My mother, a clinical respiratory therapist, has a message to share related to COVID-19. She works in the Nacogdoches which is in deep East Texas and is rural.

“We have families too and we’re scared”

If you know ETX, you know about the significant disparities in healthcare and wealth.

As we have seen from places like Michigan and Chicago, African Americans are seeing disparate outcomes in COVID-related deaths and care. This is particularly important because outside of major metros, ETX holds most of the state’s black population.

We need to listen... not only to healthcare workers like my mom but to the other people who will inevitably be impacted by this virus.

I hope that @GovAbbott and other Texas leaders have braced for what’s to come because unfortunately those of us who come from these same disparate poor, rural backgrounds know exactly who will be the first to feel the fallout.