shadowproof--2020-05-12--Street Medics See Cuba As A Model For COVID-19 Response In Vulnerable Communities

Street Medics See Cuba As A Model For COVID-19 Response In Vulnerable Communities In Miami , Dr. Armen Henderson was outside of his home loading his vehicle full of tents and supplies to distribute to homeless people the week of April 12 , something common for the doctor known for working with the homeless population , when he quickly found himself in handcuffs .
A Miami police officer said Armen was stopped for trash in his yard , however the doctor pushes back against this , knowing it was because of his race .
“ I ’ ve had encounters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Shadowproof .
“ And I know one wrong move could have landed me in a coma , I could have been dead , I could have been shot .
So I know how to handle myself in that situation.
” Henderson said he had to remain calm despite the outrageous circumstances .
“ He put my life in danger because he was in my face without a mask during a pandemic , at my house in my yard , ” recalled Henderson .
“ I had every right to tell him to get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me alone .
But I restrained myself because I knew I had other important shit to do , and because if I reacted how he wanted the outcome would have been very different.
” The incident was symptomatic of the racial and class disparities present in all aspects of the pandemic response in the United States .
In the U.S. , Black people have been hit the hardest , particularly Black men in urban centers .
As weeks have stretched , the data shows Black people comprise at least 30 percent of confirmed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 13 percent of the population .
The Navajo Nation has been devastated by the virus , with Doctors Without Borders dispatched to help with the medical disaster impacting an indigenous population .
Prisons and detention centers filled with poor , Black , and undocumented people are increasingly the largest sites of infection .
According to Henderson , the glaring health disparities are not only predictable but the norm .
“ There ’ s a swift divide between those who are rich and those who are poor in Miami .
Those who live in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are literally miles away from where celebrities like Diddy live , which isn ’ t uncommon for any major city across the U.S. And in those poorer places , we see lower life expectancy , less access to healthcare , and so forth.
” “ Every year in Miami we live in crisis , ” Henderson added , pointing to hurricane seasons made more violent by climate change each year .
For many , this pandemic feels like a natural disaster .
When the hurricanes come , poorer people can not flee , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up on reserve foods , and can not afford the financial hardships that can come with loss of work .
Henderson said the complete breakdown in local and state government and organizations like Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ) as the crisis heightens is reminiscent of the carnage during and after Hurricane Irma .
Poor people , elderly people , neighborhoods and communities largely below a class line are left to fend for themselves .
Because of this total “ breakdown in the response from the government on all levels , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to create the Community Emergency Operation Center ( CEOC ) , a coalition of organizations that activates during crisis situations .
“ We ’ ve been doing [ CEOC ] since 2017 and we just activated for the pandemic because it ’ s a crisis situation , ” explained Henderson .
“ And because we know that those who are most at risk are those living on the street , we decided to focus on those who are unsheltered .
We ’ ve been giving people tents because the government was saying you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ providing any hotel rooms or anything secure for these individuals who are on the street.
” Dr. Henderson questioned why Miami doesn ’ t have an emergency protocol in place for homeless people considering the region ’ s perennial natural disasters .
Compared to other countries like Cuba , where crisis response efforts typically leave no one behind and stand as positive examples of government , he contended the U.S. is an embarrassment .
In fact , the response was so embarrassing and deadly that Henderson said he tried to get in contact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the onset of the pandemic .
“ Knowing that they have a lower mortality rate , and that they have a lot of medical milestones that they don ’ t usually get a lot of recognition for because our country gives them a bad rap , I just wanted to know more , ” Henderson added .
Henderson isn ’ t alone as a Black doctor in the U.S. reaching out to considering Cuba for help .
Historically , many other Black doctors , such as Dr. Melissa Barber , have received free @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that training to help their communities respond to the pandemic .
“ I ’ m in solidarity with Armen ’ s concerns that you have in respect to the situation , but it is a difficult thing , ” explained Dr. Marta Galvez Cabrera , a specialist of over 35 years in comprehensive general medicine in Havana , Cuba .
“ It ’ s difficult because first of all you have to create basic premises that at this moment do not exist [ in the U.S ] , ” she said , adding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you have to prevent it.
” Prevention is key to the successes of Cuba ’ s free and universal healthcare system , which is a direct result of the revolution ’ s progress .
Some of their health achievements include one of the highest doctor-patient ratios in the world , a higher life expectancy rate than the U.S. and many so-called developed nations , accessible clinics in almost every neighborhood throughout the island , and the development of several successful vaccines and treatments .
In Cuba ’ s health care system , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many experts suggest is a key factor in the country ’ s incredible achievements .
It is highly common for medical workers like Cabrera to make dozens of house visits a day , with rural communities and people outside of major cities or in poorer neighborhoods receiving regular care .
Cabrera explains that once the COVID-19 outbreak began , they moved swiftly to “ classify and move patients immediately ” to predetermined locations which already existed .
“ If it is an incipient case you send them to the centers , but if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have already confirmed , you send them to another center.
” Medical workers in Cuba performed sweeping at-home check-ups to identify those with the coronavirus .
“ Depending on the state in which we find them , we relocate them to another established location that we have already created , ” Cabrera shared .
“ We have places for isolation , where we have suspected cases .
We have a hospital for those who are already confirmed .
The benefit for us is that we are not collapsing the hospitals , because if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you are not going to send them directly to the hospital , you are going to send them to an isolation center.
” Maritza Lopez McBean , an Afro-Cuban organizer in Havana and the founder of the Black mutual aid network Red Barrial Afrodescendiente , said there are no racial inequities in the Cuban health care system .
“ Here , independently from the perfecting that the system needs , doctors don ’ t see if the person is black or white .
They don ’ t see their religious belief .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are , ” Lopez McBean said .
*Research for this report was done in collaboration with Belly of the Beast , a Havana-based media outlet covering Cuba from the inside .
“ Cuba ’ s Isolation Center ” follows one journalist as she covers one of these centers from the inside .
While Dr. Henderson describes confusion in the U.S. from both local and national administrators , criminalization for attempting to help the dispossessed , and exacerbated conditions of the neglect which was already present , Dr. Cabrera talks of protocols and action @ @ @ @ @ @ @ catastrophe .
The Cuban health care system is not perfect , however , most problems are a direct result of the U.S. economic blockade .
The decades-long policy has created a scarcity of medical necessities , like respirators and basic medicines , as well as a lack of soap products , which public health professionals internationally have lambasted as breaking international humanitarian law .
Most recently , the blockade prevented Cuba from obtaining medical supplies needed to combat the pandemic .
Cuba ’ s 1959 socialist revolution put specific focus on the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was impaired by racism , class inequality , and geographical barriers .
Prior to the Revolution , Cubans living in rural mountainous areas or along the coast were harshly neglected and struggled to access health care .
Afro-Cuban neighborhoods across the island were impacted as well .
The Revolution ’ s emphasis on health care led to the establishment of El Servicio Médico Rural ( the Rural Medical Service ) and hundreds of polyclinics in the destitute areas of the island .
The initiative was led in part by Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the lack of medical access in Cuba ’ s rural areas while hiding out in the Sierra Maestra mountains .
Cuba ’ s medical revolution was accompanied by radical land redistribution , housing reform , literacy programs , and racial and gender equity programs , most of which were praised by both the UN and WHO .
In the medical arena , the Cuban Revolution specifically aimed to uplift the margins of society , “ to revitalize health services for those most in need , whether because they are poor , in precarious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” .
Yet even with the comparison in health care systems and pandemic responses in context , questions still linger .
Does it take a revolution to get this level of dedicated healthcare ?
How can doctors in the U.S. help the most vulnerable during this pandemic without facing criminalization ?
How are communities finding ways to help , and what initiatives exist currently that we can support ?
Serving Unsheltered People In Their Own Environment—Or ‘ Home ’ —Can Be Transformative Suhaib Abaza , program director for HSTAT Street Medicine in Atlanta @ @ @ @ @ @ @ street medicine ” while working in Palestine ’ s Aida Refugee Camp .
Accompanying community health workers and physicians during his first year of medical school , Abaza made house calls throughout the West Bank and saw first hand the public health detriments created by mass incarceration , occupation , and state violence .
This is the framework through which Abaza practices street medicine in Atlanta , and which he ’ s carried into combating the pandemic .
“ I began to see the Street Medicine Unit I was working on in Atlanta @ @ @ @ @ @ @ visits ’ for homeless people , treating them in their own communities , and transforming our understanding of how diseases are manifesting in these populations , ” Abaza said .
He explained “ street medicine ” as an emergent collaborative health initiative between medical workers , formerly homeless folks , and community advocates and organizers working to give medicine to those who typically sleep on the streets .
“ There ’ s a street medicine unit in most major cities , ” he explained .
“ It ’ s basically a little bus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ folks and provides them with primary medical care like wound dressing changes , medication refills , blood pressure and blood sugar checks , and also social services such as connecting them to housing or veterans benefits in their own communities .
It ’ s made of social workers , PAs , nurses , physicians , and student volunteers.
” Most people don ’ t know about street medicine , Abaza said , “ because it ’ s usually a small operation , made of a couple practitioners and volunteers that know the streets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s usually lumped in with any number of other ‘ charitable ’ services to the homeless , so we rarely get to explore how transformative it actually is to practice medicine in the service of unsheltered people in their own environment or ‘ homes , ’ ” Abaza said .
“ It ’ s a very different medical practice than seeing the same people in the clinic .
You immediately get a sense of how to tailor your care because you see the context in which you ’ re expecting them to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the care plan .
By being there in the communities of unsheltered homeless people , you get a correct idea of what barriers exist in their care.
” The notion of meeting the people where they are has parallels to the Cuban Revolution : intervening in barriers to medicine and improving the health care landscape for the most disposed communities .
Both Dr. Henderson and Abaza work with dozens of homeless people facing substance use disorders and mental illnesses , as well as individuals entangled in the prison-industrial-complex in one way or another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that requires a multi-faceted response , something that street medicine coalitions are attempting to address .
Abaza works with a local homeless shelter and the Justice 4 All Coalition , a group primarily composed of formerly homeless people .
They work closely with grassroots organizers to build trust in the community and better care for patients .
Distributing food , bandages and basic medical supplies , tents , and hygiene kits alongside administering medicine to homeless people and sex workers has allowed them “ to do outreach in areas where most traditional outreach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
Building community relationships also fosters has allowed them to bring a political element to their work , fostering the space for them as medical workers “ to create and support demands aimed at local government to advocate for unsheltered people and sex workers , like advocating against street sweeps and evictions , decriminalizing sex work and homelessness , and so forth.
” It also allows them to be instructed and led by the vulnerable populations themselves while learning about their specific needs .
“ With the shut-down of primary care services @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on , his services and the services of others like Dr. Henderson , who continue to care for the most vulnerable on the streets is more than essential , ” he said .
“ A constant source of fear and anxiety that you ’ ll hear about from unsheltered populations is interactions with law enforcement , and from the encounter with Dr. Henderson , it isn ’ t difficult to see why.
” Potential encounters with law enforcement discourages many unsheltered people from going to COVID19 testing centers , hospitals , or shelters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. cities that explicitly outlaw ‘ urban camping ’ to criminalize unsheltered people .
Many homeless people in Atlanta weren ’ t aware of the virus at the beginning of the pandemic , according to Abaza .
They did not realize the seriousness of the situation until their sources of income , such as basic commerce and panhandling , began to dry up .
When the “ nonessential ” outreach services homeless people rely upon for food , social services , and material distribution stopped visiting them , Abaza said they started to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to areas of better support or were evacuated by police is unclear .
“ The recommendations for hand-washing , masks , and social distancing hadn ’ t reached these folks , and even when unsheltered communities were made aware , bathrooms and restaurants they could visit to wash their hands were now shut down .
Following recommendations by the [ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ] becomes near impossible in this situation , ” Abaza added .
Cabrera suggested doctors do not have these same problems in Havana , stating “ there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that all residents in her neighborhood , including her 1000+ patients , receive the medical attention they need .
The acts of Henderson , Abaza , and countless other individuals are noble but do not excuse the scarcity of state and national coordinated efforts .
While individuals and coalitions perform essential work , the larger issues around street medicine , pandemic responses , and helping the most marginalized remain .
They include the government ’ s failure to fund initiatives , the limits medical workers face in these conditions , and lessons that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ superior medical care , like Cuba .
In cities like Atlanta , where at least 80 percent of COVID19 patients are Black people , the deadliest disparities in health care are visible .
Henderson is out in the streets every week , nearly every day , attempting to help in his own capacity .
But his efforts have been hindered by the structures of policing , inequality , and economics that surround in place all around him .
“ Putting profits over people does the most damage , ” Dr. Henderson somberly concluded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the highest rate are working class , poor , essential service line workers , all who have to choose between feeding themselves and catching the virus and potentially dying .
And that ’ s basically what capitalism does , right ?
It makes you choose between living or dying working , and that ’ s the response that we ’ ve had here .
”

