And, I have to admit that the greatest challenge and impact that the COVID pandemic has had on my life is the fact that it has left literally grounded and stuck in the United States; the country with the highest rates of COVID infections and deaths See here for a running count , the result of a delayed, disjointed, and failed response to this global pandemic. The country is led by a Presidential administration that chooses to politicize this public health crisis, bully, intimidate, silence, and dismiss well respected scientists and public health officials, and have a President who is so much of a compulsive liar that he has no credibility when he speaks.
And many of us wish that he would step back, stop speaking, and allow the experts to do that. Instead he is disgruntled and combative; holding press conferences where he attacks members of the press for asking basic questions — you know, simply doing their job; and he shows the most contempt for women of color.
Examples here , here , here , and here. The reality is that I now live in a country that is the global hotbed for this disease, and that means that it may be quite some time before anyone will be able to embark on international travel from the United States.
For a country that likes to rank others and post travel advisories the United States is now the focal point of many travel advisories. The same applies if you do not have health insurance. I realize that for some people that I come across as an abnormality or something that is different and exotic in every way It may be their first time seeing a woman who looks like me: amber colored sun-kissed brown skin, afro texture hair, tall, unaccompanied by a male, and completely unapologetic about taking up space, up close.
Unfortunately, many who observe me have often already been exposed to stereotypes and misconceptions about Black women, and all of this shapes how they see me. These and other stereotypes about Black women are so embedded in the U. This is actually the basis of an actual movie that was slated for release in the Summer of However, similar stereotypes about Black women being masculine and more aggressive, hypersexual, and untrustworthy are seen in other parts of the world.
