The Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected the Black and Brown populace across the United States but the rates of infection are at their highest within the Navajo Nation. While the U.S. federal government apportioned $600M of the CARES Act funding for the Navajo Nation, the support came with restrictions. Activist and conceptual artist, AJ Goldman offers his reasons for the alarming case count yet views this opportunity to build partnerships with advocates and allies.
AJ Goldman is the co-founder of Uncovering America, a platform for social change to spark awareness of distorted historical facts in history books to free humanity from euro-centered supremacist attitude.
The Navajo Nation is the largest tribal nation in the United States, and the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The reservation now has the highest infection rate in the country, with more cases per capita than New York State. A third of its residents do not have running water, which forces them to travel to neighboring states for basic items. The federal government has never been attentive to the needs of the native population, but now, more than ever, government support is necessary to ensure basic sanitation and healthcare needs are met. The pandemic has revealed many flaws in where we put our resources and what practices we learn from and cherish and which we disregard and ignore.
Click here for more from our Forward Thinking on Covid-19 series.
For more on AJ Goldman, you can visit his website here.