In Miami, Dr. Armen Henderson was outside of his home loading his vehicle full of tents and supplies to distribute to homeless people the week of April 12, something common for the doctor known for working with the homeless population, when he quickly found himself in handcuffs.
A Miami police officer said Armen was stopped for trash in his yard, however the doctor pushes back against this, knowing it was because of his race.
“I’ve had encounters with police before,” Henderson told Shadowproof. “And I know one wrong move could have landed me in a coma, I could have been dead, I could have been shot. So I know how to handle myself in that situation.”
Henderson said he had to remain calm despite the outrageous circumstances.
“He put my life in danger because he was in my face without a mask during a pandemic, at my house in my yard,” recalled Henderson. “I had every right to tell him to get the fuck off me, to leave me alone. But I restrained myself because I knew I had other important shit to do, and because if I reacted how he wanted the outcome would have been very different.”
The incident was symptomatic of the racial and class disparities present in all aspects of the pandemic response in the United States.
In the U.S., Black people have been hit the hardest, particularly Black men in urban centers.
As weeks have stretched, the data shows Black people comprise at least 30 percent of confirmed COVID-19 cases despite making up only around 13 percent of the population.
The Navajo Nation has been devastated by the virus, with Doctors Without Borders dispatched to help with the medical disaster impacting an indigenous population.
Prisons and detention centers filled with poor, Black, and undocumented people are increasingly the largest sites of infection.
According to Henderson, the glaring health disparities are not only predictable but the norm.
“There’s a swift divide between those who are rich and those who are poor in Miami. Those who live in Overtown, a historically Black neighborhood, are literally miles away from where celebrities like Diddy live, which isn’t uncommon for any major city across the U.S. And in those poorer places, we see lower life expectancy, less access to healthcare, and so forth.”
“Every year in Miami we live in crisis,” Henderson added, pointing to hurricane seasons made more violent by climate change each year.
For many, this pandemic feels like a natural disaster. When the hurricanes come, poorer people cannot flee, they do not have money to stock up on reserve foods, and cannot afford the financial hardships that can come with loss of work.
Henderson said the complete breakdown in local and state government and organizations like Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as the crisis heightens is reminiscent of the carnage during and after Hurricane Irma. Poor people, elderly people, neighborhoods and communities largely below a class line are left to fend for themselves.
Because of this total “breakdown in the response from the government on all levels,” Henderson said it forced him and others to create the Community Emergency Operation Center (CEOC), a coalition of organizations that activates during crisis situations.
“We’ve been doing [CEOC] since 2017 and we just activated for the pandemic because it’s a crisis situation,” explained Henderson. “And because we know that those who are most at risk are those living on the street, we decided to focus on those who are unsheltered. We’ve been giving people tents because the government was saying you got to shelter in place but not providing any hotel rooms or anything secure for these individuals who are on the street.”
Lack Of Emergency Protocols Fuel Medical Disaster
Dr. Henderson questioned why Miami doesn’t have an emergency protocol in place for homeless people considering the region’s perennial natural disasters. Compared to other countries like Cuba, where crisis response efforts typically leave no one behind and stand as positive examples of government, he contended the U.S. is an embarrassment.
In fact, the response was so embarrassing and deadly that Henderson said he tried to get in contact with Cuban health workers for advice at the onset of the pandemic.
“Knowing that they have a lower mortality rate, and that they have a lot of medical milestones that they don’t usually get a lot of recognition for because our country gives them a bad rap, I just wanted to know more,” Henderson added.
Henderson isn’t the only Black doctor in the U.S. considering Cuba for help. Historically, many other Black doctors, such as Dr. Melissa Barber, have received free medical training in Cuba and have used that training to help their communities respond to the pandemic.
“I’m in solidarity with Armen’s concerns that you have in respect to the situation, but it is a difficult thing,” explained Dr. Marta Galvez Cabrera, a specialist of over 35 years in comprehensive general medicine in Havana, Cuba. “It’s difficult because first of all you have to create basic premises that at this moment do not exist [in the U.S],” she said, adding, “Before the problem is there you have to prevent it.”
Prevention is key to the successes of Cuba’s free and universal healthcare system, which is a direct result of the revolution’s progress. Some of their health achievements include one of the highest doctor-patient ratios in the world, a higher life expectancy rate than the U.S. and many so-called developed nations, accessible clinics in almost every neighborhood throughout the island, and the development of several successful vaccines and treatments.
In Cuba’s health care system, the profit motive is largely nonexistent, which many experts suggest is a key factor in the country’s incredible achievements. It is highly common for medical workers like Cabrera to make dozens of house visits a day, with rural communities and people outside of major cities or in poorer neighborhoods receiving regular care.
Cabrera explains that once the COVID-19 outbreak began, they moved swiftly to “classify and move patients immediately” to predetermined locations which already existed. “If it is an incipient case you send them to the centers, but if it’s a case that they have already confirmed, you send them to another center.”
Medical workers in Cuba performed sweeping at-home check-ups to identify those with the coronavirus. “Depending on the state in which we find them, we relocate them to another established location that we have already created,” Cabrera shared.
“We have places for isolation, where we have suspected cases. We have a hospital for those who are already confirmed. The benefit for us is that we are not collapsing the hospitals, because if you have a case that you suspect you are not going to send them directly to the hospital, you are going to send them to an isolation center.”
Maritza Lopez McBean, an Afro-Cuban organizer in Havana and the founder of the Black mutual aid network Red Barrial Afrodescendiente, said there are no racial inequities in the Cuban health care system.
“Here, independently from the perfecting that the system needs, doctors don’t see if the person is black or white. They don’t see their religious belief. They attend to that person, however they are,” Lopez McBean said.
*Research for this report was done in collaboration with Belly of the Beast, a Havana-based media outlet covering Cuba from the inside. “Cuba’s Isolation Center” follows one journalist as she covers one of these centers from the inside.
Cuba’s Revolutionary Health Care System
While Dr. Henderson describes confusion in the U.S. from both local and national administrators, criminalization for attempting to help the dispossessed, and exacerbated conditions of the neglect which was already present, Dr. Cabrera talks of protocols and action plans already in place for such a catastrophe.
The Cuban health care system is not perfect, however, most problems are a direct result of the U.S. economic blockade.
The decades-long policy has created a scarcity of medical necessities, like respirators and basic medicines, as well as a lack of soap products, which public health professionals internationally have lambasted as breaking international humanitarian law.
Most recently, the blockade prevented Cuba from obtaining medical supplies needed to combat the pandemic.
Cuba’s 1959 socialist revolution put specific focus on the country’s health care system, which was impaired by racism, class inequality, and geographical barriers. Prior to the Revolution, Cubans living in rural mountainous areas or along the coast were harshly neglected and struggled to access health care. Afro-Cuban neighborhoods across the island were impacted as well.
The Revolution’s emphasis on health care led to the establishment of El Servicio Médico Rural (the Rural Medical Service) and hundreds of polyclinics in the destitute areas of the island. The initiative was led in part by Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, a physician himself who saw firsthand the lack of medical access in Cuba’s rural areas while hiding out in the Sierra Maestra mountains.
Cuba’s medical revolution was accompanied by radical land redistribution, housing reform, literacy programs, and racial and gender equity programs, most of which were praised by both the UN and WHO.
In the medical arena, the Cuban Revolution specifically aimed to uplift the margins of society, “to revitalize health services for those most in need, whether because they are poor, in precarious health or live far from urban centres”.
Yet even with the comparison in health care systems and pandemic responses in context, questions still linger. Does it take a revolution to get this level of dedicated healthcare? How can doctors in the U.S. help the most vulnerable during this pandemic without facing criminalization? How are communities finding ways to help, and what initiatives exist currently that we can support?
Serving Unsheltered People In Their Own Environment—Or ‘Home’—Can Be Transformative
Suhaib Abaza, program director for HSTAT Street Medicine in Atlanta, got his first taste of “street medicine” while working in Palestine’s Aida Refugee Camp.
Accompanying community health workers and physicians during his first year of medical school, Abaza made house calls throughout the West Bank and saw first hand the public health detriments created by mass incarceration, occupation, and state violence. This is the framework through which Abaza practices street medicine in Atlanta, and which he’s carried into combating the pandemic.
“I began to see the Street Medicine Unit I was working on in Atlanta as a way of doing ‘home visits’ for homeless people, treating them in their own communities, and transforming our understanding of how diseases are manifesting in these populations,” Abaza said.
He explained “street medicine” as an emergent collaborative health initiative between medical workers, formerly homeless folks, and community advocates and organizers working to give medicine to those who typically sleep on the streets.
“There’s a street medicine unit in most major cities,” he explained. “It’s basically a little bus that goes to outdoor encampments of unsheltered folks and provides them with primary medical care like wound dressing changes, medication refills, blood pressure and blood sugar checks, and also social services such as connecting them to housing or veterans benefits in their own communities. It’s made of social workers, PAs, nurses, physicians, and student volunteers.”
Most people don’t know about street medicine, Abaza said, “because it’s usually a small operation, made of a couple practitioners and volunteers that know the streets well.”
“In conversation, it’s usually lumped in with any number of other ‘charitable’ services to the homeless, so we rarely get to explore how transformative it actually is to practice medicine in the service of unsheltered people in their own environment or ‘homes,’” Abaza said.
“It’s a very different medical practice than seeing the same people in the clinic. You immediately get a sense of how to tailor your care because you see the context in which you’re expecting them to ‘follow up’ or adhere to the care plan. By being there in the communities of unsheltered homeless people, you get a correct idea of what barriers exist in their care.”
The notion of meeting the people where they are has parallels to the Cuban Revolution: intervening in barriers to medicine and improving the health care landscape for the most disposed communities.
Both Dr. Henderson and Abaza work with dozens of homeless people facing substance use disorders and mental illnesses, as well as individuals entangled in the prison-industrial-complex in one way or another. It’s a complex problem that requires a multi-faceted response, something that street medicine coalitions are attempting to address.
Abaza works with a local homeless shelter and the Justice 4 All Coalition, a group primarily composed of formerly homeless people. They work closely with grassroots organizers to build trust in the community and better care for patients.
Distributing food, bandages and basic medical supplies, tents, and hygiene kits alongside administering medicine to homeless people and sex workers has allowed them “to do outreach in areas where most traditional outreach services would never go,” he said.
Building community relationships also fosters has allowed them to bring a political element to their work, fostering the space for them as medical workers “to create and support demands aimed at local government to advocate for unsheltered people and sex workers, like advocating against street sweeps and evictions, decriminalizing sex work and homelessness, and so forth.”
It also allows them to be instructed and led by the vulnerable populations themselves while learning about their specific needs.
“With the shut-down of primary care services and outreach that unsheltered folks generally rely on, his services and the services of others like Dr. Henderson, who continue to care for the most vulnerable on the streets is more than essential,” he said.
“A constant source of fear and anxiety that you’ll hear about from unsheltered populations is interactions with law enforcement, and from the encounter with Dr. Henderson, it isn’t difficult to see why.”
Potential encounters with law enforcement discourages many unsheltered people from going to COVID19 testing centers, hospitals, or shelters. Abaza points to ordinances in most U.S. cities that explicitly outlaw ‘urban camping’ to criminalize unsheltered people.
Many homeless people in Atlanta weren’t aware of the virus at the beginning of the pandemic, according to Abaza. They did not realize the seriousness of the situation until their sources of income, such as basic commerce and panhandling, began to dry up.
When the “nonessential” outreach services homeless people rely upon for food, social services, and material distribution stopped visiting them, Abaza said they started to see encampments disappear. Whether they moved to areas of better support or were evacuated by police is unclear.
“The recommendations for hand-washing, masks, and social distancing hadn’t reached these folks, and even when unsheltered communities were made aware, bathrooms and restaurants they could visit to wash their hands were now shut down. Following recommendations by the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] becomes near impossible in this situation,” Abaza added.
Cabrera suggested doctors do not have these same problems in Havana, stating “there is equity here,” and explaining that all residents in her neighborhood, including her 1000+ patients, receive the medical attention they need.
The acts of Henderson, Abaza, and countless other individuals are noble but do not excuse the scarcity of state and national coordinated efforts.
While individuals and coalitions perform essential work, the larger issues around street medicine, pandemic responses, and helping the most marginalized remain. They include the government’s failure to fund initiatives, the limits medical workers face in these conditions, and lessons that can be learned from other countries with superior medical care, like Cuba.
In cities like Atlanta, where at least 80 percent of COVID19 patients are Black people, the deadliest disparities in health care are visible. Henderson is out in the streets every week, nearly every day, attempting to help in his own capacity. But his efforts have been hindered by the structures of policing, inequality, and economics that surround him.
“Putting profits over people does the most damage,” Dr. Henderson somberly concluded. “The people who are dying at the highest rate are working class, poor, essential service line workers, all who have to choose between feeding themselves and catching the virus and potentially dying. And that’s basically what capitalism does, right? It makes you choose between living or dying working, and that’s the response that we’ve had here.”


