Thread: The closest grocery store to my house is an Eastern European market. On my most recent trip there, everyone working the registers was Black, the first time I've ever seen this.
They were all there picking up the temporary positions that #COVID19 has made necessary.
They were all there picking up the temporary positions that #COVID19 has made necessary.
Some of the workers had lost side jobs recently due to the economic downturn, others were searching before the #COVID19 crisis.
A brother told me the positions are part time, don’t come with healthcare, and are not guaranteed after the #COVID19 crisis. Many of the Black people in my life--particularly youth--who were previously out of work are currently taking up or applying for these jobs.
The unemployment/poverty generated intentionally under capitalism ensure there is always a pool of cheap labor to exploit for this exact type of crisis. I’m grateful some of my folks who’ve been struggling now have a paycheck at this stressful time… #COVID19
...but also recognize, with or without benefits, these are some of the highest risk jobs during this crisis. I can’t help but feel Black lives are being forced onto the frontline, are only worth employment when there is a pandemic keeping others safe in their homes. #COVID19
New Black faces at grocery stores aren't the only example of Black labor suddenly being "valued." Folks incarcerated at Rikers Island are being paid an unprecedented $6/hr to dig mass graves. #COVID19 theintercept.com/2020/03/31/rik…
Workers at Rikers Island--like those at the grocery store near my home--are also provided PPE, which in both cases may be the only way they get access to it. #COVID19
#COVID19 is proving definitively what so many have long told us--that prisons are a threat to public health, as is healthcare being provided solely through employment. #FreeThemAll #AbolishPrisons #MedicareForAll
I can think of few better arguments for #MedicareForAll, a thriving wage/guaranteed minimum income, and prison abolition than the influx of new and young Black workers putting their lives and the lives of their family members on the line to get a small check during #COVID19
