As Black and Brown communities continue to be disproportionately targeted in New York City during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, author and activist Jill Nelson, who was herself arrested by NYPD in April for writing “Trump = Plague” in chalk on an abandoned building in her Washington Heights neighbourhood, is speaking out. Tara Pilkington breaks down what you need to know.
Black scholar Jill Nelson, who also calls herself the “Graffiti Grandma,” was recently arrested for writing in chalk that “Trump = Plague”. The author of “Volunteer Slavery” has now spoken out about her experience, and her attitudes towards the way that marginalised communities are being targeted during the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking about her arrest, Jill said: “It was absurd, absolutely absurd, a total waste of time, energy. And this is in a community that has one of the highest rates of COVID, has many people who are poor and working poor. And there’s something the police could have been doing besides attacking me for writing the truth. I have yet to have anyone disagree with what I said.”
While discussing why it is that she chose to write this phrase exactly, Jill explained that for her, the comments sum up what is happening not only in America, but across the globe. She added: “We have a president who is aiding and abetting and telling us that as people of colour, and older people, we should just die, get out there and die for capitalism. It’s ridiculous. There are so many disparities in healthcare, in treatment, in coverage.”
Regarding how she feels that the police are disproportionately targeting black and brown communities, Jill added that: ” I frankly feel that COVID-19 has been racialized, really, and it’s now being used as a way to further oppress people of colour. It’s just absolutely wrong.”