shadowproof--2020-05-13--Protest Song Of The Week: ‘Devil Put The Coal In The Ground’ By Steve Earle

Protest Song Of The Week : ‘ Devil Put The Coal In The Ground ’ By Steve Earle Steve Earle recorded an album , “ Ghosts of West Virginia , ” that centers on the survivors of the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion .
The third track on the album , which will be released on May 22 , is “ Devil Put The Coal In The Ground.
” It ’ s a foot-tapping piece of Americana with a chorus that speaks to the poverty and despair the coal industry has wrought upon Appalachian communities .
“ Devil put @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put the coal in the ground .
Buried it deep .
It will never be found .
Devil put the coal in the ground , ” Earle sings .
Speaking to the religious faith of coal miners , as well as the fact that working class people have little choice but to work a coal mining job in a state dominated by the coal industry , Earle adds , “ Good Lord gave me two hands , ” and , “ Lord giveth and he taketh away.
” In an interview for NPR @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Earle said the “ core ” of the album was written for a play called “ Coal Country , ” which had its run at the Public Theater in New York cut short by the coronavirus pandemic .
Earle traveled with Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen to West Virginia to meet with survivors of the Upper Big Branch disaster .
What they heard formed the basis for the show .
In fact , for “ Coal Country , ” Earle appeared as a kind of Greek chorus character , who performs music and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It opens with Earle coming out on stage to perform “ John Henry Is A Steel Drivin ’ Man , ” which appears on the album .
“ Welcome to coal country , and we ’ re here to tell you a story .
It ’ s a West Virginia story in the words of West Virginians.
” According to Earle , Upper Big Branch was the first non-union company to purchase a coal mine , and they bought it from Peabody Coal , which was a union company .
And having a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as many residents predicted .
Twenty-nine people were killed in the explosion .
Tommy Davis , one of the people portrayed in the play , lost his son , brother , and nephew .
“ There weren ’ t even really bodies that could be identified to be claimed by a lot of these families.
” Through this music , Earle sought to bridge a divide that exists and build solidarity between people in metropolitan areas like New York and rural communities in West Virginia .
He wrote the songs for people that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the last election .
By humanizing people in West Virginia , and telling their story , it is his hope that the world may be a bit better .
Don Blankenship , the CEO of Massey Energy which bought the Upper Big Branch mine , was responsible for a crime against West Virginians .
He has blood on his hands , and despite being found guilty , he remains largely unrepentant .
People from flyover country and the coasts can definitely unite around loathing this despicable human being , and we can demand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Virginia that are human sacrifice zones .
Listen to “ Devil Put The Coal In The Ground ” by Steve Earle :

