Feels messy to post here, but my estranged father died from #COVID19 on April 1st. My hometown paper just published this piece on racial disparity in #coronavirus deaths in South Carolina that features his story. I don& #39;t have a unique hot take on this https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😑" title="Expressionless face" aria-label="Emoji: Expressionless face"> https://www.independentmail.com/story/news/local/south-carolina/2020/04/10/coronavirus-sc-maestro-anderson-among-black-people-dying/5127394002/?fbclid=IwAR2HVn27YAVQE5xRBgYuuBaPIsdHizj2yduStgZlEyET03PF1rTE0D7_xUQ">https://www.independentmail.com/story/new...

But I should note, as many others have, that his and other Black folks& #39; deaths are not attributable to drugs, alcohol, or any of the vices the @Surgeon_General suggested we should "step up" and avoid for "Big Mama."

Would be more valuable to see leaders "step up" and push for a New Deal for Public Health, as envisioned by @akapczynski and @gregggonsalves in this powerful piece... http://bostonreview.net/class-inequality-science-nature/amy-kapczynski-gregg-gonsalves-alone-against-virus">https://bostonreview.net/class-ine...

Diabetes, a comorbidity in my father& #39;s case, does not justify unequal #COVID19 death. As @CourtneyBoen tweeted yday, racism is the ultimate reason for racial disparities in health. Thx to Veronica Parker  @Clemson_Nurse (quoted in article) for her work on this in SC.

(Side note: I have to confess that I *did* actually call my grandmother "Big Mama." Many ppl are saying they& #39;ve never heard of such. I& #39;m guessing it& #39;s more a Southern thing than a Black thing? https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤔" title="Thinking face" aria-label="Emoji: Thinking face">)