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

