EP 62 - Colonialism and COVID-19: Stories that don't get to be in the headlines

Conversations from the Leading Edge

In the international Covid coverage there’s a tendency for uplifting Global North countries in their efforts of control and solution creation while undermining Global South countries, as places bound to be the scenario of the worst calamities, incapable of responding efficiently to the crisis or where good covid response numbers are something surprising. Narratives are yet another aspect of the Covid-19 crisis that has been shaped by colonialism. In the final episode of this series, we talk about the harm that hegemonic distorted narratives present and dive into the stories that do not get to be in the headlines. Our guests are Bianca Santana, a journalist and writer from Brazil, a participant of Uneafro and the Black Coalition for Rights; and Alpha Daffae Senkpeni, a multimedia journalist from Liberia and the Executive Director and Editor of the Local Voices Liberia Media network. ****** GREAT NEWS ****** Why Rwanda Is Doing Better Than Ohio When It Comes To Controlling COVID-19: NPR https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/07/15/889802561/a-covid-19-success-story-in-rwanda-free-testing-robot-caregivers How Mongolia has kept the coronavirus at bay: MIT Technology Review https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/18/1007135/mongolia-coronavirus/ Not waiting for a savior: The African response to the coronavirus pandemic displays innovation and ingenuity: Africa is A Country https://africasacountry.com/2020/10/not-waiting-for-a-savior ****** LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR GUESTS’ INITIATIVES ****** Video explaining Uneafro’s initiative of Public Health Agents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6H1CNJbgf8 The Black Coalition for Rights Manifest “As long as there is Racism there will be no democracy”: https://comracismonaohademocracia.org.br/as-long-as-there-is-racism-there-will-be-no-democracy/ The Local Voices Liberia Media network website: https://localvoicesliberia.com/ Links to some of their stories: https://localvoicesliberia.com/2020/09/01/man-who-refused-health-facility-recounts-near-death-experience/ https://localvoicesliberia.com/2020/08/02/three-covid-19-survivors-recount-experience-in-gbarpolu-county/ https://localvoicesliberia.com/2020/07/29/new-developments-allay-covid-19-fears-among-residents-of-bomi-county/ Music for this episode: Lumber Down and Raskt Landsby by Blue Dot Sessions