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Welcome to The Great Exposure where we connect with community members to discuss how society’s disregard for indigenous people, people of color, and women has disproportionately affected their communities during the pandemic. We will not be silenced.

-Hey he’s Justin.

-She's Katie in this episode of the great exposure we will be talking about racial disparities we know that there were systematic issues before this past year but they were further exposed by the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic. 

-We do not have the lived experience. As white people Justin and I cannot speak to what it is like to live with systemic oppression due to race or ethnicity.

-Systemic oppression or racism is defined as systems or structures that have procedures or processes that disadvantage people of colour as defined by Derrick Johnson the president of the NAACP. 

-In order to understand these issues better we conducted 2 interviews The 1st one was with Anisa Omar. 

-Anisa is an awesome person who’s already done a ton to help her community but I’ll let her tell you herself 

- A little about myself. I was actually born and raised here in Mankato.  I went through the Mankato area public school system and also attended msu to receive my undergraduate degree.  I am the daughter of 2 Somali immigrants, the 1st of my family to actually be born here in America. I just received my undergraduate degree in December currently studying for the LSAT and that’s kind of keeping me busy but I also organised with a lot of committees and organisations here in the area as well as in the Twin cities area.

-Is there any specific organisations that you work for?

Yeah I think I’ve got involved with quite a few organizations. I’m an organiser with ignite the youth, an organiser with a former organisation that kinda took hiatus called Mankato area voices for racial equity.  I'm a board member with the YMCA Mankato, I’m a fellow currently with the Muslim public affairs council and I’m also a young woman's cabinet member with the governor's office and the woman's foundation.

-What kind of work have you done with Communities of colour?

-Most of my organising work with communities of colour are more so providing needs whether it be food resources access to funds and I was also the former student body president where I was able to work with students of colour as well as international students and in that role I was able to pass legislation and work on legislation that would provide International student's ability to access emergency grant funds discussed food lack of food access our senate actually passed the swipe out hunger resolution which is now enacted on University where students can donate meal swipes to other students through an app anonymously and provided students are food insecure and then within the community I organised with high school students middle school students in removing police from our area public schools.

-Can you tell us about your personal COVID experience?

-Yeah my father had COVID 1st and then my sister got it and so I was caretaking a sustained by system caretaking for them and they were kind of nearing their end of the 14 days I think they were on like day 11 or 12 and on August 8th that's when I received it right when they’re coming off theirs and yeah I don't know my experience just having to go through that I had a lot of respiratory issues it was difficult for me to breathe I had to quarantine longer I have to do like 20 days and so school just started when I was still isolating myself and still dealing with COVID I was being followed closely through MAYO like they sent this device would have to consistently check my O2 my temp and stuff.

-As an activist do you think the pandemic helped with the protest last summer in the response to George Floyd's death?

-Yeah definitely think it had an impact because people were home and we were quarantining and weren’t socialising and also I think it was like a buildup it was race relations with black individuals and police lack of support from our government to communities of colour who did not have food resources or food like the foodbank lines are very long and access to food or transportation and we got like what 1 stimulus or like a then late 600 unemployment for a while and that was cut off like all of those issues are compounded together and I think that's what made this like the protests such a big thing so many issues stacked upon it and black individuals are more susceptible to all of those economically police violence and so forth like we are closest to the pain and so we showed out in numbers as well throughout the time I think that was definitely a factor.

-What are the challenges your community faces with respect to the COVID pandemic?
-There's a lot of challenges cause I am like a black Muslim woman and so I don't know a lot of my mom's friends and so forth who were no longer working because of pandemic or were laid off because of the pandemic and so that impacted them financially as well as like they didn’t have access to food anymore because their finances weren’t there or they were behind in rent and so forth. Now with the vaccine a lot of like the mistrust is there but I also think there so many individuals within our community as black Muslim women who want access to the vaccine and don't have it. I think accessibility has been a huge barrier in this pandemic and accessibility prior to the pandemic was a big issue but I think the pandemic exasperated it.

-How's your community dealt with the increase in food insecurity?

-I know there are a lot of programs here. I think it’s more so mutual aid. I would see my mom start taking stuff over to her friends or like we have extra rice and like packing up and donating. There was a mutual aid within my community now so there's also a few non profits that were established by restaurants were also having off food to individuals who needed at and we’re also kind of before the pandemic, we’re big on mutual aid go over there grab some sugar and so we already had that connection within my community and so we relied heavily upon that.