Steve Earle recorded an album, “Ghosts of West Virginia,” that centers on the survivors of the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion.
The third track on the album, which will be released on May 22, is “Devil Put The Coal In The Ground.”
It’s a foot-tapping piece of Americana with a chorus that speaks to the poverty and despair the coal industry has wrought upon Appalachian communities.
“Devil put the coal in the ground. Devil put the coal in the ground. Buried it deep. It will never be found. Devil put the coal in the ground,” Earle sings.
Speaking to the religious faith of coal miners, as well as the fact that working class people have little choice but to work a coal mining job in a state dominated by the coal industry, Earle adds, “Good Lord gave me two hands,” and, “Lord giveth and he taketh away.”
In an interview for NPR’s “World Cafe,” Earle said the “core” of the album was written for a play called “Coal Country,” which had its run at the Public Theater in New York cut short by the coronavirus pandemic.
Earle traveled with Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen to West Virginia to meet with survivors of the Upper Big Branch disaster. What they heard formed the basis for the show.
In fact, for “Coal Country,” Earle appeared as a kind of Greek chorus character, who performs music and gives the narrative a deeper meaning.
It opens with Earle coming out on stage to perform “John Henry Is A Steel Drivin’ Man,” which appears on the album.
“Welcome to coal country, and we’re here to tell you a story. It’s a West Virginia story in the words of West Virginians.”
According to Earle, Upper Big Branch was the first non-union company to purchase a coal mine, and they bought it from Peabody Coal, which was a union company. And having a non-union company run a coal mine ended as many residents predicted.
Twenty-nine people were killed in the explosion. Tommy Davis, one of the people portrayed in the play, lost his son, brother, and nephew. “There weren’t even really bodies that could be identified to be claimed by a lot of these families.”
Through this music, Earle sought to bridge a divide that exists and build solidarity between people in metropolitan areas like New York and rural communities in West Virginia. He wrote the songs for people that did not vote how he did in the last election.
By humanizing people in West Virginia, and telling their story, it is his hope that the world may be a bit better.
Don Blankenship, the CEO of Massey Energy which bought the Upper Big Branch mine, was responsible for a crime against West Virginians. He has blood on his hands, and despite being found guilty, he remains largely unrepentant.
People from flyover country and the coasts can definitely unite around loathing this despicable human being, and we can demand better for communities in states like West Virginia that are human sacrifice zones.
Listen to “Devil Put The Coal In The Ground” by Steve Earle:


shadowproof--2020-05-14--NSA Whistleblower Reality Winner Files Appeal For Compassionate Release During COVID-19 Pandemic

NSA whistleblower Reality Winner appealed a federal court decision , which rejected her request for compassionate release from Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth , Texas .
“ The entire basis for Reality ’ s motion—and so many like hers—is that she can not afford to wait until she is removed from FMC Carswell in a stretcher , or worse , before she is afforded relief , ” Winner ’ s attorneys declared [ PDF ] .
Winner ’ s legal team further contended the appeal may force the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to clarify how courts throughout @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Step Act .
That could help numerous individuals seeking release during the coronavirus pandemic .
“ A favorable decision will pave the way for other prisoners to seek relief in accordance with the clear intent of the First Step Act , ” according to her attorneys .
Winner pled guilty in 2018 to one count of violating the Espionage Act when she disclosed an NSA report to The Intercept .
She believed the report contained evidence that Russian hackers targeted United States voter registration systems during the 2016 election .
She has served @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and her attorneys believe she should be released to home confinement to serve the remaining 19 months of her sentence .
But Judge Randal Hall sided with the Justice Department on April 24 and contended the “ medical prison , ” where Winner is incarcerated , is “ presumably better equipped than most to deal with any onset of COVID-19 in its inmates.
” Hall argued Winner had not “ carried the burden of demonstrating that her specific medical conditions ” placed her “ at a risk substantial enough to justify her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appeal , which was filed in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals , contends the district court ’ s ruling was “ erroneous ” because it was “ based on sheer speculation , ignored the contrary evidence , and denied Reality the ability to [ present ] additional supporting evidence at hearing.
” “ In holding that Reality failed to meet her burden to demonstrate ‘ extraordinary and compelling ’ circumstances justifying her release , the trial court went out of its way to speculate , without any evidence at all , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to handle the global pandemic.
” Furthermore , Winner ’ s attorneys insisted the court “ ignored the evidence provided by Reality that BOP ’ s response on the whole , and FMC Carswell ’ s response in particular , is and has been , woefully inadequate.
” Reacting to the appeal , Billie Winner-Davis told Shadowproof , “ I hope that the [ appeals ] court will seriously consider releasing my daughter , Reality Winner , from prison at this time.
” “ Every day I fear for her health and safety @ @ @ @ @ @ @ become sick with COVID-19 , and I fear that she will not have the necessary care.
” In the decision against compassionate release , Hall wrote , “ The court would be remiss not to point out Winner ’ s incongruous complaint that she is at greater risk because of the preventative measures undertaken by the prison in response to COVID-19.
” Hall bought into the prosecutors ’ argument that it did not make sense for Winner to complain about restrictions in the facility , when they are supposed to protect her .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ it clear that restrictions on “ prison life ” are “ counter-productive ” and may be impacting her mental and physical health .
For example , prisoners are kept in their cells with other inmates for up to eleven hours per day .
Recreational activities are canceled , however , inmates still pile into a mess hall for bologna sandwiches twice a day .
“ Nobody , inmates or staff , is wearing masks .
At times , the facility operates without adequate hand sanitizer or soap .
Public use areas like the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And prison staff cross-pollinate with all of the inmates without taking any extra precautions.
” “ Indeed , the BOP ‘ response ’ makes matters worse for Reality and threatens to turn her 63-month sentence into a death sentence .
She should be allowed to serve the remainder of her sentence—approximately 19 months—in home confinement with her family who will love and take care of her , ” Winner ’ s legal team stated .
The district court latched on to the fact that Winner had not exhausted “ administrative remedies ” when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her attorneys pointed out , “ Courts have found requiring prisoners to exhaust such remedies is ‘ futile and/or inapplicable in view of the exigency of the global pandemic . '
” In other words , expecting a prisoner , like Winner , to exhaust remedies before hearing her complaint puts any prisoner who believes they are in danger at further risk .
On May 13 , Amnesty International USA called for Winner ’ s release from FMC Carswell .
“ Given the totality of the circumstances , including the time she has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public interest defense granted to her , and the risk posed by COVID-19 , Winner should be released as soon as possible , ” the human rights organization declared .
Amnesty International USA additionally noted , “ Prisons are dangerous hotspots for COVID-19 .
The conditions in which prisoners are held , often in overcrowded facilities and without proper access to sanitation , makes it impossible for detainees to effectively take preventive steps against the disease .
In the U.S. , as of May 12th , at least 2,818 people held in federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 50 people held have died.
” Winner-Davis shared that she is “ deeply concerned about the irreparable damage that is being done ” to her daughter ’ s “ mental state.
” “ Over the last several weeks , I have heard my daughter tell me , ‘ Mom , I am not okay , ’ and as her mother , this tears me apart .
”

