mean help would be unwelcome. It’s just that hopes have been raised and dashed many times before.
“This virus has magnified the extreme disparities that exist, especially in our most impoverished neighborhoods,” Sharon Green Middleton, the City Council member for this part of Baltimore, said at a recent council meeting.
The virus is, in fact, giving fresh salience to an appeal made by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, just before his assassination prompted demonstrations of outrage and protest in Black communities nationwide.
“One day our society will come to respect the sanitation worker if it is to survive,” Dr. King said. Today’s equivalent might be the grocery and delivery workers who are deemed essential and keeping the nation fed and supplied, generally at low wages and sometimes with few benefits or protections against the virus.
“The person who picks up our garbage, in the final analysis, is as significant as the physician, for if he doesn’t do his job, diseases are rampant. All labor has dignity,” Dr. King said as he lent his voice to the cause of striking Black sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, at the time.
Now, as then, for many people in hard economic circumstances the most visible path upward is local action. It’s efforts like those of Mr. Mitchell and his band of more than 70 fellow volunteers.
Four years ago, after an unsuccessful fight to keep Langston Hughes Elementary School from closing, Mr. Mitchell led a campaign to repurpose the building. Once a coordinator for after-school activities, he now heads the renamed facility – the Langston Hughes Community, Business and Resource Center.
It, too, has been adversely affected by COVID-19. Demand at the center’s food pantry is up, but various job skills classes are on hold (except for ones on nursing). In normal times, the center hosts everything from free hot meals to financial literacy training, Spanish classes, and “Black business Fridays.”
For Mr. Mitchell, it all fits together. When people learn life skills from balancing a checkbook to cooking a meal, it’s a step toward freedom from financial anxiety or debt. And by contrast, when worries about money or a contagious disease combine with not having enough to eat, “it provides a situation where it is hopeless.”
Kriston Jae Bethel/Special to The Christian Science Monitor View caption Hide caption April Whitehead bags strawberries for distribution at the Langston Hughes Community, Business and Resource Center in Baltimore.
So every box of food counts.
“All we got to do is change one block at a time. It’s working, man,” Mr. Mitchell says.
But he’s far from naive about the magnitude of the challenge. “We’re running out of time.”
Whether complacency is close to his home or in affluent communities far away, “the culture has to change,” he says. “Somebody is making money off of our misery. ... How much money should you make off of people who are poor?”
“Things could be so different”
A couple of miles from the Langston Hughes center, Dion Thompson is wielding a video camera, documenting another local effort to give food to those in need.
He’s now jobless himself. The payment-processing firm he worked for suddenly found itself with fewer businesses that he could pitch as a telemarketing specialist. Mr. Thompson, who had been making $17 an hour, hopes it won’t be long before he can be rehired.
But what he really wants is something longer term, a career – and to put a criminal record behind him. The downturn is making that harder.
But like Mr. Mitchell, he’s also thinking about how to build up his community. This is the neighborhood that was devastated five years ago by protests after local resident Freddie Gray died of a spinal injury incurred during a police arrest. Promises of investment and jobs have largely bypassed the neighborhood for years.
Mr. Thompson would like to create a studio where people can perform rap or spoken-word poetry.
“I’m trying to change,” he says, and trying to help other young people avoid trouble in a city known for a high murder rate, and also for its packs of “squeegee boys” who seek cash from passing drivers in exchange for a window wash.
“Things could be so different,” Mr. Thompson says. “We should not be looking at skin. We should be looking at morals.”
He’s not seeking cash handouts. But he wonders why more money isn’t spent improving schools. He questions why a billionaire can send an automobile into outer space and yet there’s “not enough money to give to the community.”
Kriston Jae Bethel/Special to the Christian Science Monitor View caption Hide caption "Things could be so different. We should not be looking at skin. We should be looking at morals," says Dion Thompson, who was laid off as a telemarketing specialist when the pandemic hit and would like to open a studio where people in Baltimore can perform rap music.
The pandemic’s effects are also being felt, of course, in places that aren’t known as impoverished. But if the effects are widespread, the disparities are also very real. Even in good times, African Americans face delays in catching an updraft. Yet the long economic expansion that began in 2009 had brought some gains, with Black unemployment hitting a record low 5.4% last August.
Now the officially reported unemployment rate for white Americans has surged from 3.1% in February to 12.4% in May, according to Labor Department estimates. But unemployment for Black Americans has jumped from 5.8% to 16.8% in that same time. For Latino and Hispanic Americans, the rate went from 4.4% to 17.6%.
Pandemic-related gaps are also significant based on age, gender, and education, with higher joblessness among women, young workers, and those without a college degree.
All this comes after several decades of generally widening inequality between those at the top of the earnings scale and the rest of Americans. From 1979 to 2015, household income for the top 1% of earners grew five times faster (a total gain of 229%) than for the bottom 90% (with gains of 46%). And with costs for education and health care rising faster than wages, legions in middle or lower tiers have seen stagnation rather than meaningful gains in living standards.