-You previously worked with student groups at East high school here mankato did the school district properly support students when they moved to distance learning? Did they ensure that students had proper resources to succeed?

-I also work with students all across the district Dakota Meadows, Mankato West, Mankato East, and Prairie Winds, and I think their response was inadequate like there’s so many students falling behind. I don't think they properly addressed. I remember I have cousins currently in the school system and whenever they are having issues like tech oh well just call this number and that number wasn't very, didn’t assist them much. Also when the protest happened there wasn't an access to like counselors or stuff like that or like social workers reaching out to students of colour. I remember specifically asking on the phone when everything was popping up what support is happening right now for students of colour like how are you guys checking in with them and to me they basically said they had limited resources and they weren’t checking right now. Yeah I don't think they responded adequately right now it’s like a COVID hotspot kind of like we have so many students out on quarantine and the reason we are asking for police to be removed is like we’re in a pandemic were already at a budget deficit students need support and police cannot provide the support that the students need. And that was one of our main demands like we need to reinvest those dollars because we're already going to be losing a lot right now but they’re planning on cutting a lot of staff positions as we predicted when we were organising and so it just showed us who they’re invested in. And then the way in which right after our organising efforts when they came to vote and they voted on it a few weeks after white parents came together demanding the school reopen and they acted immediately to ensure school was reopened for white parents and now we have a lot of students out on quarantine and they didn’t even insure teachers had all their vaccines before placing them back in those buildings with students and I think the way in which the school district responded is completely inadequate but I also don't expect much from all white cabinet except now there's one black individual on the cabinet making rules and most of them are white men. They don't experience what we experience.

-What would you have liked to see the school district's do instead or what kind of steps would you like them to take?

-We had a few alternatives that we demanded and one it was get more counsellors into those buildings and we are at a counsellors shortage but with the funds they are using for police they can also hire out partner with therapists stuff like that our community and bring  them into our schools and that’s what we’re asking for because we have Kennedy and a few other elementary schools are currently sharing one counsellor. My cousin basically who goes to Kennedy was like we have to choose when we have our problems because she's only here Monday Wednesday Friday. I’m like if a 4th grader is telling you that, that's an issue. Another thing was restorative Justice, we don't need police standing there with their badge and their gun just intimidating black and Brown students, as well as administrators utilising police against black and Brown students to charge them, and how can we implement restorative practices because right now they say that doing sort of practice but it's just throwing the circle on it what their restore this all looks all set to circle and let's all do this and that's not true restorative Justice nor is there true restorative practices. And then we also said after school programming for Black and Brown youth. When we were organizing with Black and Brown youth, there is not a space for them at that school prior that was not dominated by whiteness and I think it's very important growing up in the school system you need your community need other black and Brown students alongside you because this can feel very isolating, meditation space or prayer space I remember in high school I would have to pray between bookshelves. So how can we provide students with the space they need to meditate to pray to do what they want to rest if they need to and so those were a few of the things and the last one was mentorship especially for black and Brown youth how can we connect them to students at msu or in the community to help lead them and guide them because I know as a student I didn’t have that guidance and I very grateful for where I’m at that and the community that helped me up cause this it's like the same school system that I was continuously suspended on and it was really my community that made sure I made it  through that school without falling through the cracks.

-Has the vaccine been available to your community at a reasonable rate?

-No I don't think it's then accessible for black and Brown communities ya haven't seen it be as accessible I know my sister so waiting to get hers my mother still has not hers and so forth and I don't think it's accessible for black and Brown communities and I also know that they’re saying oh it’s the mistrust but I’ve spoken to so many black and brown individuals who want access to it and cannot get it. And so I think we need to stop caping behind or hiding behind the whole black black individuals are afraid of the vaccine actually allow black and brown individuals to decide that and make it accessible for them.

-Do you think it's a problem about messaging about telling communities where they can get it or is it more of it really not being available to the community?

-I know when I was doing the connector thing with the Minnesota Gov or whatever is it took me about 5 minutes or so to fill out that entire questionnaire and they do have different languages, I don't think it's expensive and also you have to search up that website to get that phone number and so that's what I mean with accessibility and I also like they text you or email you your available for an appointment a lot of Somalia individuals have emails especially the older individuals. And so it's that disconnect with the accessibility that is my main concern and also think it's in areas where it's difficult for them to reach or if I live in the Minneapolis and it’s like all booked up or I have to drive an hour and a 1/2 away to get mine because I really wanted to get mine and it was available. So it's like not all individuals have access to car to drive that and the ones maybe nearby were already filling up especially if it's a place like Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

-Have you noticed an increase in racism since the pandemic has started?

