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One of the more salacious news images going around is of inmates in PPE digging trench mass graves on #HartIsland in New York Harbor.
Historical fact- this is an ongoing inmate work assignment in the New York DOC. It isn& #39;t #COVIDー19 specific. 1/
Historical fact- this is an ongoing inmate work assignment in the New York DOC. It isn& #39;t #COVIDー19 specific. 1/
Since 1980 when they started keeping good records, almost 70,000 of New York& #39;s indigent dead have been laid to rest in mass graves on Hart Island. It has served as the Pauper& #39;s Field for the biggest metropolitan area in the world for over a century. 2/
When Americans stopped handling our dead ourselves and turned it over to an industry, funerals and "proper burials" became a privilege of those who could afford it. 3/
Direct cremation, which is about the least expensive option you can do these days to deal with a loved ones remains (no funeral, just the cremation) will still run you around $600.00 for an adult. A full, traditional burial funeral, and you are probably talking $10,000+. 4/
So some of the bodies going in the ground at Hart Island maybe be COVID-19 victims. The ones who had no family to claim them or to pay the bill. They& #39;re also the rest of the indigent dead. Heart attacks. Homicides. The elderly. Drug overdoses. The homeless. The lost. 5/
You can read their stories here. https://www.hartisland.net/ ">https://www.hartisland.net/">... 6/
We need to make death care accessible in America the same way we need to make medical care accessible. And that starts with being willing to talk about it. 7/
For a place to start learning about death care in America and confronting your own mortality, visit The Order of the Good Death: http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/ ">https://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/">... 8/
And if the idea of something like Hart Island shocks you, ask yourself, what happens to the I digest dead in my community?
I know the answer for where I live
Do you? 9/9
I know the answer for where I live
Do you? 9/9
