The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan in Color
Monday, March 30, 2020 — 3

i painstakingly paint my nails every week last

week it was bubblegum blue. from up close



they must look so trite and clumsy. i need to stop

biting them, but blood from my fingertips



tastes sweeter than from anywhere else.

i know this, i don’t know why. sometimes



i like to pretend i am folding in on myself i am

jealous of origami swans and the way they know



how to bend in all the right places i am jealous

of their fragility my body is all too big, too sturdy

to bend it is all points and hard edges in places

not conducive for swan-ness i don’t know how to



unfold them. i keep dreaming of myself pulling out

my nails one by one to sell for something



i can never remember what i don’t think i should’ve been

given a body shouldn’t have been trusted with this one

bodies are made for worship and i can only hear

God’s voice at the bottom of my own desperation

my mother says why do you insist on ruining these

hands that God gave you? well, these hands came



with a lot of strings attached is it not obvious i am

trying to sever them. i am willing to make a trade,

however, i want a small metamorphosis. after all,

this thing that God loves most? i am willing to

give it back that is worth at least becoming a house cat

or a raccoon. my nails are bright red and it is not enough

to stop me from tearing into myself. my mouth is rattling

against its cage like an animal awaiting slaughter

HIBA DAGHER

MiC Columnist

“Pick a Color”

JINAN ABUFARHA

MiC Columnist

According to the CDC, 160 to

214 million Americans could be

infected by the novel coronavirus

over the course of the pandemic.

Of those infected, 200,000 to 1.7

million are projected to die. The

sudden onslaught of COVID-19

has taken the nation by surprise.

Cracks in the United States health

infrastructure have been exposed,

amplifying
feeble
preparedness

and ability to protect the average

Americans, let alone the most

vulnerable populations. The elderly

and those with predisposed health

issues have been found to have a

higher risk of developing severe

symptoms, and while this is true,

this analysis only scratches the

surface of understanding what

populations
remain
especially

vulnerable. In addition to class

differences, which have already

been noted due to unequal access

to tests between the rich and the

poor, environmental quality is also

a factor. In her book Farming While

Black, environmental activist Leah

Penniman outlines the relationship

between
environmental
racism

and
negative
health
outcomes

in Black, Brown and Indigenous

communities.
Using
this

framework,
we
can
apply
an

intersectional lens to understand

how gaps in environmental justice

and public health are setting

communities of color up for tragedy.

Environmental racism describes

the disproportionate impact of

environmental hazards, including

toxic
waste
facilities,
garbage

dumps and other polluters which

ultimately
lower
the
quality

of life for low socioeconomic

groups. Spearheading the birth

of
the
Environmental
Justice

movement of the 1970s, discourse

on environmental racism works to

uncover how policy, enforcement

of laws and regulations, deliberate

targeting of people of color for

toxic waste facilities and exclusion

of people of color from ecology

movements affect environmental

quality. In 2018, EPA researchers

confirmed that race, not poverty, is

the strongest predictor of exposure

to health-threatening particulate

matter. The EPA also found that

Black Americans are significantly

more exposed to air pollutants,

resulting in higher rates of lung

disease, heart disease and cancer.

Applying these frameworks at a local

level, The University of Michigan’s

School of Public Health estimates

that air pollution kills more than

650 Detroiters a year — more than

twice the number of residents killed

by gun violence annually. As stated

previously, the severity and death

rate of the coronavirus increases

for those with chronic heart and

lung conditions. By looking at

the current health prognosis for

many Black American citizens, we

can anticipate that Black people

and others in low-socioeconomic

statuses are going to be among

those most strongly affected by

COVID-19.

Considering the longstanding,

generational
influences
of

environmental
racism
and
the

pitiful response of the Trump

administration
towards
the

coronavirus,
the
potential
for

positive change is bleak. Since his

election, the Trump administration

has rolled back 95 environmental

rules and protections at the expense

of environmental preservation and

public health. The administration

has steadily chipped away at

the
EPA’s
funding,
minimized

environmental
liabilities
for

corporations
and
has
notably

withdrawn from the Paris climate

agreement.
Nevertheless,
more

people are becoming knowledgeable

about
the
incompetencies
in

U.S. environmental and health

policies
and
are
demanding

more from their elected officials.

Some of these proposed solutions

include
establishing
Medicare

for All, enforcing more stringent

regulations for air and water purity,

relocation of landfills and increased

access to COVID-19 testing facilities

for low-income individuals.

When
outlining
populations

especially vulnerable to COVID-

19,
it
is
imperative
that
we

apply a conscious, critical and

intersectional lens that considers

populations in the context of social

dynamics and systems of power.

By doing so, we can begin to more

correctly
project
COVID-19’s

impacts and develop a plan of action

to keep vulnerable populations safe,

healthy and alive.

NA’KIA CHANNEY

Former MiC Co-Managing Editor

In these times of uncertainty

and social distancing, it can be

really easy for us to justify habits

that aren’t always conducive to

our mental health—spending days

lazing on the couch, staying inside

all day, binge-watching Tiger King

on Netflix (this I’m totally guilty

of). While some laziness and being

stagnant can definitely be justified

as therapeutic, acting in self-care

and self-love is essential during

these stressful times.

Here are a couple of activities

you can do to soothe your mind,

body and soul during these stressful

times:

1) Listen to yourself: Let your

inner voice be your guide and tell

you which self-care ritual you need

to act on. If you have high energy,

take on a task you’ve been ignoring

for a long time, like organizing your

closet or going through your camera

roll. If you’re tired and want to relax,

allow yourself that! Take a nap,

listen to music, look at airline prices

and imagine all the trips you’d

hypothetically take if we weren’t in

the middle of a pandemic, etc.

2) Journal: Journaling is one

of the most effective ways you can

keep track of your wellbeing, and is

a great way to just take some time

away and focus on yourself and your

thoughts. It can act as a great source

for self-reflection or even a cathartic

way to dump all of your feelings

into a single place. Start each entry

by making a list of all of the things

you’re grateful for.

3) Write letters to your loved

ones: Honestly, I’m using this

quarantine to become my idealized

self: a Jane Austen protagonist.

There’s just something really nice

about opening a letter from someone,

and knowing that they took time

out of their day to handwrite and

address a letter to you. You could

send each other printed out memes,

polaroids,
pictures,
even
little

presents to one another.

4) Go out for a walk: A lot of us

might not realize it, but we walk a lot

when we’re on campus. From classes

to on-campus jobs to org meetings to

events, it’s hard to go from clocking

in at almost 10k steps a day and

then barely hitting 500 when you’re

sitting at home. Going on a daily

walk around in your neighborhood

or at a local park can

be a helpful way to

just take a breath

and, as my Lebanese

mother says, kahli el

shams shouf wijak

(translation: let the

sun see your face).

5) Pick up a new

hobby! Have you

ever thought “Man,

I would love to learn

how to do X/Y/Z,

but I just don’t have

the time” — well,

quarantine
is
the

perfect time to learn!

Start a garden, learn

how to sew your own clothes, write

poetry, get really good at winged

eyeliner, start a blog, make jewelry,

play video games: The possibilities

are pretty much endless. We’re all

ignoring the constant rush of canvas

notifications anyways, might as well

learn a new skill while doing so.

Practicing Self-Care in Self-Quarantine

Environmental racism: the missing link

of the Coronavirus Pandemic

ANGIE CORRIGAN /Pinterest

UNSPLASH