-With all my intersecting identities I'm already travelling through a lot of racism so it doesn't stick out like this is more than usual but I am sure it may be for other individuals I didn't notice right away. What I would say though is with stores and stuff like that the criminalization that happens with the pandemic. I remember when the Mankato City council was passing the mask mandate and I was like why do we have to punitive measures in all its going to be a ticket this for individuals who really may not have access to a mask or may not understand the mask mandate or know that there's a mask mandate I think that's where racism can show like you’re entering the store and you don't know that's mask mandate the way in which that can rule out or at a restaurant I think that makes you more sceptical to experience racism more than usual but I would say that's also the responsibility of mankato city council to make sure that it's not punitive and they didn't do so so I don't I would be curious to see how many citations they gave out.  -How is the work that you have been changed since the pandemic started? What kind of things have changed with your outreach?

-I was serving as student body president when the pandemic hit and shut down the campus and so I was like organizing that  to ensure students have pay if their working on campus and so forth  and housing and food access and so I was doing that work and then I shifted more towards the school work when I finished up my term. I think it shed more focus on it like I remember talking to administrators would just flabbergasted and I said yeah campus shutdown but students still need to receive their pay what is that side like organised and ensure that they were able to receive pay and brought up in the beginning of the school year when pandemic app net and mysteries of data site graduate students and International students like that's not going to happen and write when the pandemic hit For International students to access inside think we were able to get a lot of the resolutions and legislation passed accomplish right when the pakdam cat this is what students need and we need to ensure that they have access to it something the pandemic was a allowed me to put pressure on administrators to add would I or the individuals in the cost is encouraging them to establish mutual aid network and encouraging them to organise with community organisations in the area of able to provide the utmost port to communities of colour specially black and Brown women and nonbinary folks and transgender folks during this time and so that was just establish mutual aid network if you don't have one within your course or find a way in which you guys come connect and give back if you are able to Edit not financially with their time what can listeners do to support your community orgs donate directly to individuals who meet at they do think we get lost into organisation but sometimes that money doesn't go directly to individuals at me right away commentating to students of colour age market hit me was school seems to have a budget to keep the police in the school but they aren't able to expand the council also recently published the district needs to cut 7.5 million dollars for the budget which includes 100 staff resource officers were not listed but teachers parents and counsellors work One thing I was impressed about was the amount of mutual aid on these talk about is really awesome that their people out there supporting each other these hard times are next interviewer has to say our 2nd interview is with Pakou Lee she gave us a good insight into the month experience and because of her role in the Asian American affairs office at nsu she has a unique insight into overlapping experience my name is Pakou Lee and I am mom my ethnicity we are a ethnic minority in China Southeast Asia parents actually came from Laos away after the Vietnam war mean on my siblings were roebourne here in Minnesota first generation college students yet born waze Minnesota by demanding bad here msu studying at apology ethnic studies One thing I was impressed about was the amount of mutual aid on these talk about is really awesome that their people out there supporting each other these hard times are next interviewer has to say our 2nd interview is with hochuli she gave us a good insight into the month experience and because of her role in the Asian American affairs office at msu she has a unique insight into overlapping experience my name is hochuli and I am mom my ethnicity we are a ethnic minority in China Southeast Asia parents actually came from Laos away after the Vietnam war mean on my siblings were roebourne here in Minnesota first generation college students yet born waze Minnesota by demanding bad here msu studying at apology ethnic studies And I am completing my friend program in counselling personal college street fairs and this is my 3rd year working at the institution going 2nd year in my role SD director Asian American and multiple those kind of work have you done with music colour wow we work specifically in recruiting and retention of our students of colour so goes my workers with college students and I supposed to stream high students for the weekend and please with no school to high and high school students we make sure that college is accessible to them so precopa that meant bringing in these communities to campus providing the transportation because that can be disappear in itself and this talking about higher adding them to imagine themselves pursuing higher Ed to help with Turn the retention please we work with our students who are here and 12 man I personally oversee 5 student organisations I work a lot with our soon organisations instant leaders to be active on campus to showcase of culture or there are sold mission vising to over settings so here we should focus focus on our diversity populations by we also are bicing anything that comes to adores program That's another big part of our area in the multiple percenter whether that's collaborating with arsene organisations and doing the cultural events or the program mean focusing on diversity inclusion equity training workshops those are all that we do there can