NSA whistleblower Reality Winner appealed a federal court decision, which rejected her request for compassionate release from Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas.
“The entire basis for Reality’s motion—and so many like hers—is that she cannot afford to wait until she is removed from FMC Carswell in a stretcher, or worse, before she is afforded relief,” Winner’s attorneys declared [PDF].
Winner’s legal team further contended the appeal may force the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to clarify how courts throughout the United States should apply the First Step Act. That could help numerous individuals seeking release during the coronavirus pandemic.
“A favorable decision will pave the way for other prisoners to seek relief in accordance with the clear intent of the First Step Act,” according to her attorneys.
Winner pled guilty in 2018 to one count of violating the Espionage Act when she disclosed an NSA report to The Intercept. She believed the report contained evidence that Russian hackers targeted United States voter registration systems during the 2016 election.
She has served more than half of her 63-month sentence, and her attorneys believe she should be released to home confinement to serve the remaining 19 months of her sentence.
But Judge Randal Hall sided with the Justice Department on April 24 and contended the “medical prison,” where Winner is incarcerated, is “presumably better equipped than most to deal with any onset of COVID-19 in its inmates.”
Hall argued Winner had not “carried the burden of demonstrating that her specific medical conditions” placed her “at a risk substantial enough to justify her early release.”
The motion for an appeal, which was filed in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, contends the district court’s ruling was “erroneous” because it was “based on sheer speculation, ignored the contrary evidence, and denied Reality the ability to [present] additional supporting evidence at hearing.”
“In holding that Reality failed to meet her burden to demonstrate ‘extraordinary and compelling’ circumstances justifying her release, the trial court went out of its way to speculate, without any evidence at all, that FMC Carswell is ‘better equipped’ to handle the global pandemic.”
Furthermore, Winner’s attorneys insisted the court “ignored the evidence provided by Reality that BOP’s response on the whole, and FMC Carswell’s response in particular, is and has been, woefully inadequate.”
Reacting to the appeal, Billie Winner-Davis told Shadowproof, “I hope that the [appeals] court will seriously consider releasing my daughter, Reality Winner, from prison at this time.”
“Every day I fear for her health and safety. I fear that she may actually become sick with COVID-19, and I fear that she will not have the necessary care.”
In the decision against compassionate release, Hall wrote, “The court would be remiss not to point out Winner’s incongruous complaint that she is at greater risk because of the preventative measures undertaken by the prison in response to COVID-19.”
Hall bought into the prosecutors’ argument that it did not make sense for Winner to complain about restrictions in the facility, when they are supposed to protect her. Yet, Winner’s attorneys made it clear that restrictions on “prison life” are “counter-productive” and may be impacting her mental and physical health.
For example, prisoners are kept in their cells with other inmates for up to eleven hours per day. Recreational activities are canceled, however, inmates still pile into a mess hall for bologna sandwiches twice a day.
“Nobody, inmates or staff, is wearing masks. At times, the facility operates without adequate hand sanitizer or soap. Public use areas like the telephones are not cleaned between uses. And prison staff cross-pollinate with all of the inmates without taking any extra precautions.”
“Indeed, the BOP ‘response’ makes matters worse for Reality and threatens to turn her 63-month sentence into a death sentence. She should be allowed to serve the remainder of her sentence—approximately 19 months—in home confinement with her family who will love and take care of her,” Winner’s legal team stated.
The district court latched on to the fact that Winner had not exhausted “administrative remedies” when it rejected her appeal. But as her attorneys pointed out, “Courts have found requiring prisoners to exhaust such remedies is ‘futile and/or inapplicable in view of the exigency of the global pandemic.'”
In other words, expecting a prisoner, like Winner, to exhaust remedies before hearing her complaint puts any prisoner who believes they are in danger at further risk.
On May 13, Amnesty International USA called for Winner’s release from FMC Carswell.
“Given the totality of the circumstances, including the time she has already served, the lack of a public interest defense granted to her, and the risk posed by COVID-19, Winner should be released as soon as possible,” the human rights organization declared.
Amnesty International USA additionally noted, “Prisons are dangerous hotspots for COVID-19. The conditions in which prisoners are held, often in overcrowded facilities and without proper access to sanitation, makes it impossible for detainees to effectively take preventive steps against the disease. In the U.S., as of May 12th, at least 2,818 people held in federal prisons have tested positive for COVID-19 and 50 people held have died.”
Winner-Davis shared that she is “deeply concerned about the irreparable damage that is being done” to her daughter’s “mental state.”
“Over the last several weeks, I have heard my daughter tell me, ‘Mom, I am not okay,’ and as her mother, this tears me apart.”


shadowproof--2020-05-16--Dissenter Weekly: Federal Whistleblowers Try To Save Americans From Corrupt COVID-19 Response

Dissenter Weekly : Federal Whistleblowers Try To Save Americans From Corrupt COVID-19 Response On this edition of the “ Dissenter Weekly , ” host and Shadowproof editor Kevin Gosztola joins various media organizations in highlighting the testimony of Rick Bright , the former deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and response at Health and Human Services ( HHS ) and former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority , or BARDA .
Bright was retaliated against by officials in President Donald Trump ’ s administration after he recommended in January that the administration take the coronavirus pandemic more seriously @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the manner in which certain drugs were fast-tracked for approval to address COVID-19 simply because a company had political connections to Jared Kushner or others .
“ Most Americans want the same thing–a return to normal , ” Bright testified to the House Energy and Commerce Committee .
“ The normal of 2019 is not going to return , but we all have an opportunity to shape the new normal of 2020 and beyond.
” Later in the show , Gosztola discusses complaints from a whistleblower in the TSA , who says N95 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and a Maine state trooper , who objected to illegal surveillance of protests and a camp for Israeli and Arab teens .
Gosztola also provides an update on NSA whistleblower Reality Winner , who appealed district court ruling against her request for compassionate release .
This show is brought to you by Shadowproof.com , a 100 % reader-funded press organization .
If you enjoy our work , you can support us with a donation or by subscribing for $ 5/month or more : https : //shadowproof.com/donate

On this edition of the “Dissenter Weekly,” host and Shadowproof editor Kevin Gosztola joins various media organizations in highlighting the testimony of Rick Bright, the former deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and response at Health and Human Services (HHS) and former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA.
Bright was retaliated against by officials in President Donald Trump’s administration after he recommended in January that the administration take the coronavirus pandemic more seriously. He also challenged cronyism, including the manner in which certain drugs were fast-tracked for approval to address COVID-19 simply because a company had political connections to Jared Kushner or others.
“Most Americans want the same thing–a return to normal,” Bright testified to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “The normal of 2019 is not going to return, but we all have an opportunity to shape the new normal of 2020 and beyond.”
Later in the show, Gosztola discusses complaints from a whistleblower in the TSA, who says N95 respirator masks were hoarded but not used, and a Maine state trooper, who objected to illegal surveillance of protests and a camp for Israeli and Arab teens.
Gosztola also provides an update on NSA whistleblower Reality Winner, who appealed district court ruling against her request for compassionate release.
This week’s stories:
***
Send tips and feedback to editor@shadowproof.com
This show is brought to you by Shadowproof.com, a 100% reader-funded press organization. If you enjoy our work, you can support us with a donation or by subscribing for $5/month or more: https://shadowproof.com/donate


shadowproof--2020-05-18--Countries Exploit COVID-19 Pandemic To Shut Down Borders And Block Refugees

Countries Exploit COVID-19 Pandemic To Shut Down Borders And Block Refugees In March , a naval freight ship could be seen floating off the coast of Lesvos .
It contained new arrivals to the Greek island , people who wanted to seek asylum but were denied this right .
The ship was overcrowded .
Asylum seekers were not allowed to shower on board , and there were no appropriate beds .
Luckily , none of these people carried the COVID-19 virus , or it could have spread quickly through the cramped conditions .
But this is not an issue unique @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its asylum procedures .
People around the world face more and more obstacles to seeking asylum , as borders remain closed due to the pandemic , and refugee organizations are concerned that the crisis has become an excuse for governments to limit the human rights of displaced people in the name of public health .
When Bill Frelick , refugee and migrant rights director at Human Rights Watch , made concerted attempts to get on board the ship , he was passed from one authority to the next .
He was never given @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on board were allowed to charge their phones , Frelick was able to speak to them .
The new arrivals would ordinarily have been taken to the island ’ s Moria refugee camp , a camp built for 3,000 people and now hosting 20,000 .
But due to Greece ’ s announcement on March 1 that it would suspend its asylum system , this did not happen .
The freight ship , Frelick believes , was not a quarantine measure .
There was nothing happening on board to stop the spread of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to President [ Recep Tayyip ] Erdoğan of Turkey having announced he was going to open his border to Greece and allow people to move into the European Union , ” Frelick said .
Frelick maintained the public must be careful when “ crediting the Greek government with having quarantined people ” by not bringing them to the Moria camp .
There was no legitimate public health reason to do that and suspend asylum .
Selma Mesic , the Greece and Balkans coordinator at Refugee Rights Europe , said displaced people at European @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 response .
“ At the European Union ’ s external sea borders , we ’ ve seen the suspension of search and rescue operations and the closing of ports of arrival , and at external land borders we ’ ve witnessed the withholding of reception conditions and access to asylum , ” Mesic added .
At Schengen borders , Mesic mentioned illegal pushbacks and arbitrary detentions continue to take place .
Refugee Rights Europe , along with more than 60 experts , professionals , and human rights defenders , signed an open @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states , calling for governments to uphold the rights of displaced people in their COVID-19 responses .
“ Some states have moved to include all individuals without discrimination in their public health responses , paused evictions from state accommodation for asylum seekers , or have granted residence to all immigrants and asylum seekers with pending residency permits , ” the letter reads .
“ At the same time , however , the health crisis has mostly given rise to concerning attempts to use COVID-19 as a pretext to suspend human rights of displaced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people in Europe face at internal and external borders .
Ports of arrival have been closed , access to asylum has been denied , and illegal pushbacks are taking place—sometimes violently , as recorded by the Border Violence Monitoring Network .
Even before the pandemic , Mesic acknowledged there were reports of people being forced from Turkey into countries that pose threats to their safety .
“ Beyond this , refugees who are pushed back to Turkey itself are experiencing challenges with accessing services , such as education through distance learning , basic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lack of access to clean water and multilingual information about the pandemic , ” Mesic asserted .
Many search and rescue missions were suspended .
Refugee Rights Europe is calling for European states in the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea to ensure that people can access safe ports , and allow search and rescue missions .
The organization wants pushbacks , violent and non-violent , to end immediately .
According to Mesic , a lot of the practices taking place have been inflicted upon asylum seekers for years , without any accountability .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ health pandemic gives governments an excuse to step up their hardline approach towards migrants and refugees .
Human Rights Watch recorded numerous practices that have caused asylum systems to stop on the United States-Mexico border .
People fearing persecution and serious abuse are being turned away , unable to lodge claims .
While these procedures were developed before the pandemic , Frelick believes officials are exploiting a public health crisis to apply them .
In January 2020 , before the COVID-19 pandemic hit North America , the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as “ Return to Mexico.
” Non-Mexican asylum seekers are now being turned away at the U.S.-Mexico border .
“ People are made to congregate in border towns and areas that don ’ t have the capacity to provide sanitary and decent , even safe , conditions for people .
And their claims [ are still ] pending in the immigration courts of the United States , ” Frelick described .
Asylum seekers from Honduras and El Salvador also face stringent measures .
A cooperative agreement means that people from these countries trying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Guatemala , where they can then apply for asylum .
The people usually have no connection to Guatemala , have no hope of supporting themselves whilst they await the result of their claims , and have little faith in the protection they could be offered .
“ Many of these asylum seekers actually have family connections in the United States , ” Frelick noted .
Frelick suggests , like Americans , they could stay at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19 or be quarantined somewhere with a rational evidence and testing-based environment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that they don ’ t carry the disease , they could be released in a manner where they would still be supervised and have to check in while they pursue their asylum claims , ” Frelick added .
All this , he contends , can be done with proper social distancing , personal protective equipment ( PPE ) , and video calls .
“ There ’ s no need to send a person back to a life-threatening situation without even examining their claim in the name of protective public health in the United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ largely denying people the opportunity to apply for asylum , Portugal has taken a different direction in a bid to limit the spread of COVID-19 .
Migrants and asylum seekers with pending applications have temporarily been granted full citizenship rights , including full access to the health care system .
Not only does this protect the health of asylum seekers , but also the wider population , as people can come forward for health care without fear .
“ We are all in this together .
[ The ] disease does not discriminate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and only an inclusive response which ‘ leaves no one behind , ’ will allow us to stop its spread and recover together , ” Mesic concluded .
Refugee Rights Europe urges all countries to provide access to asylum , proper reception conditions , and access to appropriate services so that everyone , whoever they are , can protect themselves during the pandemic .

