Want to listen to this article instead?
Click Play to listen to part 1. Scroll down to listen to part 2.
Article Audio: Part 1 of 2
What has it REALLY been like living in one of the worse-hit areas of Los Angeles County during the Covid-19 pandemic?
"South Gate, like so many cities and neighborhoods whose populations are comprised predominantly of people of color, has been hit extremely hard by Covid-19. Sickness and death are so prevalent by this point that we are constantly sad, angry, frustrated, scared, and probably most devastatingly… numb."
Well, I've started writing this article at least 10 times already, and each time I've stared at the little blinking cursor on my screen, wondering how I could possibly encapsulate how difficult the last couple years have truly been. I then realized that perhaps the best way for me to share what it's been like is to share exactly what I felt during one of the hardest days for me during the pandemic. So, here's a short journal entry I wrote in February 2021 after moving back to LA from San Francisco to be with my family, followed by the total impact we're still feeling today in July 2023.
Tuesday, February 23, 2021:
"Zaaaaaapatero! Shiny shoes, shoe fixing, get shiny shoes!"
"Tamaaaaales y champurrado!"
Every morning as I sit with my "up-in-age" parents in their living room (never call them elderly because as they'll say, "we're just getting better with age"), we hear the sounds of fellow Latinos hitting the pavement, walking up and down our street not only to sell their wares but to support their families in this most dire of times. Growing up on our little street in South Gate, CA, a city in Los Angeles County whose population is 95% Latino (and as a "Blaxican", I'm part of the 3.97% of multiracial residents), sounds of local street vendors walking up and down our street used to be happy sounds that brought kids and neighbors out of houses in the middle of the summer to enjoy the cool, thirst-quenching flavors of a Raspado (Mexican shaved ice) shaved from a large block of ice pushed in a shopping cart, or the sounds of the "tamale lady" in early December ushering in the holiday season. These nostalgic calls from our culture that stretch back generations from Mexico used to be few and far between and usually seasonal here in our part of Los Angeles. Now in early 2021, we hear these calls almost daily as more and more members of our community need some way of earning money during the shutdown to care for their families. These calls continue to increase in dire frequency, though not nearly as frequent as the now daily wails of fear-inducing ambulance sirens that make us all hold our breath hoping they pass our block, or the auspicious sound of a helicopter zooming overhead to rush someone to the trauma hospital less than a mile away from where I now sit. South Gate, like so many cities and neighborhoods whose populations are comprised predominantly of people of color, has been hit extremely hard by Covid-19. Sickness and death are so prevalent by this point that we are constantly sad, angry, frustrated, scared, and probably most devastatingly… numb. In less than a year, we have lost many family members, friends, and neighbors.
"Perhaps one of the most serious complicating factors she faced when diagnosed with Covid-19 at age 30 was being a Latina woman in a critically overwhelmed and under-supported area of Los Angeles."
Two weeks ago, we lost a close family friend who was only 30 years old! She had no previous health issues, she took Covid very seriously, and like so many of us under 40, she volunteered to run errands for the "up-in-age" in our families. Perhaps one of the most serious complicating factors she faced when diagnosed with Covid-19 at age 30 was being a Latina woman in a critically overwhelmed and under-supported area of Los Angeles. After testing positive with Covid-19 and having trouble breathing, she was sent home to recover... despite having trouble breathing. She later died, at home, while her mother was in critical condition battling Covid-19 at the trauma hospital less than a mile away.
This morning, my uncle died. Not of Covid-19 but of complications from an ongoing illness he has battled for years. We are a close, tight-knit Mexican-American family, but today, as we all drove by to give our condolences, my heart broke to see my cousins sitting outside their house, mourning their dad. Despite the ever-present yet silent threat of Covid, we broke-down, got out of our car, and went inside wearing two masks each to see my uncle at peace in his bed and embrace my aunt and her kids in spite of, not just despite, Covid-19!
This virus has taken so much from us as individuals, as families, as a community, and as a culture. There's so much misinformation spread throughout Latino communities and other communities of color: disbelief that Covid-19 still exists, incorrect information on how Covid -19 is spread, dangerously false claims that taking the vaccine is more dangerous than taking your chance at not getting Covid-19 in the first place, and worse, deadly rumors that going to the hospital increases your chances of dying from Covid-19. Why would this last rumor possibly exist? Perhaps because we see so many family members, friends, and neighbors get admitted to hospital ICUs never to return alive? Perhaps because as much as we ask for help, we NEVER get the help we need?
I sit here trying to think of a way to end this journal entry, but how can I write an ending to what feels like a perpetual status quo: a past, a present, and a future of asking for help yet wondering if anyone hears our wails?
Article Audio: Part 2 of 2
July 2023
South Gate, CA is in the top 10% of communities in Los Angeles County impacted by Covid-19
"But Covid is over," my cousin said when we told him that 26 of us, most of whom are vaccinated and boosted, got Covid-19 from a family baby shower last month (June 2023). Sure, perhaps the national emergency assigned to the Covid-19 pandemic is over, but Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) is now endemic, meaning it is here to stay.
And now that Covid-19 is here to stay, more than ever, we need to take a look at the communities that it has impacted most severely and the impact it continues to have today.
South Gate, CA is where I was raised - on the playgrounds, sports fields, basketball gyms, libraries, and overcrowded classrooms… is where I spent most of my days. South Gate, CA is also one of the most underserved cities in Los Angeles County, and thus, one of the most underserved in the nation. South Gate, CA is also where I call home and where I spent most of the Covid-19 pandemic after moving back from San Francisco to be with my family.