you tell some Your personal experience of COVID long ago but it's still so the same for everyone but I remember my sister had died in the flu right time and so just having experience of going to the hospital and asking have you been out of the country and I in a self I think can become a microaggression considering that I'm in dissent and one of the biggest 3 types are the biggest forms of presidents by so we receive is that where the private foreigners that were always from somewhere else and so that the beginning was like OK this is practical I just have to let me know so that I haven't been out of the country harby sick and then getting I got a cold right afterward and I was also terrified not much is known about coca That time in this early March last year so I just a lot of uncertainty and solve being an hour 1/2 away from family and not being sure of their OK but once we went Birch wall then it went to I need only groceries I need to stock up this thing Asian go to the store way to mask before the mass mandate I was pretty terrified a possible with receiving that's with my role with my background and knowing everything and and still being afraid because I'm usually felt safe in my Kato and I from the testes I grew up with Paul that was some very different times and I saw my kid differently than I have in Play the 1st couple months in the summer live better but yet initial experiences weeks to months what are the challenges you seen in the Asian American community used or community colour face with respect to Kobe and while that's the Asian community especially if you look East Asian in dinosaur is also another issue because when folks think of Asia saving normally East Asia and by also excludes all other people and culture side make up into 8 alarms continent in the world and so it is very sad that it's a portion of our group of people that are being targeted but in a salty excludes the people who have traditionally been excluded Identity and so that's another temper issue but I would say is it's been very disheartening very sad to see the elder community being targeted if you seem in the chinatowns are in the areas in California New York and definitely the case in in Georgia so anyone looking of East even the science has seen the rise in hate crimes arising violence against their perceived identities and also know were were going up to the one year mark of George Floyd getting killed in Minneapolis and during that time the king of the panda make and what that has lock mark in our history as Minnesota so swell as people of Minnesota and so were going to the 1 year marco of all these at Right now within my role just tuning in with our students and with their experiencing as well as our Asian students as boxing's and anyone who who is also understanding of the systems that we live in and the society that we live there that has shaped a lot of feelings beliefs and views against the shower how have beach students dealt with the George Lloyd murder any notice them being active in social Justice or could you speak to that little bit more hide an alarm that gradually lost playing they were very active in aikido local community and holding on the bridge in North makedo just having the demonstrations and that was with With the bank Kato area and so I've seen a lot of soon activism that way their social media as well because you're your solidarity doesn't have to be in person this president I think I want other thing we just held our demonstration last Tuesday and I was largely with our city leaders in in Asian American affairs is a lot of them about that they couldn't be active before and I think the 1st worry is just a personal safety that be from other people working from kobane 19 until there has been a rise in awareness I would say and social Justice activism in multiple farms yes master leered how did you or people you know feel about the mass mandate in and reaction to it away mascus is pretty normal With the bank Kato area and so I've seen a lot of soon activism that way their social media as well because you're your solidarity doesn't have to be in person this president I think I want other thing we just held our demonstration last Tuesday and I was largely with our city leaders in in Asian American affairs is a lot of them about that they couldn't be active before and I think the 1st worry is just a personal safety that be from other people working from kobane 19 until there has been a rise in awareness I would say and social Justice activism in multiple farms yes master leered how did you or people you know feel about the mass mandate in and reaction to it away mascus is pretty normal Chinaware or most of East Asia where the fact that the fine dust seasons or just be collectivistic society mindset of if I'm sick ongoing to protect myself or protect you from me and wear mask saw in a lot of our culture is normal especially in those home countries whereas in the website I never wear masks before even though I knew that I said so I think students who are coming from these countries that was not alarm by it was hard to kind of not want to feel targeted because I'm not wearing a mask because I say because I want to protect us but I think what time we definitely normalised that at least for the most part down want to wear mask and panel to each their own but most of us where and understand Just a communal effort to keep him on safe so far in your community have students received enough support from their school sur you mentioned you work with other students know we tried we work closely with the counselling office to ensure that we have support for students and I know that there's only 10 sections that you can receive in a year and so the council looking at we start to send me to help settings as an office that mean the students were there at whatever they need we can you know we don't have that resource as a campus weekend find it elsewhere and then afterward work to have that as something that are kept up by 1st settings and so sometimes in a word in the reactive side of things because all we want to know that we have everything Play also know it sometimes where proactive on things because we've seen how other students have