COVID-19 Digest: June 1

COVID-19 Digest

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Monday, June 1, 2020We started this newsletter as a way to help the tech community navigate the impacts of COVID-19. Those updates are still important, and will return tomorrow, but when we came to work today, we couldn’t ignore that it isn’t business as usual.These last few days, New Yorkers have come together to demonstrate against the racism, injustice, and police violence perpetrated against Black Americans. This feels particularly meaningful during COVID. Black and Latinx communities — their businesses, neighborhoods, and families — have been disproportionately impacted by the ongoing pandemic. As we look to reopening and beyond, we have an opportunity to shape what the new “normal” will be, and it must be founded on principles of equity.We stand together with those driving meaningful action and change. Below are some ways you can, too.

The Latest in New York

Confirmed Cases: 

• New York State: 371,711 (+941)

• New York City: 203,764 (+461)

• Statewide Fatalities: 23,959 (+54)

General Updates:

• Gov. Cuomo announced a curfew for New York City, beginning tonight from 11pm to 5am. (New York Times)

• NYC is planning to begin reopening next week, on June 8, and Mayor de Blasio said protests won’t affect the reopening date. (New York Times) Gov. Cuomo expressed concern that mass protests throughout the city could cause a second spike in COVID-19 cases and jeopardize the reopening timeline. (New York Daily News) The NYC Dept. of Health encouraged protesters to get tested. (Twitter)

• New York State tested more than 50,000 people yesterday, with less than 1,000 returning positive results, the state’s lowest number yet. (NBC New York)

• One more thing: The Plug has aggregated statements from over 50 tech companies on racial justice, including the amount of money they have committed to donate, in a public database here.

How You Can Help

Donate to civil rights organizations: 

• Here are some suggestions for social justice organizations to support during this time:

  • BYP100

  • Campaign Zero

  • Center for Policing Equity

  • Color of Change

  • Fair Fight

  • Free Them All for Public Health

  • NAACP Legal Defense Fund

  • National Police Accountability Project

• Here’s how to send donations to 38 community bail funds, either individually or as a single donation split equally. 

Read Black authors:

• Tech:NYC’s next (virtual) book club gathering will be to discuss So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo. Let us know if you’re interested in joining us and we’ll get you the details.

• Here’s a list of 10 antiracist bestsellers from Bookshop, where an affiliate commission on each purchase will be donated to the Brooklyn Community Bail Fund, the Minnesota Freedom Fund, and the family of George Floyd. And here’s 13 more suggestions, from established classics to new works, you should read about Black lives.

• Here’s a list of Black-owned bookstores still operating through the pandemic for online orders and shipping.

Support Black-owned businesses: 

• Here's a growing spreadsheet of Black-owned restaurants across NYC, all of which are doing takeout and most are doing delivery. 

• Consider doing your shopping through Official Black Wall Street, the largest platform and app for Black businesses.

Speak up for Black America: 

• Here are four tangible things you can call your local representative to support. 

• Sign this petition from Color of Change and this petition from Change.org to demand the officers that killed George Floyd be brought to justice.

• Here’s how to report police misconduct — and what to expect when you do.

EVENTS:

• June 2: Virtual: America, Inflamed, with the New York Times reporters and visual investigations team. (Details)

• June 2: Virtual: Crisis Conversations: The Real Pandemic. The senseless deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Abery, and Breonna Taylor have touched off a week of unrest. Protests have erupted across the country. Our cities are burning in a rage. America is angry. The NAACP talks about it (on zoom!). (Register)

• June 2: Virtual: MoMA’s screening of Arthur Jafa’s akingdoncomethas, which explores the intimacy of the beauty and terror of living in the United States as Black man, shares a way for us to come together at a distance. (Details)

• June 22: Virtual: Social Justice Book Club of the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture will be reading “Half of a Yellow Sun” by Chimamanda Adichie and discussing it virtually. (Details)

• Ongoing: The Black Response is Color of Change’s virtual event series that spotlights the protection and justice Black people need to survive COVID-19, and thrive in its aftermath. (Details)

• Ongoing: The Provocateurs: A Master Series is a creative video series produced by Black Lives Matter Arts+Culture. The series features established artists and creatives from all fields who create within a politically radical framework. Artists give 12-minute TED-style talks about their practice and journey as a provocative Black artist. (Details)

When In Doubt

Check these sources for verified information from government agencies and public health authorities:

• New York State Department of Health

• New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

• Centers for Disease Control

• World Health Organization

• Sign up for Gov. Cuomo’s nightly updates

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