As revealed in Baltimore or virtually any other U.S. city, the gaps are starkly geographic. In the new millennium, the gains of economic growth have increasingly been concentrated in “superstar cities” and college towns, while the overall number of counties or ZIP code areas in economic distress has actually been rising, according to Economic Innovation Group data.
With the coronavirus, “we see that distressed people and places are staring down a triple whammy,” says Mr. Fikri, the researcher. He refers to higher rates of poor health, weaker health care infrastructure, and now the risk that a depressed job market could persist “for a very long time.”
While places like West Baltimore are vastly different from struggling rural areas in Kentucky or New Mexico, their challenges can have some similar roots: a dearth of jobs or investment, education gaps, health burdens including drug addiction, and challenges maintaining strong community bonds.
From the urban Northeast to the rural South and beyond, the long-standing reach of racial discrimination adds its own weight.
“The legacy of slavery has not been resolved,” says economist Lisa Cook at Michigan State University in East Lansing. She sees this as the greatest among “a whole lot of other challenges” tied to economic inequality.
She calls for blue-sky thinking reminiscent of the New Deal. Fellow Black scholars, she notes, are proposing measures such as a federal jobs guarantee or “baby bonds” that create a nest egg for young people to use for college or other goals as they enter adulthood.
Many conservatives argue that policies aimed at redistribution could lead the nation into a future of higher taxes or reduced overall prosperity. The counterargument is that greater equity can enhance economic growth by broadening markets and talent pools. After all, recent years of high inequality – with chief executive salaries up 940% since 1978 – have coincided with a decrease in, rather than a blossoming of, new-business formation.
“We’re missing out on higher living standards if we’re not incorporating more women and African Americans into the process,” says Dr. Cook. And it has wider political implications, she adds. “If people don’t believe that they are participating in the shared prosperity of the country, they won’t believe in the system and they won’t believe in the social contract.”
Kriston Jae Bethel/Special to the Christian Science Monitor View caption Hide caption Salim Williams prepares to livestream a radio show, “The Artist Lounge,” at the Langston Hughes center.
Nourishing Black excellence
Here on the streets of West Baltimore, there’s no doubt about whether the community needs a boost. Richard Francis, an immigrant from Trinidad who goes by the name Farmer Chippy, is trying to do it from the ground up.
Quite literally.
Fresh-grown food, after all, isn’t just a welcome form of emergency assistance during the pandemic. It’s also something residents worried about long before. Many residents live in “food deserts” – places without supermarkets let alone farm stands.
“Grow more food!” Farmer Chippy says, as he walks among rows of young corn plants, kale, and other vegetables in formerly vacant lots along Park Heights Avenue. “We must be respected for the talents that exist in our community. We must manage our own resources.”
The vision is one of empowerment for the community; partnering with local groups, he tries to ignite interest in urban farming in young and old alike. Start these steps toward better health and food security, and he says a stronger neighborhood (he calls it an “agrihood”) will follow.
It’s not just that he’s stopped waiting for policymakers to help what he says is “the greatest city in America.” He is actively rejecting an economic system that he says has too long exploited Black workers.
“I have dynamic, excellent children” coming to learn in programs at the farm, he says. “We want to prepare children to lead organizations,” to promote “Black excellence.”
On a recent Saturday afternoon, some of the young people attracted by that vision are helping out at the farm.
“The whole system needs to be remodeled,” says Kamryn Washington, a political science major at Morgan State University, not far up the road. “This is America,” she explains. “You should be helping out everybody.”
Bria Morton-Lane, a biology major at Howard University in Washington, D.C., similarly wants to see new generations of young people growing up nourished, not just with food but with education.
“It’s not about moving away and making a better life for yourself. I want to make a better life for this community,” the lifelong Baltimore resident says, as she adds handfuls of topsoil to help kale plants thrive.
This is just one upstart project, but it’s not alone in seeing food as a building block toward wider progress. At the storefront of BeMore Green, where Mr. Thompson was doing his videography, the boxes of fresh produce bring smiles to grateful recipients – some of whom bite into crunchy apples.
One of the people growing and delivering the food, Dominic Nell, sees his work as blending physical and mental health in an area that needs more of both. “[We’ve been] left out of the wealth conversation,” he says. So instead of “40 acres and a mule” – the promise that formerly enslaved people hoped would come to fruition after the Civil War – he asks for “40 vacants and some tools,” referring to vacant lots.
Kriston Jae Bethel/Special to the Christian Science Monitor View caption Hide caption JR finishes detailing a car on a street in Baltimore. He had planned to open a store, JR’s Penny Mart, on the same corner in March, but has been unable to because of the pandemic.
“We’ve got to love each other a little more.”
Marvin “Doc” Cheatham is a community leader just a few blocks away – a longtime advocate of voting, of civil rights, and of taking kids to Orioles baseball games.
