Brotherhood/Sister Sol and Carrie Mae Weems collaborate to showcase COVID-19’s impact on communities of color
The virus’ deadly impact will be displayed via billboards and PSAs.
Since COVID-19’s unprecedented appearance, the lives of many, specifically people of color, have been severely affected. The deadly impact on minority communities is displayed via a joint effort between social justice organization The Brotherhood/Sister Sol and contemporary American artist Carrie Mae Weems that debuted today.
In their premiere collaboration, which originally aired at Syracuse University, Weems, the Inaugural Artist-in-Residence at Bro/Sis and the organization’s “Peace Poets” created PSAs with powerful words and visuals that convey the fact that communities of color have gotten the brunt of the coronavirus.
“Faith the size of a mustard seed…,” one billboard begins. “Blessed to roll with a squad that be asking what the youngsters need.”
Another sign asserts, “The pre-existing condition is poverty. It’s the place of equity. Demand the space your dignity deserves.”
The PSAs, written in both English and Spanish, can be found online and on social media; print and digital billboards are spread throughout various New York City neighborhoods.
“COVID-19 has brought further into the light, for all to see, the gross inequalities of our nation,” said Brotherhood/Sister Sol co-founder and Executive Director Khary Lazarre-White. “The profound racial and class disparities of deaths from COVID have been laid bare. Through this public health, artist and activist collaboration with one of the greatest visual artists of úour generation, we seek to both further expose the inequities and to create public health messaging that brings awareness.”
“We’ve all been impacted by COVID-19. It’s an ecological health crisis of epic proportion—an international disaster,” added Weems. “And yet we have indisputable evidence that people of color have been disproportionately impacted. The death toll in these communities is staggering. This fact affords the nation an unprecedented opportunity to address the impact of social and economic inequality in real time. Denial does not solve a problem.”
Check out the PSA below!