In March, a naval freight ship could be seen floating off the coast of Lesvos. It contained new arrivals to the Greek island, people who wanted to seek asylum but were denied this right.
The ship was overcrowded. Asylum seekers were not allowed to shower on board, and there were no appropriate beds. Luckily, none of these people carried the COVID-19 virus, or it could have spread quickly through the cramped conditions.
But this is not an issue unique to Greece, which has now resumed its asylum procedures. People around the world face more and more obstacles to seeking asylum, as borders remain closed due to the pandemic, and refugee organizations are concerned that the crisis has become an excuse for governments to limit the human rights of displaced people in the name of public health.
When Bill Frelick, refugee and migrant rights director at Human Rights Watch, made concerted attempts to get on board the ship, he was passed from one authority to the next. He was never given permission. Eventually, when the people on board were allowed to charge their phones, Frelick was able to speak to them.
The new arrivals would ordinarily have been taken to the island’s Moria refugee camp, a camp built for 3,000 people and now hosting 20,000. But due to Greece’s announcement on March 1 that it would suspend its asylum system, this did not happen.
The freight ship, Frelick believes, was not a quarantine measure. There was nothing happening on board to stop the spread of the virus.
“This was a response to President [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan of Turkey having announced he was going to open his border to Greece and allow people to move into the European Union,” Frelick said.
Frelick maintained the public must be careful when “crediting the Greek government with having quarantined people” by not bringing them to the Moria camp. There was no legitimate public health reason to do that and suspend asylum.
*
Selma Mesic, the Greece and Balkans coordinator at Refugee Rights Europe, said displaced people at European borders have been left behind in the COVID-19 response.
“At the European Union’s external sea borders, we’ve seen the suspension of search and rescue operations and the closing of ports of arrival, and at external land borders we’ve witnessed the withholding of reception conditions and access to asylum,” Mesic added.
At Schengen borders, Mesic mentioned illegal pushbacks and arbitrary detentions continue to take place.
Refugee Rights Europe, along with more than 60 experts, professionals, and human rights defenders, signed an open letter to the 27 European Union member states, calling for governments to uphold the rights of displaced people in their COVID-19 responses.
“Some states have moved to include all individuals without discrimination in their public health responses, paused evictions from state accommodation for asylum seekers, or have granted residence to all immigrants and asylum seekers with pending residency permits,” the letter reads.
“At the same time, however, the health crisis has mostly given rise to concerning attempts to use COVID-19 as a pretext to suspend human rights of displaced individuals.”
The letter outlines the threats people in Europe face at internal and external borders. Ports of arrival have been closed, access to asylum has been denied, and illegal pushbacks are taking place—sometimes violently, as recorded by the Border Violence Monitoring Network.
Even before the pandemic, Mesic acknowledged there were reports of people being forced from Turkey into countries that pose threats to their safety.
“Beyond this, refugees who are pushed back to Turkey itself are experiencing challenges with accessing services, such as education through distance learning, basic supplies including masks and hygiene items, lack of access to clean water and multilingual information about the pandemic,” Mesic asserted.
Many search and rescue missions were suspended. Refugee Rights Europe is calling for European states in the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea to ensure that people can access safe ports, and allow search and rescue missions. The organization wants pushbacks, violent and non-violent, to end immediately.
*
According to Mesic, a lot of the practices taking place have been inflicted upon asylum seekers for years, without any accountability. Her concern now is that the global health pandemic gives governments an excuse to step up their hardline approach towards migrants and refugees.
Human Rights Watch recorded numerous practices that have caused asylum systems to stop on the United States-Mexico border. People fearing persecution and serious abuse are being turned away, unable to lodge claims.
While these procedures were developed before the pandemic, Frelick believes officials are exploiting a public health crisis to apply them.
In January 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit North America, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the Migration Protection Protocols, also known as “Return to Mexico.” Non-Mexican asylum seekers are now being turned away at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“People are made to congregate in border towns and areas that don’t have the capacity to provide sanitary and decent, even safe, conditions for people. And their claims [are still] pending in the immigration courts of the United States,” Frelick described.
Asylum seekers from Honduras and El Salvador also face stringent measures. A cooperative agreement means that people from these countries trying to enter the U.S. are sent to Guatemala, where they can then apply for asylum.
The people usually have no connection to Guatemala, have no hope of supporting themselves whilst they await the result of their claims, and have little faith in the protection they could be offered.
“Many of these asylum seekers actually have family connections in the United States,” Frelick noted.
Frelick suggests, like Americans, they could stay at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19 or be quarantined somewhere with a rational evidence and testing-based environment.
“When it’s clear that they don’t carry the disease, they could be released in a manner where they would still be supervised and have to check in while they pursue their asylum claims,” Frelick added.
All this, he contends, can be done with proper social distancing, personal protective equipment (PPE), and video calls.
“There’s no need to send a person back to a life-threatening situation without even examining their claim in the name of protective public health in the United States.”
While the United States is largely denying people the opportunity to apply for asylum, Portugal has taken a different direction in a bid to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Migrants and asylum seekers with pending applications have temporarily been granted full citizenship rights, including full access to the health care system. Not only does this protect the health of asylum seekers, but also the wider population, as people can come forward for health care without fear.
“We are all in this together. [The] disease does not discriminate between borders, nationalities, or status, and only an inclusive response which ‘leaves no one behind,’ will allow us to stop its spread and recover together,” Mesic concluded.
Refugee Rights Europe urges all countries to provide access to asylum, proper reception conditions, and access to appropriate services so that everyone, whoever they are, can protect themselves during the pandemic.


shadowproof--2020-05-18--Even With COVID-19 Pandemic, Most Media Organizations Get Refugee Issues Wrong

Even With COVID-19 Pandemic , Most Media Organizations Get Refugee Issues Wrong The coronavirus pandemic intensified a refugee crisis , endangering millions of people who already were struggling to survive and obtain safety .
When Katie Dancey-Downs , a journalist in the United Kingdom , pitched Shadowproof a story about COVID-19 and asylum seekers , we knew we wanted to collaborate because of her commitment to covering refugee issues .
“ So often when I pick up a newspaper or turn on the news , I find the media is getting it so wrong , and so I wanted to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the story , ” Katie shared .
Katie has traveled to Calais , France , to cover people who chase lorries and are awoken by police spraying them with tear gas .
She has visited Uganda to hear human stories from refugees transforming their land into “ organic kitchen gardens.
” She has met Syrians in Turkey , who live in camps and harvest rose fields .
They turn the petals into perfume .
“ In the U.K. , ” Katie mentioned , “ I ’ ve met people making happy new homes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ homelands and the children they were forced to leave behind , and those who are struggling to make their voices heard through a complicated asylum process.
” One of those people is Freh , an Ethiopian asylum seeker , who fled state-sponsored violence .
Katie produced a documentary series pilot that demystified the hosting of refugees in homes .
“ There was a lot of work behind the scenes with Freh , ” Katie recalled .
“ We met up and spoke a lot before filming even began to make sure she knew @ @ @ @ @ @ @ both Freh ’ s story and the story of Michelle , who hosted Freh , to give people a sense of how easy it is to live with a refugee .
Like us , Katie recognizes the importance of elevating marginalized voices .
She founded a platform called The Lush Times and was the co-editor of Lush Times , an affiliated publication .
She has investigated several important national security matters in the U.K. , such as the British government ’ s role in drone strikes ordered by the United States and an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ romantic relationships with women activists to spy on them .
Also , she recently became a parent and described her experiences as a new mom on lockdown .
Katie holds herself out as someone who will hold authorities to account and shine a light on the real refugee experience .
We are glad we were able to work together with her , and we encourage you to support her work and read her report , “ Countries Exploit COVID-19 Pandemic To Shut Down Borders And Block Refugees .
”