As he looks back to the tumultuous year of 1968, when he graduated from high school as unrest flared over the assassination of Dr. King, he says he sees some progress for Black Americans. His view is born out by evidence like rising incomes and education levels since then, and the election of a Black president in 2008.
But Mr. Cheatham also sees big gaps left to bridge, at a time when wealth of the average Black household is one-tenth that of white counterparts. In his neighborhood, the disparity is even greater than that.
“We don’t have a health clinic,” Mr. Cheatham says. “No laundromat. No bank.” Yes, no supermarket either. And with all this, he says, hope in some corners of his neighborhood has “almost disappeared.”
It’s possible that the exigencies of the current moment – an election-year economic crisis coupled with national outrage over racial injustice – will spur a push for new policies to address economic inequalities as well as police misconduct.
It’s notable that many white Americans are marching along with African Americans against racial injustice. And, separate from the question of enduring racism, political pressure in recent years has resulted in some state-level policies to support working-class Americans, such as a higher minimum wage, paid family leave, and higher taxes on rich people to help pay for such efforts.
People like Mr. Cheatham say local actions must also play a key role in moving distressed communities forward. When he sees vacant lots, his first thought is not of farms but of parks. He has already carved out one in his Easterwood neighborhood, where people can enjoy picnics and rosebushes. And now a more ambitious project – a skateboard park – is on the way.
“Baltimore is a city that’s not going to let itself be defined by its past,” says Stephanie Murdock, another community leader who’s helping to make it happen. She is white. Mr. Cheatham is Black. But they speak of each other as “brother” and “sister” in this effort to bring positivity, health, and excitement to young people.
America more broadly may need some of the same determination. Economic inequality rarely shows up in polls as a top voter priority. But that’s a bit misleading. The American penchant for economic freedom is matched by deep concerns over economic security. And 79% of U.S. adults called inequality a “top” or “important” priority in a 2019 Pew Research Center survey.
Even the long-stodgy U.S. Federal Reserve system, charged mainly with maintaining a stable banking network, now has a regional institute focused on inequality.
Some wonder if America can afford to address the rising income gap. Others wonder if this rich but highly stratified nation can afford not to. The debate will surely be part of this fall’s presidential race.
Kriston Jae Bethel/Special to the Christian Science Monitor View caption Hide caption Ella Scovens, chaplain for a child care program at the center, greets George Mitchell as he places a hand on her shoulder.
Back at the Langston Hughes center, George Mitchell flips some switches in a modest studio to go on air with his daily call-in show on local radio. On this day he’s partly soul-searching about how another African American man with his same first name (George Floyd) died after a police officer pressed a knee into his neck.
“Is that what my life is worth? A counterfeit $20 bill?” he asks, referring to the suspected crime for which Mr. Floyd was being arrested. “They want to label us: stupid, drug addicts ... lazy,” Mr. Mitchell says.
Even as he appeals for greater justice, he goads his listeners to lift their own lives higher through compassion and grit. “Take care of your kids. Respect Black women.”
Above all, he says, it’s time for a society with more love. Love among Black Americans themselves. Love that can span across racial boundaries. “Because I’m pro-Black, I’m not anti anything,” he says. “We’ve got to love each other a little more.”


csmonitor--2020-04-29--Living in a war zone: What it teaches about surviving a pandemic

The willingness of Afghans to repair the social fabric whenever violence tears open their lives reveals a patience born of experience .
They spurn cynicism to attend college , get married , and raise families .
They cast off self-pity to gather in cafes , hold public celebrations , and worship together .
They search for light in the shadow of war .
Their calmness defied the not-so-distant echoes of gunfire and grenade explosions .
And their example of adapting to the constant presence of war – finding purpose , meaning , and joy within the confines of mutual hardship @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new uncertainty , our Northern California correspondent , Martin Kuz , shares a different perspective .
He covered the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan for three years , traveling to half the country ’ s 34 provinces .
One memory that persists is how Afghans responded to the countless attacks they endured .
It ’ s common these days to hear people compare our responses to the coronavirus to war .
Flaws abound in the comparison .
But it is true that both reshape the order of life , disrupting cultural and social rituals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worlds .
The city appears deserted .
No cars in the streets , no pedestrians on the sidewalks .
Shops closed up , restaurants shut down .
The absence of motion surrounds me .
Walking past a storefront , I notice a cluster of men staring out from behind its metal security gate .
They range in age from early teens to about 50 , and when I offer a smile , a few respond in kind .
Their calmness defies the not-so-distant echoes of gunfire and grenade explosions .
As the novel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up indoors , my mind keeps returning to that silent , fleeting exchange seven years ago in Kabul , Afghanistan .
People had disappeared into buildings seeking cover during an insurgent attack .
Yet four or five blocks from the fighting , the group of men reacted to their captivity with placid resolve , inured to war ’ s chaos .
