Coronavirus & Harvard Loeb Fellowship Update

March 12 update:

Today I decided to suspend my time here at Harvard (like many others here) and spend the next few weeks in Memphis with my immediate family during these times of the Covid-19 public health pandemic and uncertainties.

My experience as a Loeb Fellow has been absolutely incredible, so I am admittedly heartbroken about these outcomes. But, I remain hopeful in the truth that this is simply an “extended spring break” and not how my fellowship year will ultimately end. So, I look forward to making more awesome memories here upon return.

March 11:

I write this to thank everyone who has reached out to me to ask about my well-being in the midst of the COVID-19 / coronavirus outbreak and its impact on my experience as a Loeb Fellow at Harvard. In my reflection below, I will share changes that happening in my life and work as well as share how you can support others who are impacted by this experience.

First, I’m okay. I am physically well, and in many ways, I am not in direct harm of contracting the virus.

Over the last few days, increased security measures here at Harvard have sparked drastic changes to the lives and communities that the university and its schools entail. Classes will all be virtual following spring break (March 14-20). The Harvard Graduate School of Design (where I am based) created its own additional measures, which includes revoking building access after Friday, March 13. Undergraduate students were informed on March 10 that they will have to move out of their dorms and not return to campus by March 15. All public programs, events, and campus conferences have been cancelled. And, we are discouraged from traveling away from campus by plane unless we commit to a two week self-quarantine upon return.

As a fellow, I will not lose my housing or be forced to move out, and our fellowship is still operating with love, support, and cohesion in the midst. However, my engagement with Harvard’s students and teaching communities across its schools will decrease due to the lowered interactivity that virtual class rooms allow. I have valued such great experiences and conversations together in courses like Gentrification Debates (Toni Griffin), Civil Resistance (Erica Chenoweth), Intro to African American Studies (Cornel West), and Queer Spaces (Ann Forysth), so I am saddened this will be limited. In addition, the following upcoming projects and collaborations I’ve been engaging here will shift (spoiler: everything is cancelled and post-poned):

The #IntheCity fellowship we’ve created through the Warren Center for Studies in American History will postpone both the fellow’s visits to Harvard as well as the Harvard students’ visit to St. Louis. The #IntheCity work-in-progress exhibit at The Griot Museum will launch in St. Louis at a later date of April 3, while the Harvard exhibit at the Center for Government and International Studies (CGIS) will likely take place in the fall 2020 semester. A cohort of students are still scheduled to engage in St. Louis and The Griot in summer 2020 through the Commonwealth Project’s additional initiatives.
The Black Policy Conference is cancelled. For this event, St. Louis activists and leaders, Rasheen Aldridge and Kayla Reed, were scheduled to join us for this student-organized conference at the Harvard Kennedy School to share how they have transitioned into political leadership from their roles as organizers during the 2014 uprising in Ferguson, MO.
My exhibit of video and written works at Seattle’s Hedreen Gallery for its Abstractions in Black Citizenship group show will be postponed to May 28.
Other upcoming travel related to my fellowship work—including Monument Lab and Museum Next—will be affected, though I do not yet full know what shifts will transpire.
We also do not yet know if commencement will still occur this year. I assume a new assessment of campus safety will follow the April 30 time span of this first wave of restrictions.

How I’m Navigating Changes

Like many around me, I am overwhelmed, confused, and anxious because of the swift shifts, panic, and uncertainty that the coronavirus is provoking across the world. However, I am not yet worried about my health, and I have chosen to be mindful and strategic about how I utilize this challenge to sustain balance and stability in my life. So, here are some things occupying my mental space and focus:

Writing my first book. Since being here, I earned a new book deal with Bonnier UK. I will share more about this in an official announcement, but the cancellations of life have offered me more space to write and document the process of such.
Reimagining The Griot. The focus of my fellowship is largely about The Griot Museum of Black History in St. Louis—how to update its branding, offerings, curatorial pedagogy, architecture and building design, organizational storytelling, and more.
Spending more time with my fellowship cohort and Boston friends. With great weather as spring time approaches, taking moments to chill and be in healthy community with those closes to us will be an antidote for maintaining mental well-being.
Thinking about life after Harvard. I have the freedom to live anywhere I desire after this, so before I rush back to St. Louis, I’m strategizing the timeline for my next adventures and creations.

4 Ways You Can Show Support

Stay connected. I will share some details via my Instagram (and a few rants via Twitter) as updates progress. Please keep checking in, not just with me, but also with others you know who are in affected areas.
Reach out to students around you. Many universities will be following Harvard’s measures to evict students from their dorms and restructure classes virtually. Students will need housing, storage, and moral support during these times, so tap into your alumni networks and see how you can show up for current students. At Harvard, this Google form invites alumni to host students, share storage, and more.
Stay healthy and practice hygienic behaviors. The best and most simple things that all of us can do right now include keeping our environments cleaning and reducing the spread of germs. Please wash your hands, cover your sneezes, and be conscious of the things you touch.
Be kind and exhibit patience to others. Xenophobia, racism, and general unkindness are rampant. Please show grace to service workers, health care officials, store clerks, pharmacists, and others who have to help equip communities’ preparedness. Please do not target Asians, immigrants, and/or recent international travelers with your anxieties, fears, and hatred. These behaviors are not right, and they spark unnecessary chaos and escalate the potential of harm. Please be kind to others.

With love and support,