Month: August 2020

Power of Two

How the virus devastated workers in a Brooklyn neighborhood

Originally published by Jasmine Garsd on NPR’s Marketplace on July 13, 2020. Father Edward Mason remembers when he realized COVID-19 was going to be devastating to his community in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York City. It was back in mid-April. In the local public housing complex, a lot of seniors weren’t answering their phones. “And when…

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Power of Two

Mama, Am I Going to Die Young Because I’m Black in America?

Originally published by Erasma Beras-Monticicolo on the BK Reader on July 1, 2020. “Am I going to die young because I’m Black in America?” That was the question my 7-year-old son asked during our recent family meeting initiated by the Black Lives Matter protests happening across the nation. My husband and I had decided it was time…

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Power of Two

Brownsville is Waging its Own Fight Against COVID-19 and Racism

Taylor Gordon bagging food for BMS and East Brooklyn Food Safety Initiative at BCCC on Belmont Avenue. Photo: Hannah Whise Originally published by Erasma Beras-Monticciolo on City Limits on June 19, 2020. In Brownsville, Brooklyn we have struggled to find the words to express how we felt as we watched the video of George Floyd’s brutal murder…

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Power of Two

Healing and Protecting Children from Racial Trauma and COVID-19 Pandemic

Originally published by Erasma Beras-Monticciolo on Medium.com on June 12, 2020. Our community doesn’t get a break. In the midst of this pandemic, we’re seeing a combustible mix of isolation, job loss, sickness, and feelings of being trapped and terrorized by an epidemic of police brutality. These experiences create exposure to toxic stress and leads to a decrease…

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Power of Two

We’re Reopening, Yet Communities of Color Are Still Suffering and Social Service Organizations Are Hemorrhaging

Originally published by Erasma Beras-Monticciolo on Medium.com on June 12, 2020. New York emerges from lockdown yet black and brown communities still have high infection rates and those of us supporting them, are stretched. I’m increasingly heartened by media images of people protesting en masse throughout the nation in an anguished cry for justice in the wake…

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