The memory of that moment from the longest war in United States history surfaces when I stroll through my neighborhood in Northern California .
Stillness has muffled the streets in Sacramento as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the threat of COVID-19 to subside .
Here and there , I glimpse someone peering out a window , as if checking whether our old way of life has come back .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , all our coronavirus coverage is free .
No paywall .
Flaws abound in the comparison of pandemic to war .
But it is true that each form of calamity brings suffering and death , provokes anxiety and grief , and requires collective effort and sacrifice to repel an invading force @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , disrupting cultural and social rituals and altering perspective on external and interior worlds .
In our new age of uncertainty , the example of Afghans adapting to the constant presence of war – finding purpose , meaning , and joy within the confines of mutual hardship – holds useful lessons .
As we confront economic insecurity , food shortages , and loss of personal freedom , as we worry about the danger of stepping outside our homes , we can take cues from a nation that has coped with those burdens for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Afghanistan for three years , traveling to half the country ’ s 34 provinces .
The attack in Kabul on May 24 , 2013 , fit a recurring pattern in large cities and remote villages alike .
The assault began when a suicide bomber detonated explosives near a Western aid agency .
The hourslong firefight that followed between militants and Afghan security forces claimed four victims , including a 6-year-old girl .
A plume of gray smoke swirled over the city of 4 million people as its public spaces emptied out and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ honed their shelter-in-place reflexes during multiple wars over the past 40 years .
They know to stay inside at the sound of explosions and gunfire .
They also know that , after the smoke dissipates , a pall of dread will linger .
The unease hovers for hours or days , weeks or months .
But in time , by degrees , people reassert a measure of control as shops reopen , workers return to their jobs , and children again play in the streets .
Life regains its normal rhythms – with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at once relative and fragile in war .
The willingness of Afghans to repair the social fabric whenever violence tears open their lives reveals a patience born of experience .
They spurn cynicism to attend college , get married , and raise families .
They cast off self-pity to gather in cafes , hold public celebrations , and worship together .
They search for light in the shadow of war .
These acts of rebellion against despair and loss reflect an ability to acclimate to chronic turmoil .
Even after generations of bloodshed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of possibility , bearing their country ’ s privations with an enviable strength of spirit .
The day after the attack , Kabul ’ s residents started to emerge from hiding .
In the afternoon , I rode by taxi to a university to watch its graduation ceremony , passing the store where I had seen the group of men .
The security gate was up , and inside there were customers .
The coronavirus has engulfed America .
Hospitals struggle with patient overflow and equipment shortages .
Demand at food banks soars @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jobs or income .
Stay-at-home orders cut us off from public spaces and one another .
We tend to feel connected only in our shared isolation .
War splinters a nation , and in their distress , people turn to each other for solace and hope .
By contrast , preventing the spread of COVID-19 requires us to stay apart , a concept at odds with human impulse and one that , in aiding the greater good , denies us the comfort of coming together .
Our retreat from the outside world , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recovery , conflicts with American notions of personal freedom and the desire to impose control over the future .
We can look to Afghans for guidance in navigating our new reality .
Decades of war in Afghanistan have inflicted profound tragedies and social ills on its people .
At the same time , their acceptance of uncertainty as the status quo serves as a wellspring of resilience .
Rather than dwell on the unrest and surrender to a siege mentality , Afghans attempt to create a semblance of stability by devoting their attention @ @ @ @ @ @ @ insurgent attack in Kabul in 2013 inflicted minor damage on a shoe store run by Samiullah Safi .
When I visited him two days later , he was sweeping up bits of glass and plaster from the shop floor .
He had reopened that morning , and I asked how he endured in the face of endless war .
His answer echoed what I heard from Afghans across the country during my years there .
“ We know violence is always possible , ” he told me .
“ But we can not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ each day until the next one.
” The West tends to view Afghanistan as medieval , a place with nothing to teach us about surviving our modern moment .
Yet as the coronavirus blurs the future and magnifies the present , we might emulate the persistence of Afghans , who even under the yoke of war regard each day as its own reward , its own triumph .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , all our coronavirus coverage is free .
No paywall .

The willingness of Afghans to repair the social fabric whenever violence tears open their lives reveals a patience born of experience. They spurn cynicism to attend college, get married, and raise families. They cast off self-pity to gather in cafes, hold public celebrations, and worship together. They search for light in the shadow of war.
Their calmness defied the not-so-distant echoes of gunfire and grenade explosions. And their example of adapting to the constant presence of war – finding purpose, meaning, and joy within the confines of mutual hardship – holds useful lessons.
In times of crisis, perspective can build perseverance. In this essay, our Martin Kuz beautifully explores how his time in Afghanistan has helped him see the response to the coronavirus differently.
Amid this new uncertainty, our Northern California correspondent, Martin Kuz, shares a different perspective. He covered the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan for three years, traveling to half the country’s 34 provinces. One memory that persists is how Afghans responded to the countless attacks they endured.
