I CAN'T BREATHE

INTRODUCTION:

"It’s no coincidence that our country is the worldwide epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic that’s suffocating black communities more than any other group. The underlying preconditions of systemic racism are forcing us to gasp for air, in many different ways."

-Rashid Shabazz, The Root

The year 2020 has been the subject of many memes and public condemnation due to the unprecedented circumstances the year has brought. Within the first 100 days of 2020, we saw fires rage across Australia, the deaths of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, the impeachment and subsequent acquittal of Donald Trump, the official exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union, and a global pandemic whose death toll is currently estimated to be above 430,000 (as of June 14, 2020). Quarantine concerts and livestreams offered comfort during the months of April and May, wherein the world went under lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus.

On May 25, George Floyd was murdered by police. Minneapolis, his hometown, became rife with protests, rioting, and looting. The sentiment soon spread and created a movement that spanned the globe.

In the slideshow below, I draw parallels from these two pandemics, creating an acoustemological study in which I analyze these very interconnected pandemics. Audio clips are provided from a variety of sources-from reputable news agencies to iPhone recordings- to demonstrate the different levels at which these pandemics have integrated themselves into everyday life.

CONCLUSION:

The Black community is being suffocated at the hands of a government whose duty and social contract is to protect and defend its constituents. For over 400 years, Black people have borne the United States' white supremacist institutions, from slavery to sharecropping to the prison system. The government continues to endanger Black bodies by systematically jeopardizing their lives, and the handling of coronavirus pandemic is a continuation-another example of how Black lives are expendable in the eyes of the system.

The sonic consequences of these pandemics are clear. The suffocation and stripping of Black voices has given way to songs and chants of change in the largest global demonstration in history. We are living in a sonic revolution.

1. Photo by Allison Daniell Moix, Stellar Propeller Studio

2. Audio by Medzcool on Youtube

3. Audio by CNN, filmed by Darnella Frazier

4. Audio by Global Citizen

5. Audio by Lil Baby, 4PF

6. Audio by Denver7

7. Audio by Whitney Hu

8. Audio by SkyNews

9. Audio by CNN.

10. Audio by The Telegraph