By Gabrielle Glaser, STAT, June 11, 2020
From his room in Los Angeles, Cecil Hannibal worries about his grandmother getting Covid-19 every time she goes to the supermarket in Louisville, Ky. In northern Georgia, Visaysha Harris puts limits on her news consumption, to keep from “taking too much of it all in.” In Dallas, Ashley Otah makes sure to follow reminders on her mindfulness apps. In New Jersey, Zane Keyes unwinds by riding his bike. “Since George Floyd’s murder, I feel angry, frustrated, unheard,” he says.
These young people — three of them new college graduates — are feeling overwhelmed and discouraged during this moment of national upheaval. Most Americans report more anxiety and depression in response to the coronavirus pandemic — with nearly half of those ages 18 to 29 experiencing the highest rate of symptoms.
But as Black Americans, these four are navigating far more than a disrupted senior year and a collapsed job market: Covid-19 hit their communities especially hard, and then that was compounded by seemingly limitless videos of police brutalizing people who look like them.
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