It’s common these days to hear people compare our responses to the coronavirus to war. Flaws abound in the comparison. But it is true that both reshape the order of life, disrupting cultural and social rituals and altering perspective on external and interior worlds.
The city appears deserted. No cars in the streets, no pedestrians on the sidewalks. Shops closed up, restaurants shut down. The absence of motion surrounds me.
Walking past a storefront, I notice a cluster of men staring out from behind its metal security gate. They range in age from early teens to about 50, and when I offer a smile, a few respond in kind. Their calmness defies the not-so-distant echoes of gunfire and grenade explosions.
As the novel coronavirus forces much of America to hole up indoors, my mind keeps returning to that silent, fleeting exchange seven years ago in Kabul, Afghanistan. People had disappeared into buildings seeking cover during an insurgent attack. Yet four or five blocks from the fighting, the group of men reacted to their captivity with placid resolve, inured to war’s chaos.
Why We Wrote This In times of crisis, perspective can build perseverance. In this essay, our Martin Kuz beautifully explores how his time in Afghanistan has helped him see the response to the coronavirus differently.
The memory of that moment from the longest war in United States history surfaces when I stroll through my neighborhood in Northern California. Stillness has muffled the streets in Sacramento as people hibernate in their homes and wait for the threat of COVID-19 to subside. Here and there, I glimpse someone peering out a window, as if checking whether our old way of life has come back.
Editor’s note: As a public service, all our coronavirus coverage is free. No paywall.
Flaws abound in the comparison of pandemic to war. But it is true that each form of calamity brings suffering and death, provokes anxiety and grief, and requires collective effort and sacrifice to repel an invading force. Both reshape the order of life, disrupting cultural and social rituals and altering perspective on external and interior worlds.
In our new age of uncertainty, the example of Afghans adapting to the constant presence of war – finding purpose, meaning, and joy within the confines of mutual hardship – holds useful lessons. As we confront economic insecurity, food shortages, and loss of personal freedom, as we worry about the danger of stepping outside our homes, we can take cues from a nation that has coped with those burdens for decades.
A sense of possibility
I covered the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan for three years, traveling to half the country’s 34 provinces. The attack in Kabul on May 24, 2013, fit a recurring pattern in large cities and remote villages alike.
The assault began when a suicide bomber detonated explosives near a Western aid agency. The hourslong firefight that followed between militants and Afghan security forces claimed four victims, including a 6-year-old girl. A plume of gray smoke swirled over the city of 4 million people as its public spaces emptied out and its daily bustle ceased.
Afghans have honed their shelter-in-place reflexes during multiple wars over the past 40 years. They know to stay inside at the sound of explosions and gunfire. They also know that, after the smoke dissipates, a pall of dread will linger.
The unease hovers for hours or days, weeks or months. But in time, by degrees, people reassert a measure of control as shops reopen, workers return to their jobs, and children again play in the streets. Life regains its normal rhythms – with the caveat that “normal” remains at once relative and fragile in war.
The willingness of Afghans to repair the social fabric whenever violence tears open their lives reveals a patience born of experience. They spurn cynicism to attend college, get married, and raise families. They cast off self-pity to gather in cafes, hold public celebrations, and worship together. They search for light in the shadow of war.
These acts of rebellion against despair and loss reflect an ability to acclimate to chronic turmoil. Even after generations of bloodshed, Afghans continue to nurture a sense of possibility, bearing their country’s privations with an enviable strength of spirit.
The day after the attack, Kabul’s residents started to emerge from hiding. In the afternoon, I rode by taxi to a university to watch its graduation ceremony, passing the store where I had seen the group of men. The security gate was up, and inside there were customers.
“We live each day”
The coronavirus has engulfed America. Hospitals struggle with patient overflow and equipment shortages. Demand at food banks soars in tandem with millions of people losing jobs or income. Stay-at-home orders cut us off from public spaces and one another. We tend to feel connected only in our shared isolation.
War splinters a nation, and in their distress, people turn to each other for solace and hope. By contrast, preventing the spread of COVID-19 requires us to stay apart, a concept at odds with human impulse and one that, in aiding the greater good, denies us the comfort of coming together.
Our retreat from the outside world, aside from complicating our economic and emotional recovery, conflicts with American notions of personal freedom and the desire to impose control over the future. We can look to Afghans for guidance in navigating our new reality.
Decades of war in Afghanistan have inflicted profound tragedies and social ills on its people. At the same time, their acceptance of uncertainty as the status quo serves as a wellspring of resilience. Rather than dwell on the unrest and surrender to a siege mentality, Afghans attempt to create a semblance of stability by devoting their attention to the day at hand.
The insurgent attack in Kabul in 2013 inflicted minor damage on a shoe store run by Samiullah Safi. When I visited him two days later, he was sweeping up bits of glass and plaster from the shop floor.
He had reopened that morning, and I asked how he endured in the face of endless war. His answer echoed what I heard from Afghans across the country during my years there.
