Survivor of Early COVID-19

We interviewed someone who agreed to share her story with COVID-19. She would like to remain anonymous, but she has shared the following information: she is a young professional who has recently graduated from UC Davis. She shares her experience dealing with COVID-19 symptoms before the quarantine lockdown in California, and how she struggled to get the help she needed as a young adult in the American healthcare system.

Shunned. Spat On. Beaten.  With the rapid spread of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic in 2020, so too have videos of anti-Asian hate and violence “gone viral.” This hate and violence have become normalized due to politicians' repeatedly referring to coronavirus as the “Chinese Virus.” Shunning, being spit upon, and being beaten are among the many forms of bigotry reported to the Stop AAPI Hate website by Asian Americans across the country. In its first week of operation, the Stop AAPI Hate website documented over 600 cases.  Today, over 6,600 cases have been reported. This podcast humanizes the Asian American experience of COVID-19. This community-engaged project, led by Dr. Robyn Magalit Rodriguez and produced by Asian American Studies student, Jennifer Bernal Nguyen, supports efforts already underway in the Greater Sacramento region, led by the API Regional Network, to amplify the experiences of APIs who are not only suffering from the virus itself but are suffering from anti-Asian hate and violence as well. This project was supported by a grant from the UC Davis Humanities Institute.

This series is brought to you by The Laban Group, a Filipino Ethnic Media Collaborative that aims to promote anti-Asian hate awareness in our beloved Filipino American community by advancing narrative change work that uplifts stories of Filipino American resilience, resistance, justice and transformation.

The Laban Group is funded by the "Stop The Hate" campaign from the California State Library in partnership with the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs. It is a collaborative comprised of the Amado Khaya Foundation, the Asian American Liberation Network, Everyday Impact Consulting, and Philippine Fiesta News. For more information, visit linktr.ee/labangroup.