The coronavirus pandemic intensified a refugee crisis, endangering millions of people who already were struggling to survive and obtain safety.
When Katie Dancey-Downs, a journalist in the United Kingdom, pitched Shadowproof a story about COVID-19 and asylum seekers, we knew we wanted to collaborate because of her commitment to covering refugee issues.
“So often when I pick up a newspaper or turn on the news, I find the media is getting it so wrong, and so I wanted to be a part of telling more of the story,” Katie shared.
Katie has traveled to Calais, France, to cover people who chase lorries and are awoken by police spraying them with tear gas. She has visited Uganda to hear human stories from refugees transforming their land into “organic kitchen gardens.” She has met Syrians in Turkey, who live in camps and harvest rose fields. They turn the petals into perfume.
“In the U.K.,” Katie mentioned, “I’ve met people making happy new homes, people desperate to return to their homelands and the children they were forced to leave behind, and those who are struggling to make their voices heard through a complicated asylum process.”
One of those people is Freh, an Ethiopian asylum seeker, who fled state-sponsored violence. Katie produced a documentary series pilot that demystified the hosting of refugees in homes.
“There was a lot of work behind the scenes with Freh,” Katie recalled. “We met up and spoke a lot before filming even began to make sure she knew she could trust us.”
Katie told both Freh’s story and the story of Michelle, who hosted Freh, to give people a sense of how easy it is to live with a refugee.
Like us, Katie recognizes the importance of elevating marginalized voices. She founded a platform called The Lush Times and was the co-editor of Lush Times, an affiliated publication.
She has investigated several important national security matters in the U.K., such as the British government’s role in drone strikes ordered by the United States and an undercover policing scandal, where police formed romantic relationships with women activists to spy on them.
Also, she recently became a parent and described her experiences as a new mom on lockdown.
Katie holds herself out as someone who will hold authorities to account and shine a light on the real refugee experience. We are glad we were able to work together with her, and we encourage you to support her work and read her report, “Countries Exploit COVID-19 Pandemic To Shut Down Borders And Block Refugees.”
Watch Katie’s short documentary, ‘Seeking Asylum From The Spare Room’:


shadowproof--2020-05-19--‘No One Will Help, No One Will Listen’: Workers Impacted By COVID-19 Outbreak Describe Struggle For

‘No One Will Help, No One Will Listen’: Workers Impacted By COVID-19 Outbreak Describe Struggle For Unemployment Benefits

‘ No One Will Help , No One Will Listen ’ : Workers Impacted By COVID-19 Outbreak Describe Struggle For Unemployment Benefits Since the coronavirus pandemic triggered lockdowns across the United States two months ago , more than 36 million Americans filed unemployment claims .
The surge of claims has created major backlogs of unemployment claims that plague several states , large and small .
This dysfunction is a result of outdated infrastructure , underfunding , and years of right-wing policies .
In fact , most workers , who find themselves unemployed in the U.S. , will likely never obtain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ set up to limit support to the least amount of people possible .
Chelsea Vann , a Broadway actor in New York City , filed for unemployment on March 27 after her employer closed business .
The New York state unemployment website prompted Vann to call the claims center to complete her claim , but she was unable to get a hold of a representative for weeks .
A month later , she was able to obtain certification for weekly benefits , but she has yet to receive any payout or direct deposit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ m scared something was never processed , but I can ’ t get a hold of a human to explain my situation and ask questions , ” Vann shared .
“ I ’ m close to running out of savings , and soon I don ’ t know how I ’ ll pay bills , or buy groceries to eat .
It ’ s a nightmare.
” Thousands of workers in several states are still awaiting payout of unemployment benefits around the U.S .
In New York , over 400,000 workers who claimed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in Florida , around 700,000 workers have received payments of unemployed benefits , while over 700,000 more workers are awaiting verification of their claims or to be paid .
State unemployment systems were in disarray prior to the pandemic .
Critics of the Florida unemployment system argue it was designed to deter people from using it because it has one of the lowest payouts in the U.S. at $ 275 per week .
Florida also has a difficult application and unreliable website that makes it impossible for thousands to successfully file claims @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percent of unemployed people in Florida received benefits , compared to 65.9 percent in Massachusetts .
Many states in the U.S. rely on outdated infrastructure that can not handle the influx of unemployment claims .
At least 12 states , including Wisconsin , still use COBOL , an outdated coding language , to back up their unemployment benefits system .
Wisconsin ’ s unemployment system was weakened by Republican Scott Walker when he was governor .
Walker imposed several obstacles for people to obtain unemployment benefits during his administration , including a mandatory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ benefits , and additional actions claimants must complete to maintain benefits .
Dan A .
Black , a professor at University of Chicago ’ s Harris School of Public Policy , said unemployment numbers do not capture the full economic picture during the pandemic .
“ Many workers do not qualify for unemployment insurance .
This differs from state to state here in the U.S. , but workers can be part-time at several different employers and not qualify at any one employer .
They could have just started work at a new firm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yet .
And you can not quit or be fired for cause , ” Black contended .
Black cited contractors , self-employed workers , new entrants to the job market , and older workers discouraged from the job market as examples of different individuals that may not qualify for unemployment benefits .
A survey conducted by the Economic Policy Institute found from March 22 to April 18 between 7.8 million to 12.2 million Americans could not apply for unemployment benefits because they could not get through the system to do so or were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made clear to everyone what low-wage workers have known for years—the social safety net in the United States has gaping holes that cause suffering for hard-working people and their families and communities , ” said Catherine Fisk , a professor at UC Berkeley Law School who focuses on labor and employment law .
Fisk added , “ State agencies that administer the system have struggled to deal with the more than 36 million new claims for benefits .
Employer errors in record keeping result in workers being denied coverage even when they are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in most states.
” A public school bus driver in Prince County , Maryland , Tiffon Moss , started working her job shortly before the pandemic and hasn ’ t received any response to her unemployment application .
“ I was homeless before the pandemic .
I ’ m still struggling to make enough to find stable housing , ” Moss shared .
“ I ’ m staying with someone , but not having a steady income is keeping me from getting my own place.
” Shelly Suit , a convenience store cashier @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for unemployment benefits and was approved on March 29 but received no benefits .
Three weeks later , a letter in the mail informed her that she needed a meeting with a claims specialist to verify her claim , but that meeting has yet to be scheduled .
When she was able to get in touch with a representative on the phone , she was told there was nothing that could be done until a meeting is scheduled .
“ I have been putting everything on credit cards with the assumption that by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would have the benefit payments to pay , ” said Suit .
“ I had to put my mortgage on deferral .
I don ’ t know how I am going to pay it when it comes due.
” Several workers in essential jobs are unable to work because of underlying health issues or are ineligible for unemployment benefits because they have not been laid off .
Kelly Ringston , a Whole Foods employee for six years in Milwaukee , Wisconsin , received a medically mandated quarantine from her primary care doctor on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ function makes her extremely vulnerable to COVID-19 .
Ringston spoke with her supervisors and was advised to apply for short-term disability benefits for the duration of her quarantine as she awaited surgery to upgrade her pacemaker .
It took several weeks for a response , but her short-term disability benefits were denied by the Whole Foods Market Leave Service Center under Whole Foods ’ “ short-term disability plan.
” Even with health insurance , Ringston still has no income and mounting medical bills .
Because her job is essential and she remains employed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ When I spoke with the ‘ Team Member Services Generalist ’ for my store , she did not have an answer as to why my short-term disability claim had been denied .
She did not seem to be aware of the Whole Foods Market policy [ for ] coronavirus short-term disability claims , ” said Ringston , who was advised to apply for a $ 500 grant from the team member emergency fund , withdraw from her 401 ( k ) , and contact a community resource directory , Impact 2-1-1 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ started a GoFundMe to help cover lost income during quarantine and medical bills she ’ s facing due to her heart issues .
“ She ’ s highly at risk , not only suffering from congestive heart failure , but she also has other immune system-related disorders , and she ’ s over the age of 60 so she really fell into that at-risk category , ” said Spine .
“ It ’ s been really hard for my mom .
She ’ s single , lives alone .
I ’ m in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m the only available one to help her , and I ’ m in between jobs.
” A Whole Foods spokesperson said in an email , “ Whole Foods Market does not determine what qualifies or does not qualify for short term disability benefits , nor do we set the parameters for the short-term disability benefits payout .
That criteria is set by the insurer or the state-run program.
” Other workers have received denials to their unemployment claims because they didn ’ t work long enough , make enough money @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state labor agencies .
Bryan Rafferty of Boston , Massachusetts received a denial letter to his unemployment claim , stating he didn ’ t make enough to receive any benefits .
He started working for a real estate management company in September 2019 and relied on work for Uber prior to that to make ends meet .
But Rafferty ’ s Uber wages , or pay from the first three months of 2020 before he was furloughed on March 23 , weren ’ t on record at the Massachusetts Department of Labor .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ says the fourth quarter of 2019 alone wouldn ’ t qualify me for unemployment , for which I made about $ 10,000 .
They included none of my 2020 first-quarter earnings in the calculation , despite again being laid off in the last week of the first quarter , ” according to Rafferty .
“ I ’ ve run out of money.
” Tori Atwell of Harwood , Maryland , was unemployed and received benefits prior to the pandemic .
But those benefits stopped after Atwell started a restaurant job in March , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We had barely even finished my employee paperwork when I was laid off .
I haven ’ t worked since , ” said Atwell .
Atwell tries emailing and calling the unemployment office on a daily basis , but when she gets through , she is told they can not talk with her until she receives a notice for a scheduled phone call in the mail .
“ I haven ’ t had any income since my unemployment benefits stopped , ” Atwell shared .
“ I still try calling even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ answers .
But frankly what other options do I have ?
No one will help , and no one will listen .
”