“We know violence is always possible,” he told me. “But we cannot live thinking this way. We live each day until the next one.”
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The West tends to view Afghanistan as medieval, a place with nothing to teach us about surviving our modern moment. Yet as the coronavirus blurs the future and magnifies the present, we might emulate the persistence of Afghans, who even under the yoke of war regard each day as its own reward, its own triumph.
Editor’s note: As a public service, all our coronavirus coverage is free. No paywall.


csmonitor--2020-06-01--Historic first: SpaceX delivers US astronauts to space station

SpaceX delivered two astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Sunday , following up a historic liftoff with an equally smooth docking in yet another first for Elon Musk ’ s company .
With test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken poised to take over manual control if necessary , the SpaceX Dragon capsule pulled up to the station and docked automatically , no assistance needed .
The hatches swung open a few hours later , and the two Dragon riders floated into the orbiting lab and embraced the three station residents .
Unlike the SpaceX and NASA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spaced well apart , there was no social distancing or masks needed in orbit since the new arrivals had been in quarantine for many weeks .
“ The whole world saw this mission , and we are so , so proud of everything you have done for our country and , in fact , to inspire the world , ” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a call from Mission Control in Houston .
Mr. Hurley credited SpaceX and added , “ It 's great to get the United States back in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first time a privately built and owned spacecraft carried astronauts to the space station in its more than 20 years of existence .
NASA considers this the opening volley in a business revolution encircling Earth and eventually stretching to the moon and Mars .
“ NASA is not going to purchase , own , and operate rockets and capsules the way we used to , '' Mr. Bridenstine said .
“ ” We ’ re going to partner with commercial industry.
” The docking occurred barely 19 hours after a SpaceX Falcon 9 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Space Center , the nation ’ s first astronaut launch to orbit from home soil in nearly a decade and drawing a Washington delegation led by President Donald Trump .
NASA said peak viewership online hit 10 million .
Despite the coronavirus pandemic , thousands jammed surrounding beaches , bridges , and towns as SpaceX ended a nine-year launch drought for NASA .
The achievement , years in the making , is expected to drive down launch costs so more people might be able to afford a ticket to space in the coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ committee at NASA 's Johnson Space Center that the Dragon was “ a slick vehicle ” and said he was surprised at how rough the ride was on the latter part of ascent , compared with the space shuttle , which he and Mr. Hurley rode twice .
“ Dragon was huffing and puffing all the way into orbit , ” he said .
Two Texas members of Congress at Johnson for the docking – Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Brian Babin – said the flight offered inspiration and hope during a particularly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Having it go off without a hitch was a tremendous blessing for our country , ” Mr. Babin told the astronauts .
Gleaming white in the sunlight , the Dragon was easily visible on NASA TV from a few miles away from the space station , its nose cone open and exposing its docking hook as well as a blinking light .
Mr. Hurley and Mr. Behnken took over the controls and did a little piloting less than a couple hundred yards out as part of the test flight , before putting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ approach .
Once on board the space station , Mr. Hurley said the capsule , newly named Endeavour after the retired shuttle , handled extremely well .
He was the pilot on the last U.S. spaceship to visit the space station – the last shuttle flight , by Atlantis , in July 2011 .
Restoring American launch capability nine years later , he noted , “ is just one effort that we can show for the ages in this dark time that we ’ ve had over the past several months to kind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the United States , to reach for these lofty goals.
” There was one small glitch : Mr. Hurley bumped his head entering the space station and frequently wiped his forehead during the welcoming ceremony .
NASA turned to private industry to pick up the slack following the shuttle fleet 's retirement , hiring SpaceX and Boeing in 2014 for space station taxi services .
Boeing 's first astronaut flight is n't expected until next year .
Until Saturday , SpaceX had launched only space station supplies or satellites .
The company @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ dads ” to drive home the fact that two lives were at stake in this highly technical effort .
Clearly relieved , NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted a big “ welcome home ” to the Dragon fliers – “ America 's two favorite dads.
” NASA has yet to decide how long Mr. Hurley and Mr. Behnken will spend at the space station , somewhere between one and four months .
While they ’ re there , they 'll join NASA 's Chris Cassidy and two Russian station residents in performing experiments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ batteries .
While U.S. astronauts will continue to catch a ride on Russian Soyuz rockets , it will be through a barter system now that NASA 's commercial crew program has finally taken flight .
NASA had been shelling out tens of millions of dollars for every Soyuz seat .
In a show-and-tell earlier Sunday , the astronauts gave a quick tour of the Dragon ’ s sparkling clean insides , quite spacious for a capsule .
The blue sequined dinosaur accompanying them – their young sons ’ toy , named Tremor – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Behnken assured viewers .
Tremor was going to join Earthy , a plush globe delivered to the space station on last year ’ s test flight of a crew-less crew Dragon .
