“Wealth is the vector,” sociologist Tressie McMillan Cotton tweeted on March 24th, 2020 regarding the then-escalating coronavirus pandemic. The tweet was then quoted by a Buzzfeed article which highlighted how this virus gained powerful wings through the bodies of affluent individuals fleeing urban areas for remote vacation homes. “The virus travels via people, and the people who travel the most, both domestically and internationally, are rich people,” wrote reporter Anne Helen Petersen.
Here in June, we are well acquainted with the myriad of manners in which COVID-19 has exposed our nation’s rampant inequality. Such concerns have jumped to the front our society’s collective conscious with the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement which took place in the wake of George Floyd’s brutal murder. Through the lens of his tragic death, along with those of countless others including Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, our nation has reignited its anger over the racial discrimination inherent to the historical fabric of this country.
Inequality has proven an awful overarching theme of this entire spring. As affluent, often white, individuals have been afforded so many measures necessary to stay safe at this frightening time, communities of color have bore the pandemic’s brunt. Humanitarian street artist Jorge Gerada recently completed a massive 20,000 square-foot mural at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, New York City to honor the needless tumult and emotional resilience of these communities.
The mural, titled “Somos La Luz Memorial” depicts Dr. Ydelfonso Decoo, a Queens pediatrician who “died of COVID-19 while serving on the frontlines,” according to a press release for the project. “I wanted to give homage to this doctor, who’s an immigrant doctor, who was about to retire and he wouldn’t stop working because he cared,” Gerada said.
The artist stressed the importance of prioritizing the human aspect of this pandemic over sheer figures or policy. “Statistics are an awful thing because most people just think about numbers and they don’t bring that into actual lives lost,” Gerada said. “People in families who are now mourning–each number in a large-scale number is a tragedy.”
To this end, Gerada created a stunning, photo-realistic portrait of Decoo in full PPE on the ground of a parking lot. The pediatrician emanates a light of pure good and his eyes shine knowledgable and caring from behind a medical mask. “When I finally get this man’s gaze for everyone to see, we’ll be able to actually have a memorial to all of the lives lost, an example of many,” Gerada explained.
While wealth may have been the vector, wealthy people are at least financially equipped to handle the difficulties of this pandemic. This leaves disenfranchised communities, often comprised of minority individuals and immigrants to deal with the situation using their meager means. “It has become evident that the virus finds it easier to spread among minorities and our society is set up to make it that way,” Gerada stated.
The press release provided concrete facts to back this up. “In New York City the coronavirus is killing Hispanics and African Americans at double the rate that it is killing Whites and Asians. This might be due to the fact that the Hispanic and Black populations represent 75 % of front-line city workers who are at high risk (more than 60 percent of people who work as cleaners and caretakers are hispanic, and more than 40 percent of transit employees are black).” Gerada chose to depict Decoo in this park “because of the disproportionate amount of Latinos that have died in the area.”
Because Gerada painted this mural on the ground, it feels more accessible to viewers who can literally immerse themselves in the piece by standing in its center. However, the piece’s position also exposes it to potentially accelerated decay. Its press release explained that “No one knows how long the mural will last or if there’s a way to immortalize it.” Like the lives of so many who have fallen to this horrible disease, the mural is fragile and ethereal. Still, the span of its temporary existence is vastly meaningful. Gerada expressed that he “hoped families of those who have died during this crisis see it as a gift.” We cannot undo all the damage already wreaked by inequality in america. We cannot bring back George Floyd or Breonna Taylor or Ahmaud Arbery or Dr. Ydelfonso Decoo. We can only honor their legacies by creating a more just and equal world now, immediately, by any means necessary. Wealth is the vector, inequality is the disease. Art and compassion must be the cure.
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