COVID & Our Identity
This is Part Four of a 4-part study I conducted in 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Detroit, my beloved hometown, was ravaged by the pandemic; I felt helpless watching its impact. The study was my attempt to illuminate the humanity and spirit of my home using personal interviews.
Resilience, Reflection, and Reconnection During COVID-19
As a researcher and a Detroiter, I feel a deep need to capture the authentic stories of my community during the COVID-19 pandemic. I am concerned that the media’s portrayals of Detroit are incomplete and often negative. I want to create a space where Detroiters can share their experiences in their own words. This led me to interview Tafari Stevenson Howard, a professional photographer and sound meditation facilitator, to understand his experiences during this challenging time. My goal is to go beyond the typical narrative and highlight the resilience and depth of the Detroit community.
Key Findings and Analysis
Challenging the Narrative About Detroit
“We are all human and we are all connected... this virus is affecting humans and it’s moving from person to person.”
Our conversation begins with a direct challenge to the negative perceptions often associated with Detroit, such as violence and urban decay. Both Tafari and I acknowledge these stereotypes but also emphasize the city's rich cultural history, its vibrant music scene, and its unwavering resilience. We highlight Detroit’s legacy of music, specifically Motown, and its political history, pointing out that people always want to know what’s happening in Detroit. This discussion underscores the importance of diverse representation, and challenges simplistic narratives that fail to capture the complexity of the city.
The Pandemic's Impact on a Peace Practitioner
Tafari identifies as a "peace practitioner," focusing on sound baths, meditation, and healing practices. The pandemic has significantly disrupted his professional life. All of his photography bookings, sound meditation sessions, and substitute teaching engagements have been cancelled. Tafari uses the shutdown to reflect deeply on his inner resources and emotional responses, essentially turning the crisis into a personal test of his own coping mechanisms.
Tafari articulates a clear process for coping with the crisis, which includes slowing down, being present, reflecting, and accessing inner resources. He stresses the importance of recognizing that "you as a person are already enough," and of taking a deep breath to assess what is needed to feel safe and get through the moment. He notes that worry and anxiety can be detrimental, and that it’s important to focus on positive communication with oneself and others. This coping approach is particularly relevant given how many people have struggled with the loss of routines and external coping mechanisms during lockdown.
Despite losing all of his income streams, Tafari has access unemployment benefits, CARES Act funding, and stimulus checks. He acknowledges that this placed him in a position of privilege compared to many others who do not have the same access to financial support, and that his eligibility for these benefits stems from the fact that he works independently. Tafari laments the disparities in economic safety nets, especially for those in the service and gig economies.
Parenting During the Pandemic with a Unique Perspective
Tafari's two daughters, aged 14 and 21, have been staying with their grandparents during the pandemic, and he notes how his children are safe and supported. He has observed his two daughters very different responses to the changes in their lives. Tafari’s older daughter is concerned with the shift to online learning and his younger daughter can focus on her interests in cooking and creating videos. He explains the pandemic is an unexpected chance for his children to have a reprieve after the loss of their mother, as they had not previously had a chance to process their grief.
Community Observations in Detroit
Grocery shopping: Tafari describes his grocery shopping experiences as relatively easy due to his use of a local, boutique-style store with protective barriers in place. This contrasts with the crowded takeout restaurants he observed, which suggested that many people in the area are not adhering to social distancing guidelines.
Takeout culture: He states that people in Detroit seem to prefer picking up takeout food themselves, perhaps due to the delayed emergence of delivery services in the area. However, he also shares that services like Postmates, Door Dash, and Shipt had become more popular during the pandemic.
Food insecurity: Tafari acknowledges the ongoing and systemic issues around access to food, and the efforts of organizations such as Focus: HOPE and Gleaners Community Food Bank to combat food insecurity during the pandemic.
Systemic Issues Revealed by the Pandemic:
Supply chain issues: Tafari points out that the pandemic’s onset exposed significant issues in the supply chain, with food waste happening simultaneously with food shortages. We discuss how many companies are not prepared to switch from commercial to consumer needs and had fought against the modernization of supply chains, creating a disconnect between producers and consumers.