Mr. Behnken said both toys would return to Earth with them at mission ’ s end .
After liftoff , Mr. Musk told reporters that the capsule ’ s return will be more dangerous in some ways than its launch .
Even so , getting the two astronauts safely to orbit and then the space station had everyone breathing huge sighs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Musk was looking ahead .
“ This is hopefully the first step on a journey toward a civilization on Mars , ” he said Saturday evening .
This story was reported by The Associated Press .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage .
It ’ s free .

SpaceX delivered two astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Sunday, following up a historic liftoff with an equally smooth docking in yet another first for Elon Musk’s company.
With test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken poised to take over manual control if necessary, the SpaceX Dragon capsule pulled up to the station and docked automatically, no assistance needed. The hatches swung open a few hours later, and the two Dragon riders floated into the orbiting lab and embraced the three station residents.
Unlike the SpaceX and NASA flight control rooms, where everyone was spaced well apart, there was no social distancing or masks needed in orbit since the new arrivals had been in quarantine for many weeks.
“The whole world saw this mission, and we are so, so proud of everything you have done for our country and, in fact, to inspire the world,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a call from Mission Control in Houston.
Mr. Hurley credited SpaceX and added, “It's great to get the United States back in the crewed launch business.”
It was the first time a privately built and owned spacecraft carried astronauts to the space station in its more than 20 years of existence. NASA considers this the opening volley in a business revolution encircling Earth and eventually stretching to the moon and Mars.
“NASA is not going to purchase, own, and operate rockets and capsules the way we used to," Mr. Bridenstine said. “”We’re going to partner with commercial industry.”
The docking occurred barely 19 hours after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off Saturday afternoon from Kennedy Space Center, the nation’s first astronaut launch to orbit from home soil in nearly a decade and drawing a Washington delegation led by President Donald Trump. NASA said peak viewership online hit 10 million.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, thousands jammed surrounding beaches, bridges, and towns as SpaceX ended a nine-year launch drought for NASA. The achievement, years in the making, is expected to drive down launch costs so more people might be able to afford a ticket to space in the coming years.
Mr. Behnken told the welcoming committee at NASA's Johnson Space Center that the Dragon was “a slick vehicle” and said he was surprised at how rough the ride was on the latter part of ascent, compared with the space shuttle, which he and Mr. Hurley rode twice.
“Dragon was huffing and puffing all the way into orbit,” he said.
Two Texas members of Congress at Johnson for the docking – Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Brian Babin – said the flight offered inspiration and hope during a particularly tough time of protests and pandemic.
“Having it go off without a hitch was a tremendous blessing for our country,” Mr. Babin told the astronauts.
Gleaming white in the sunlight, the Dragon was easily visible on NASA TV from a few miles away from the space station, its nose cone open and exposing its docking hook as well as a blinking light. Mr. Hurley and Mr. Behnken took over the controls and did a little piloting less than a couple hundred yards out as part of the test flight, before putting it back into automatic for the final approach.
Once on board the space station, Mr. Hurley said the capsule, newly named Endeavour after the retired shuttle, handled extremely well. He was the pilot on the last U.S. spaceship to visit the space station – the last shuttle flight, by Atlantis, in July 2011.
Restoring American launch capability nine years later, he noted, “is just one effort that we can show for the ages in this dark time that we’ve had over the past several months to kind of inspire, especially the young people in the United States, to reach for these lofty goals.”
There was one small glitch: Mr. Hurley bumped his head entering the space station and frequently wiped his forehead during the welcoming ceremony.
NASA turned to private industry to pick up the slack following the shuttle fleet's retirement, hiring SpaceX and Boeing in 2014 for space station taxi services. Boeing's first astronaut flight isn't expected until next year.
Until Saturday, SpaceX had launched only space station supplies or satellites. The company's employees took to calling the astronauts “dads” to drive home the fact that two lives were at stake in this highly technical effort.
Clearly relieved, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted a big “welcome home” to the Dragon fliers – “America's two favorite dads.”
NASA has yet to decide how long Mr. Hurley and Mr. Behnken will spend at the space station, somewhere between one and four months. While they’re there, they'll join NASA's Chris Cassidy and two Russian station residents in performing experiments and possibly spacewalks to install fresh station batteries.
While U.S. astronauts will continue to catch a ride on Russian Soyuz rockets, it will be through a barter system now that NASA's commercial crew program has finally taken flight. NASA had been shelling out tens of millions of dollars for every Soyuz seat.
In a show-and-tell earlier Sunday, the astronauts gave a quick tour of the Dragon’s sparkling clean insides, quite spacious for a capsule.
The blue sequined dinosaur accompanying them – their young sons’ toy, named Tremor – was also in good shape, Mr. Behnken assured viewers. Tremor was going to join Earthy, a plush globe delivered to the space station on last year’s test flight of a crew-less crew Dragon. Mr. Behnken said both toys would return to Earth with them at mission’s end.
