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Detroit writer Ken Coleman posts thoughts Monday that are personal and also widespread at this strange, scary time. At Michigan Advance, the journalist-author describes feeling shaken as well as "inspired by fellow Detroit residents."
A couple of dozen friends have contracted this wicked virus. Nine of them have died from COVID-19, according to either family members or published reports. ...
Lots of Black people in my city have been impacted by "The 'Rona," as some on Grand River and Gratiot Avenue in Detroit have described it. I'm hard-pressed to name anyone who is Black from my city who doesn’t know someone has it — or died from it. ... There’s no escaping the fact that Black Michigan has been hit hard.
Coleman, who has worked in politics and labor union communicatons, is heartened to see that "about 60% of the people who I encounter are wearing masks and gloves in public. I began sporting them about 10 days ago."
Ken Coleman: "Black Michigan has been hit hard." (Photo: Facebook)
He cites bright rays amid the dark clouds:
My family and friends have continually communicated via Facebook, telephone calls and text messages, and teleconferencing. We’re checking on each other and communicating frequently.
Before COVID-19, I had not played the UNO card game since the 1980s NBC sitcom “The Cosby Show” was the nation’s top television broadcast. My family did that the other day. ...
All things considered, I’m inspired by fellow Detroit residents during the COVID-19 crisis. ... Kuzzo’s Chicken and Waffles, a Detroit Black-owned business, on Saturday packaged and provided 400 first responders with free food. Food service employees at Detroit Public Schools Community District have provided free meals and educational booklets to thousands of city residents over the last three weeks.
Coleman, a husband and father, ends with optimism that perhaps by mid-summer "we will be on the road to finding a cure or have learned better how to navigate the disease so it's not as deadly."
For now, however, I'm keeping on my mask, my gloves and keeping my distance whenever possible.