Essential workers: Tafari argues that the term "essential workers" was actually a misnomer for "expendable workers". He highlights how low-wage earners, who were now deemed essential, had historically been denied fair wages and benefits. The hypocrisy of people sitting at home with well-paying jobs, while essential workers were being exposed to the virus for very little pay is not lost on us.
Role of social media:
Tafari explains that while in Ghana at the start of the pandemic, social media became his primary source of news. He has been deeply moved by how the creative community used social media to share art, wellness practices, and information about the virus.
He shares frustration at how the information he receives via social media is often conflicting, with different perspectives being shared by news outlets, government officials and personal contacts.
Tafari also uses social media to share his own story, including his difficulties getting back to the U.S. from Ghana and the subsequent support he received from his community to return home before the borders closed.
The Experience of Being Abroad During a Crisis: Tafari recounts his experience of being in Ghana as the pandemic escalated, which was a stark contrast to the anxiety and lockdown he was witnessing online and hearing about from his family and friends. He shares the challenges of navigating cancelled flights, government shutdowns, and conflicting information.
Tafari's return to the US was fraught with the fear of contracting the virus and uncertainty about what he would be returning to face. Despite these fears, he believes coming home was ultimately worth it due to the love and connection that awaited him. We joke about the idea of going to a beach while on unemployment, suggesting a way of “thinking out of the box” to cope with the pandemic’s onslaught.
Looking Forward: Tafari concludes this part of the interview by stressing the importance of understanding our interconnectedness as human beings. He correctly asserts that the virus does not discriminate and that we should practice empathy and compassion towards each other. He suggests that we take a moment to be a positive force in other people’s lives. Finally, Tafari emphasizes the importance of self-care as a way of being in a better position to support others, and encourages openness and connection.
Expanded Insights and Reflections
Tafari's interview offers several key insights that resonate with my own experiences as a Detroiter. First, it reinforces the ways that Detroit defies easy categorization. It is not just a place of struggle, but also a place of immense creativity, resilience, and community. The negative narratives surrounding Detroit often overshadow the innovation, and the beauty that is constantly being cultivated by its residents.
Second, Tafari's emphasis on inner resources and self-sufficiency provide an important counterpoint to the chaos and uncertainty of the pandemic. His approach to coping – slowing down, reflecting, and being present – offers a model for navigating crises that doesn't rely solely on external factors. In a world where so much is beyond our control, it’s important to remember that we all have some capacity to manage our internal state, and to use our own resources.
Tafari’s observations about systemic issues exposed by the pandemic are also particularly insightful. The supply chain disruptions, the mistreatment of essential workers, and the ongoing economic disparities are not new issues, but they are unignorable in this crisis. His analysis of the concept of “essential workers” as "expendable workers” is something that stuck with me. This critique invites us to challenge the way our society values different types of labor and to demand a more just and equitable national labor system.
Finally, Tafari’s experience of being in Ghana while the pandemic escalated in the US provides a crucial perspective. His experiences in Ghana show the global nature of the pandemic, and highlight the way in which our global systems are interconnected.
Conclusion
Tafari’s interview provided an in-depth look at the personal and community-level impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic from a Detroiter’s perspective. It emphasized the significance of personal resilience, community support, and the critical need to address systemic inequalities. His experience offers a framework for navigating crises, and for challenging negative narratives about his city. His emphasis on empathy, connection and self-care, reminds us of our shared humanity in the face of global challenges. This research shows how much can be learned from a single interview when the focus is placed on the speaker’s perspective and experiences. His voice speaks to the power of individual narratives to reveal larger truths and inspire change.
This study is just a single step in the process of amplifying the voices of Detroiters during these historic times. As I move forward in this work, I hope to continue to share stories and insights from my community, and I hope that these stories will help us to better understand the ways in which our society needs to shift, and what we need to value to create more equitable and humane systems.