And, South Gate, CA has been - and continues to be - one of the worst hit areas pummeled by Covid-19. Let's take a quick look at the numbers.
To analyze the impact Covid-19 has had on communities across Los Angeles County, we used publicly available data provided by the Los Angeles Office of Public Health, specifically the Case Rate and Death Rate per community within LA County. These two measures normalize the data by providing the rates per 100,000 people, this way we can more accurately compare community to community. We then rank-ordered all of the communities listed from highest Case Rate to lowest (thus from the most highly impacted to the lowest impacted).
Of the 341 communities listed in LA County, South Gate has the 26th highest Case Rate, which is higher than 92% of all LA County communities. This puts South Gate in the Top 10% of LA communities impacted by Covid-19 (7.6% to be exact).
"But what really hurts more is taking a look at how a community's financial standing correlates with how much it was impacted by Covid-19. "
These numbers suck, especially since so many people within our community still have ardent misconceptions about Covid-19 more than three years into the pandemic. But what really hurts more is taking a look at how a community's financial standing correlates with how much it was impacted by Covid-19.
For example, if we look at Estimated Median Income, South Gate ranks 220th out of 280 communities* in LA County, which is higher than only 22% of LA County communities. This puts South Gate in the bottom quartile of LA County Communities by Estimated Median Income.
For comparison, we chose one of the wealthiest cities in Los Angeles County, and thus, one of the wealthiest cities in the nation: Palos Verdes Estates.
Palos Verdes Estates, one of the wealthiest communities in Los Angeles county, is one of the lowest impacted by Covid-19.
Palos Verdes Estates ranks 11th of 280 communities in LA County in terms of Estimated Median Income, which is higher than 96% of LA County communities. This places Palos Verdes Estates in the Top 10% of LA County communities based on Estimated Median Income (the top 3.93% to be exact).
Now, let's look at how Palos Verdes Estates has been impacted by Covid-19:
Palos Verdes Estates ranks 321st out of 341 communities in LA County in terms of Covid-19 Case Rate, and remember, this is from highest to lowest Case Rate. The Palos Verdes Estates Case Rate is higher than only 6% of LA County Communities, which puts it in the Bottom 10% of LA County Communities impacted by Covid-19. This means that Palos Verdes Estates, one of the wealthiest communities in LA County, has been one of the lowest impacted by Covid-19.
"The lower the Estimated Median Income, the higher the Covid-19 Case Rate; the higher the Estimated Median Income, the lower the Covid-19 Case Rate."
Now, let's look at these two cites side-by-side:
South Gate, CA is in the top 10% of LA County communities hit hardest by Covid, but is only in the bottom 25% of LA County communities based on Estimated Median Income. On the other hand, Palos Verdes Estates is in the bottom 10% of Covid-19 Case Rates and in the top 10% of LA County communities based on Estimated Median Income.
This is a very rudimentary example of what is called an inverse correlation: the lower the Estimated Median Income, the higher the Covid-19 Case Rate; the higher the Estimated Median Income, the lower the Covid-19 Case Rate.
Now, we will not extrapolate a more general correlation from just these two data points, and we wouldn't try to with all of the data included anyway since we are using separate publicly available datasets with differing methodologies. A more thorough analysis by an organization like the County of Los Angeles Office of Public Health would be better than what we can gleam from the public information available. However, taking a look at the data from all communities included in these datasets shows MANY similar results.
So, LOOK at the above info for yourself. What do YOU see?
July 26, 2023
"I will keep fighting for the memories of those we lost, and so that our communities' wails of sorrow will soon return to gritos of pride."
As I sit here in my office that I built in a shed in our backyard, I can hear the sounds of our city around me - construction workers next door, an ambulance still headed to the trauma center a mile away, and families laughing as they walk by, raspados in hand as they head home to get out of this unbearable heat. There may no longer be audible wails of loss, sorrow, and desperation, but once you've heard these wails, they stay with you forever.
Even if no one outside of our community hears us, we still hear and feel those wails every day, and I, for one, want to say, I will keep fighting for the memories of those we lost, and so that our communities' wails of sorrow will soon return to gritos of pride.
Article written by Jessica Cortez Kimball, WeElev8 Founder & CEO
Notes:
* The source used for Estimated Median Income data determined the number of LA County communities differently than did the Covid-19 data source used, thus the Estimated Median Income ranking is calculated out of 280 communities, whereas the Covid-19 Case Rate ranking is calculated out of 341 communities.
Translations of Spanish and Mexican-American slang words included in this article:
Zapatero: a cobbler; someone who fixes shoes
Tamales: traditional Latin dish made of masa (usually corn-based) and often includes various fillings
Champurrado: traditional Mexican hot-chocolate-like hot beverage, usually made with chocolate but some versions use other dominant flavors.
Raspado: Mexican shaved ice
Blaxican: Mexican-American slang for someone of Black and Mexican heritage, used with pride and not derision
Grito: literal translation, a yell or shout; more accurate translation, an emotional outcry often of pride or sorrow. Examples of gritos, and for a classic example within one of the most classic Ranchera songs, here's Vicente Fernandez's Volver Volver.
Sources
Article: "Covid 19 has become endemic" - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: https://thewell.unc.edu/2023/06/06/covid-19-has-become-endemic/
County of Los Angeles Office of Public Health: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/coronavirus/locations.htm
LA Almanac: http://www.laalmanac.com/employment/em12c.php
Credits
Background music for article audio - PART 1: tu ne pas de non (licensed)
Background music for article audio - PART 2: Autumn Mists (licensed)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
Commentaires