00:00I'm Dr. Joya Crea-Perry, and I really want you to have a conversation with us today.
00:04I'm here with my Cypher sisters, and we're talking about this feeling, this heaviness
00:08that we have, because we keep seeing in our social media feeds and our Facebook, you know,
00:14getting messages from our friends, Black people dying from COVID-19.
00:18And yet when we look for data, when we look for who's coming to our communities to support
00:22us, we don't see it.
00:23There is no data that exists right now that lets us know who by race is dying from COVID-19.
00:30We have information around where people live, what states they're in.
00:34We have information around how old they are, but we don't know what's happening with Black
00:38folks, but we know it because we see it.
00:40We know we have friends who passed away.
00:43We have friends who are ill.
00:44We see friends of friends, grandmas, aunties, all those things.
00:48And so we know that this is not some foreign illness.
00:50This is our people.
00:51I can tell you my own city of New Orleans, our mayor shut down the city, and yet our first
00:55two deaths were Black men less than the age of 60, one age 53, one age 58.
01:02And we continue to see hyper increases of deaths in our city.
01:05So it's important for us as Black people to know what's going on.
01:08We need to demand from our officials what's happening to the Black community.
01:11And with that, let's talk a little bit, Sister Tonya, about what's happening, Dr.
01:15Tonya Lewis, in the epicenter for COVID-19, New York City.
01:19Yeah, thank you so much, Dr. Joya.
01:22You know, I feel you on that heaviness in my chest thing, because I can remember a couple
01:27of days ago when we found out that there was a 36-year-old Black woman principal that died.
01:32Yeah.
01:32And like that just hit everybody, because it's like, oh my gosh, she looks like me, you
01:36know?
01:36And there were no details, but like we know, like, and we've been feeling for a couple
01:41of weeks now that there's a little something off about like people not, those folks on TV
01:46don't seem to be talking about how they're going to help us in our communities.
01:49So as a Black family doc, wellness person in Brooklyn, New York, how that's showing up
01:54is a lot of our people and a lot of us are really, really stressed and showing those physical
01:58and medical signs of that, whether it's hives or panic attacks or spikes in blood pressure
02:04or things, even before they even get to the, what happens if I get a cough or COVID or if
02:10I have another preexisting condition.
02:12So like my advice on that and the way I want to think about it, because we'll, we at Cypher
02:17sisters, we always like to think about strategies, you know, like we like to find a problem and
02:21think about strategies.
02:22You know, one, you know, I need you to see yourself in this moment, recognize that, yeah,
02:27there's something fishy.
02:28We're not being seen yet.
02:30So I want you to see yourself, see yourself every day as this beautiful Black woman that
02:34you are and love up on every moment and give yourself some peace and joy.
02:38I want you to see each other, see our sisters, because we see that people aren't seeing us
02:42yet.
02:43We're going to handle that.
02:44But I want you to take care of each other, text, call, voice, chat, dance, battle, whatever
02:50you've got to do, share recipes, see each other and allow each other to like cry and
02:55be vulnerable too, if that's what's necessary in that moment.
02:59And then sisters, give yourselves a break.
03:02This ain't the time for like the superwoman kind of all of the different things, because
03:05we're going to fight the fight.
03:06Trust, we're going to fight the fight.
03:08Smart, but like this burning ourselves into the ground where we are just one or two weeks
03:12into this, like, I need you whole for this fight.
03:15So I want you to take a break.
03:17I'm demanding that everybody take one, two, three, four or seven days off.
03:21No, you know, school, no work, no whatever.
03:24Just play, just love, just be.
03:27Thank you so much for that, Tony.
03:29And, you know, Siobhan, let's think about this in a national sense.
03:32We talked about New Orleans.
03:33We talked about New York, kind of nationally, what's happening when it comes to Black folks and
03:37COVID-19 and our sister friends out there.
03:40And what should we do differently?
03:41And how should we think about this so we can thrive in this space?
03:45Yeah, we've talked about this.
03:46And in public health, we say, we say the word pandemic.
03:49That means it is beyond widespread.
03:51That means it is going and surpassing even what resources can contain.
03:56And so when we're thinking about the Black community, we know that under the hood, we're
04:00looking and it's being exposed.
04:02Challenges with discrimination, access to care.
04:05All those things are now exposing our people to not getting the resources that we believe
04:10they should have access to.
04:12So what can you do?
04:13There are two big things.
04:14Fight for your family, but fight for your people.
04:17When we say fight for your family, that means do the basics.
04:20Sisters, please comply with these orders of what we're not calling social distancing.
04:25We're calling it physical distancing.
04:27We want you to stay social.
04:29We want you to physically distance yourself so that you can take care of yourself and your
04:33families and do what my mom taught us to do.
04:35Clean the house.
04:37Wipe down those surfaces.
04:38Wash your hands.
04:39I laughed about this, but before I let go, there's a great song to sing while you're washing
04:43your hands that gives you a good 20-second wash.
04:46And have your children and your spouses and your partners do the same thing.
04:49We want your homes to be clean.
04:51We want you to keep your surfaces clean.
04:52But also, we want you to make sure that you maintain your health.
04:56Stay active.
04:57Be physically active.
04:58Take your vitamins.
04:59Eat a balanced meal.
05:00And yes, get fresh air that is comfortable for you and your safety.
05:04The second thing, though, is to fight for your people.
05:06This is about advocating.
05:07We talked about data that's not being collected.
05:10We've talked about not having access to the care that we need at all times.
05:14Listen, sound the alarm.
05:16If you're trying to get access and you need help and you're seeing that something's different,
05:20trust your black woman's instinct.
05:22If I'm not getting the treatment I deserve, you fight.
05:24This is what we do.
05:25We are resilient people.
05:27And I do believe that there'll be an other side to this.
05:29But before we get there, we've got to get there with our eyes wide open.
05:32Be smart, sisters.
05:34Fight for your family, but fight for your people, too.
05:36Thank you so much, Yvonne.
05:37You know, and that trust black women is really important.
05:40And playing in our lane is really important.
05:42And it's important for us to think about how we and our local communities can fight for what
05:46we need.
05:46So please, where's the data?
05:49Where's the data?
05:50Where do we have information about what's happening to black people?
05:52That's what we want to ask our leaders, our politicians, our public health folks to please
05:56get on the phones, email, and ask those things.
05:58And Tony, how can we continue this conversation with the cipher?
06:02We can continue this conversation.
06:04Continue the conversation with us on Facebook.com at the Health Equity Cipher page.
06:08And also find out more information from us and about us at the HealthEquityCipher.com.
06:15And stay home.
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