diamond for I was happening elsewhere weakened back here of where sometimes really active because Willis didn't know at that time with high school students to get them into the college game has at work shift into a different kind of outragers or other steps and you can do everyone to holding big events or or hosting large amount so of students to come to campus by a little virtual all of our calling visits are virtual we also have camps throughout the summer wear that I 1st last summer to hold a camper virtually with 40 Russell high school Stearns by thankfully I think everyone's kind of guidance what sauce Show aside no we always thought we want to be the most accessible but forward this is also accessible folks care here and weekend leave them there security in general I was the community dealt with it putting security as always and one of the same so we we have to face up as a campus what was it would have been on campus this year is you open the Maverick pear tree that happened right at the end of last fall semester we were focusing on where students and I know we have a campus kitchen but it was also house in the community now we have something that the University can can hold for students and go get fresh food it's something that then solution has invested in were hoping to kind of counter that issue Do you think the vaccine rollout has been available to your community early on and considers we have a market called among village and them speaking for 4 just among community because I more familiar Please actually had volunteers who are survive to get back scenes we speak money providers for for elders and and anyone who is wasn't elder can come in and get there happened community efforts not just among community but in our different Asian ethnic populations to making sure everything was but accessible especially to our older population now that it's been open to younger folks at higher rates I am sure about the efforts will work there and I hope that continues where people also feel safe going to get the vaccine and that with their there they don't speak English or for they don't feel safe that there folks there to help Have you experienced more discrimination since the pandemic started over I would say that violence xenophobia hate crimes against their and it has definitely been heightened Has said and its main books feel OK to act on it whereas before there could have been incidents at leaders never knew now we have social media that can amplify those cases and anything in this past year it has but so bad that there have to be a nonprofit to do start tracking all the cases that's happened and that's only if people reported until this kind of couple tears to this issue and we come as Asians most of our upbringing our culture is to respect authority to kind of this do your own thing do my other people so if you get that kind of upbringing and cultural background and then you get attacked most people are going to shrug it off or not reported it was just something horrible happen to me without understanding the system Look in system such as ways to finally see her TV Brad reinforces these wild thoughts and behaviours and we think that it was something for what happened to me but I am not going to to do anything about it and also with just a stereotype now with that cultural upbringing right there's to stereotype that oceans are mellow are not going to cost pollom's or you can do what you want in there not going to report it and that's where our culture also our cultures and beliefs also get distorted and used against us and that's one of the reasons why there hasn't been much progress with any actions against or even calling Sunday's incidents hate crimes until Atlanta when 6 women have to die 8 women had to die 6 of them being Asian American So it's different points that have influenced each other whether in a good way or in a bad way listeners do to support community colour starts with knowing who you are 1st and admitting to some of the things that that you yourself that I am not a person without prejudice or or without things I've been socialised to believe too but understanding that just because you've been socialised to believe that you can learn it OK can you get things knowing who you are and anyhow you show up in the world and if you are dating skipping privilege then Is your publish wise whether that be you being advocate being an accomplice being ally or holding space where folks because society doesn't do this all the same and we have to admit that to be with to move forward and so I think it's really starts with yourself there I am learning to be in advocate for other folks to because sometimes we share the same types of oppression but we also have different histories and how serious treated us that is something that we each can be used to learn learn about ourselves so that we can show up for other folks and show Vice at the end was useful for us to consider AI like to think of myself as a progressive person but it's important for me to reflect on the bias that I have in that I don't consciously know that I'm expressing coming from a place of privilege it is important to listen and support boats when you did exactly we have seen how different communities have been impacted during the pandemic in regards to employment financial assistance education in nutrilite yeah we So heard how racism has affected communities different really interesting how are 2 interviewees were both working towards making things better for people tell her the recovering out of from 2 different angles Anisa was challenging the system to do better from the outside whereas Pakou was working within the system to do her best to get students what they need.

We would like to give a big shout out to Anisa and Pakou and thank them so much for their time.

-Yes thank you Pakou and Anisa and thank you for listening to this episode of the Great Exposure. 

This episode of The Great Exposure is executively produced by Katie Gunnink and Justin Danielson, and edited by Justin Danielson. The Great Exposure is produced by Nhia Vang, Katie Gunnink, Jess Hartwell, Justin Danielson, Skyler Kottke, and Kristine Savik. Original Music composed by Jacob Ross.