An old-style capsule splashdown is planned.
After liftoff, Mr. Musk told reporters that the capsule’s return will be more dangerous in some ways than its launch. Even so, getting the two astronauts safely to orbit and then the space station had everyone breathing huge sighs of relief.
As always, Mr. Musk was looking ahead.
“This is hopefully the first step on a journey toward a civilization on Mars,” he said Saturday evening.
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empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
This story was reported by The Associated Press.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It’s free.


csmonitor--2020-03-10--Balm of gratitude eases the virus crisis

At the opening of his speech for International Women ’ s Day , Italian President Sergio Mattarella made a point of expressing gratitude to the women fighting the coronavirus in hospitals , laboratories , and quarantine areas .
“ They work in difficult conditions , with skill and a spirit of sacrifice , with dedication , ” he said .
In his press briefings , Vice President Mike Pence , as the White House point person on the virus outbreak , often peppers his comments with “ profound gratitude ” – to state leaders , the airline industry , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government ’ s response .
Meanwhile , Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has thanked Italy and South Korea , two countries with major outbreaks , “ for their transparency and tireless work to administer care to those affected.
” China has thanked Japan for medical supplies and Bill Gates and his wife , Melinda Gates , for a $ 100 million pledge to help fight the outbreak .
Iran appreciates Kuwait ’ s offers of help to deal with its crisis .
Sri Lanka has thanked India for flying back some of its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ newspaper , The Straits Times of Singapore , has opened a webpage for people to pay tribute to front-line virus fighters .
More than 1,000 people have penned a note .
“ I am never scared of the virus because of your efforts .
Thank you , ” wrote foreign worker Shanmugam Ganesan .
As all this public appreciation reveals , gratitude has become an essential tool during the global health crisis .
And for many reasons .
Gratitude helps put a focus on the good in a situation , dampening fear .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ borders and differences .
It encourages generosity .
Yet to work as a supportive trait during a crisis , gratitude must be from the heart , not demanded .
In China last week , Wang Zhonglin , Communist Party secretary of Wuhan , made the mistake of saying it was “ necessary to carry out gratitude education among the people of the whole city ” in order for them to express thanks to Xi Jinping and the ruling Communist Party for the way they are handling the crisis .
In the face of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taken down from official sites .
To correct the mistake , Ying Yong , party chief of Hubei province , said the people who have been under a strict quarantine were the real heroes .
“ I hereby express my sincere gratitude to the people of Wuhan and Hubei , ” he said .
And indeed , the World Health Organization has said the world is “ in debt ” to the 55 million people of Hubei for their sacrifice in trying to contain the virus .
At times of panic , expressing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It allows calm and reflective thinking , just what is needed to bring a healing perspective during an epidemic .

At the opening of his speech for International Women’s Day, Italian President Sergio Mattarella made a point of expressing gratitude to the women fighting the coronavirus in hospitals, laboratories, and quarantine areas. “They work in difficult conditions, with skill and a spirit of sacrifice, with dedication,” he said.
In his press briefings, Vice President Mike Pence, as the White House point person on the virus outbreak, often peppers his comments with “profound gratitude” – to state leaders, the airline industry, and others – who are helping the federal government’s response. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has thanked Italy and South Korea, two countries with major outbreaks, “for their transparency and tireless work to administer care to those affected.”
China has thanked Japan for medical supplies and Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates, for a $100 million pledge to help fight the outbreak. Iran appreciates Kuwait’s offers of help to deal with its crisis. Sri Lanka has thanked India for flying back some of its citizens from China.
At least one newspaper, The Straits Times of Singapore, has opened a webpage for people to pay tribute to front-line virus fighters. More than 1,000 people have penned a note. “I am never scared of the virus because of your efforts. Thank you,” wrote foreign worker Shanmugam Ganesan.
As all this public appreciation reveals, gratitude has become an essential tool during the global health crisis. And for many reasons. Gratitude helps put a focus on the good in a situation, dampening fear. It helps people form stronger bonds across borders and differences. It encourages generosity.
Yet to work as a supportive trait during a crisis, gratitude must be from the heart, not demanded. In China last week, Wang Zhonglin, Communist Party secretary of Wuhan, made the mistake of saying it was “necessary to carry out gratitude education among the people of the whole city” in order for them to express thanks to Xi Jinping and the ruling Communist Party for the way they are handling the crisis. In the face of a public uproar, his comments were taken down from official sites.
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empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
To correct the mistake, Ying Yong, party chief of Hubei province, said the people who have been under a strict quarantine were the real heroes. “I hereby express my sincere gratitude to the people of Wuhan and Hubei,” he said. And indeed, the World Health Organization has said the world is “in debt” to the 55 million people of Hubei for their sacrifice in trying to contain the virus.
At times of panic, expressing appreciation can serve as a reset. It allows calm and reflective thinking, just what is needed to bring a healing perspective during an epidemic.