Since the coronavirus pandemic triggered lockdowns across the United States two months ago, more than 36 million Americans filed unemployment claims.
The surge of claims has created major backlogs of unemployment claims that plague several states, large and small. This dysfunction is a result of outdated infrastructure, underfunding, and years of right-wing policies.
In fact, most workers, who find themselves unemployed in the U.S., will likely never obtain benefits because systems in many states are set up to limit support to the least amount of people possible.
Chelsea Vann, a Broadway actor in New York City, filed for unemployment on March 27 after her employer closed business.
The New York state unemployment website prompted Vann to call the claims center to complete her claim, but she was unable to get a hold of a representative for weeks. A month later, she was able to obtain certification for weekly benefits, but she has yet to receive any payout or direct deposit from the system.
“I’m scared something was never processed, but I can’t get a hold of a human to explain my situation and ask questions,” Vann shared. “I’m close to running out of savings, and soon I don’t know how I’ll pay bills, or buy groceries to eat. It’s a nightmare.”
Thousands of workers in several states are still awaiting payout of unemployment benefits around the U.S.
In New York, over 400,000 workers who claimed unemployment have not received money. And, in Florida, around 700,000 workers have received payments of unemployed benefits, while over 700,000 more workers are awaiting verification of their claims or to be paid.
State unemployment systems were in disarray prior to the pandemic. Critics of the Florida unemployment system argue it was designed to deter people from using it because it has one of the lowest payouts in the U.S. at $275 per week.
Florida also has a difficult application and unreliable website that makes it impossible for thousands to successfully file claims. Before the pandemic, only 7.6 percent of unemployed people in Florida received benefits, compared to 65.9 percent in Massachusetts.
Many states in the U.S. rely on outdated infrastructure that cannot handle the influx of unemployment claims. At least 12 states, including Wisconsin, still use COBOL, an outdated coding language, to back up their unemployment benefits system.
Wisconsin’s unemployment system was weakened by Republican Scott Walker when he was governor. Walker imposed several obstacles for people to obtain unemployment benefits during his administration, including a mandatory wait period, expanded criteria for denying benefits, and additional actions claimants must complete to maintain benefits.
Dan A. Black, a professor at University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, said unemployment numbers do not capture the full economic picture during the pandemic.
“Many workers do not qualify for unemployment insurance. This differs from state to state here in the U.S., but workers can be part-time at several different employers and not qualify at any one employer. They could have just started work at a new firm and not had sufficient earnings to qualify yet. And you cannot quit or be fired for cause,” Black contended.
Black cited contractors, self-employed workers, new entrants to the job market, and older workers discouraged from the job market as examples of different individuals that may not qualify for unemployment benefits.
A survey conducted by the Economic Policy Institute found from March 22 to April 18 between 7.8 million to 12.2 million Americans could not apply for unemployment benefits because they could not get through the system to do so or were discouraged by difficulties
“The pandemic has made clear to everyone what low-wage workers have known for years—the social safety net in the United States has gaping holes that cause suffering for hard-working people and their families and communities,” said Catherine Fisk, a professor at UC Berkeley Law School who focuses on labor and employment law.
Fisk added, “State agencies that administer the system have struggled to deal with the more than 36 million new claims for benefits. Employer errors in record keeping result in workers being denied coverage even when they are eligible. And undocumented workers are ineligible in most states.”
A public school bus driver in Prince County, Maryland, Tiffon Moss, started working her job shortly before the pandemic and hasn’t received any response to her unemployment application.
“I was homeless before the pandemic. I’m still struggling to make enough to find stable housing,” Moss shared. “I’m staying with someone, but not having a steady income is keeping me from getting my own place.”
Shelly Suit, a convenience store cashier in Martinsburg, West Virginia, filed for unemployment benefits and was approved on March 29 but received no benefits.
Three weeks later, a letter in the mail informed her that she needed a meeting with a claims specialist to verify her claim, but that meeting has yet to be scheduled. When she was able to get in touch with a representative on the phone, she was told there was nothing that could be done until a meeting is scheduled.
“I have been putting everything on credit cards with the assumption that by the time I got the bills I would have the benefit payments to pay,” said Suit. “I had to put my mortgage on deferral. I don’t know how I am going to pay it when it comes due.”
Several workers in essential jobs are unable to work because of underlying health issues or are ineligible for unemployment benefits because they have not been laid off.
Kelly Ringston, a Whole Foods employee for six years in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, received a medically mandated quarantine from her primary care doctor on March 16, as her low heart function makes her extremely vulnerable to COVID-19.
Ringston spoke with her supervisors and was advised to apply for short-term disability benefits for the duration of her quarantine as she awaited surgery to upgrade her pacemaker. It took several weeks for a response, but her short-term disability benefits were denied by the Whole Foods Market Leave Service Center under Whole Foods’ “short-term disability plan.”
Even with health insurance, Ringston still has no income and mounting medical bills. Because her job is essential and she remains employed, Ringston cannot obtain unemployment benefits.
“When I spoke with the ‘Team Member Services Generalist’ for my store, she did not have an answer as to why my short-term disability claim had been denied. She did not seem to be aware of the Whole Foods Market policy [for] coronavirus short-term disability claims,” said Ringston, who was advised to apply for a $500 grant from the team member emergency fund, withdraw from her 401(k), and contact a community resource directory, Impact 2-1-1.
Her daughter, Emily Spine, started a GoFundMe to help cover lost income during quarantine and medical bills she’s facing due to her heart issues.
“She’s highly at risk, not only suffering from congestive heart failure, but she also has other immune system-related disorders, and she’s over the age of 60 so she really fell into that at-risk category,” said Spine. “It’s been really hard for my mom. She’s single, lives alone. I’m in New York and an only child so I’m the only available one to help her, and I’m in between jobs.”
A Whole Foods spokesperson said in an email, “Whole Foods Market does not determine what qualifies or does not qualify for short term disability benefits, nor do we set the parameters for the short-term disability benefits payout. That criteria is set by the insurer or the state-run program.”
Other workers have received denials to their unemployment claims because they didn’t work long enough, make enough money, or records are missing from their state labor agencies.
Bryan Rafferty of Boston, Massachusetts received a denial letter to his unemployment claim, stating he didn’t make enough to receive any benefits. He started working for a real estate management company in September 2019 and relied on work for Uber prior to that to make ends meet. But Rafferty’s Uber wages, or pay from the first three months of 2020 before he was furloughed on March 23, weren’t on record at the Massachusetts Department of Labor.
“In the denial summary, it says the fourth quarter of 2019 alone wouldn’t qualify me for unemployment, for which I made about $10,000. They included none of my 2020 first-quarter earnings in the calculation, despite again being laid off in the last week of the first quarter,” according to Rafferty. “I’ve run out of money.”
Tori Atwell of Harwood, Maryland, was unemployed and received benefits prior to the pandemic. But those benefits stopped after Atwell started a restaurant job in March, right before the pandemic shut down restaurants.
“We had barely even finished my employee paperwork when I was laid off. I haven’t worked since,” said Atwell.
Atwell tries emailing and calling the unemployment office on a daily basis, but when she gets through, she is told they cannot talk with her until she receives a notice for a scheduled phone call in the mail.
“I haven’t had any income since my unemployment benefits stopped,” Atwell shared. “I still try calling even though no one will give me any answers. But frankly what other options do I have? No one will help, and no one will listen.”


shadowproof--2020-05-20--Protest Song Of The Week: ‘Nine Times Out Of Ten’ By Ryan Harvey

Protest Song Of The Week : ‘ Nine Times Out Of Ten ’ By Ryan Harvey The post was originally published at Ongoing History Of Protest Songs .
As we currently face a global pandemic , it is easy to lose sight that these issues are compounded by an endless cycle of war .
America ’ s never-ending war in Afghanistan , the continuing fallout of the Iraq War , and the continued US support for regime change in various countries contributed to the refugee crisis and has affected countless innocent lives .
These issues are examined by punk-folk artist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Times Out Of Ten , ” a track off his latest album “ You Have No Country.
” Harvey takes clear aim at America ’ s anti-refugee rhetoric with the verse , “ The refugees come , and your finger ’ s on your gun .
Referencing the saddest part of history , you fail to see the shocking irony , that it was you that claimed to liberate their country.
” It is a poignant reminder that refugees are fleeing from problems created by American colonialism .
He also suggests there is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : “ They cover up the shit and paint it up with rhetoric , and nine times out of ten you ’ ll believe it , cover up your eyes again , as the cycle spins and spins .
History doesn ’ t repeat .
We repeat it.
” Reject blind patriotism , and end the cycle of war .

The post was originally published at Ongoing History Of Protest Songs.
As we currently face a global pandemic, it is easy to lose sight that these issues are compounded by an endless cycle of war. America’s never-ending war in Afghanistan, the continuing fallout of the Iraq War, and the continued US support for regime change in various countries contributed to the refugee crisis and has affected countless innocent lives.
These issues are examined by punk-folk artist and activist Ryan Harvey on “Nine Times Out Of Ten,” a track off his latest album “You Have No Country.”
Harvey takes clear aim at America’s anti-refugee rhetoric with the verse, “The refugees come, and your finger’s on your gun. Referencing the saddest part of history, you fail to see the shocking irony, that it was you that claimed to liberate their country.” It is a poignant reminder that refugees are fleeing from problems created by American colonialism.
He also suggests there is another key reason for the perpetual wars: “They cover up the shit and paint it up with rhetoric, and nine times out of ten you’ll believe it, cover up your eyes again, as the cycle spins and spins. History doesn’t repeat. We repeat it.”
Reject blind patriotism, and end the cycle of war.