When I was a kid, my lovely Uncle Thayer taught me this weird poem: “I am here before you to sit behind you to tell you something of which I know nothing about…” Then, there’s a whole bunch more clever stuff as the poem continues. Finally, it finishes with “Admission is free, pay at the door, go get your seats and sit on the floor.” Right now, that’s where I feel like we are all living, in a surreal universe of protests, riots, and the corona virus. Free admission, free seats, sitting on the floor (with socially distant safety, of course) to now hear something of which they know nothing about.
This Covid stuff is scary, and we don’t know much about it; we really don’t. At first, “they” said it was only impacting people with “underlying health conditions.” I have underlying health conditions, so that kicked my fear up a notch. It was also disproportionately impacting old people, so at first people who weren’t old weren’t that bothered. I’m not old, but I have good friends and family who are. Then they said it wasn’t really impacting children, and we sighed a sigh of relief because “nobody” wants to see children getting sick. Clearly, they don’t know any teenagers. Teenagers are annoying in general. They are moody, they sulk, and they are endlessly on their cell phones. Maybe it’s a matter of semantics because teenagers aren’t “children” per se, or maybe it’s that my humor is in poor taste, because even if teenagers do qualify as children, one still ought to agree, “nobody wants to see children get sick.” “They” must not know a lot of teenagers. One of the reasons teens are annoying is that almost all of them have that incurable texting disease caused by that bizarre, fingertip gangrene condition, gangrenous digitas. (Gotcha! I made that one up.) Even I don’t want to see my three teenage nieces have Covid-19, whether or not their gangrenous digitas is in remission. Oh, and Happy 16th Birthday, Macy! Love you!
Texting 
Gangrenous digitas
Yes, it’s true, “they” don’t know much about this damn Corona thing. If they don’t know much about this scary virus–which they don’t– it means we don’t know much about this scary virus. For the most part, it feels like we really are hearing something of which they “know nothing about,” just like the poem said. Fauchi, God bless him, tried to tell us stuff that is factual, true and based on science, so Trump had him killed. His body was never found, but it’s probably incased in cement somewhere in a construction site in Jersey. Oh, wait, that was a Mafia movie. While I joke, there is a lot to be said about this scary virus stuff, politics aside, because it is, as I’ve mentioned, really, truly terrifying.
If COVID-19 weren’t scary enough, now we add to the mix the one zillionth murder of an unarmed black man, George Floyd. (Well, Floyd himself was only murdered once, but sadly it is the zillionth murder of an unarmed black man by a white police officer). As a result of Floyd’s murder, we now have had peaceful protests that devolve to riots and lootings. Now we have the perfect combination of, “Well, hello virus, come on in!” (Please read in a sexy voice, thanks). Let’s take a step back, shall we?
How much more effective might the response to Floyd’s murder be if protesters handle it differently? Would the fury, pain, and cries for justice have been more effective had the protestors all worn masks and stayed socially distant while protesting? (I didn’t go myself; I can’t bear crowds). I know a protest feeds off the energy of itself, the combination of emotion and togetherness fuse to make any march, any movement, stronger. But if you think about it, the visual impact of socially-distant-togetherness can be even more incredible, because, unlike Trump’s imaginary inauguration attendees, this time there actually were some of the biggest crowds ever, thousands upon thousands of people! (Sure, Trump’s inauguration had thousands, too, it just wasn’t as many thousands as he said it was). As protests happen worldwide, (and they will continue to, for a time, at least until people just can’t do it anymore and go home to make a sandwich), the visual impact itself would be mind-blowing. If the thousands of protestors wore masks and used social distancing, visually they could become even many more thousands, simply by choosing masked social distance protesting! (MSDP, all the latest rage!) The impact would be mind-blowing. I’m serious; it would be awesome. (To be clear, I’m not saying the need for the protest is awesome. It is beyond horrific. I’m talking only about the visual impact of the protest here as awesome. You know what they say about what pictures are worth…)
Finally, as we know, race relations in the United States have been a powder keg. While the world struggles to escape the vice grip of the Corona Virus, the murder that police officer Derek Chaven committed is inexcusable and unforgivable, the method horrific. The subsequent protests against are logical. The protests make perfect sense, in a country where African Americans have been enslaved, imprisoned and denied basic human rights, even the most fundamental rights of all: the right to breathe. The right to live. The next level to this horror, in addition to Chaven’s actions, is that his police buddies, witnessing Floyd’s final breaths, did nothing while the man died right in front of them. The man died. The subsequent response to Floyd’s murder, the protests, have been a necessary and logical reply to the injustice, racism, and hate that underlies it. (I think the looting is a bad idea, though. It undermines the impact. Then again, I get it.) While our country grapples with the ugliness of this murder now out for all to see, the world also watches. Fortunately, most of the world also places itself on the side of justice with holding protests of their own. This is as it should be, but we have to be smart about it. We have to wear masks and we have to socially distance ourselves, even in a protest. As bizarre as it sounds, following the Covid-19 guidelines is still necessary. I know it sounds crazy, but our rallies and protests actually should take into account masks and incorporate social distancing. To ignore the facts of COVID-19, even in our justifiable passion or our fury, will harm all of us.
George Floyd’s gasp for help, “I can’t breathe,” has become a powerful rallying cry at protests around the world. We should want to use this cry, put and end to police brutality and countless murders of unarmed black people. We should want hatred, institutional racism, and violence to finally stop. At this time of global pandemic, when many Covid-19 victims are struggling, and respirators are scarce, we should not, however, want to literally join Floyd on The Other Side. Our passion is admirable. Our demands for justice are necessary. However, when we ourselves cry, “I can’t breathe!” it shouldn’t be at the cost of more human lives.
