Losing friends to this pandemic is especially hard. Singing helps me cope. Here is an African American folksong that gives me some solace.
Tag Archives: pandemic
For Those We Have Lost
In the United States this year we have lost 200,000 people to the COVID-19 virus. I invite you to join me in singing the old African-American spiritual “Michael Row the Boat Ashore” in memory of the many people we have lost here in the US and around the world.
A repurposed folksong
As a folklorist, I have been dismayed at how our current administration here in the US has passed along misleading information, falsehoods, and vain beliefs about the pandemic now rampant in our world. The failure to lead, the ready acceptance of myths and wild speculations, the casual relating of false information—all of these are attempts to placate with tall tales rather than help our citizens find a way to cope with this devastating virus. Professor Geoffrey Joyce wrote an article for The Conversation July 8, 2020, titled “5 COVID-19 Myths Politicians have repeated that just aren’t true.” I adapt his “ 5 myths” here and call out the current administration for offering our people tall tales instead of the truth.