Published on June 08, 2020 at 04:42AM by Marc Fisher, Peter Jamison and Ava Wallace, The Washington Post
WASHINGTON - In the middle of the night, as some of the first protests raged in Louisville, Ky., Shae Smith and her husband, Walt, decided to break out of their pandemic isolation and take to the streets.
"We were actually in bed and I finally woke Walt up and said, 'Babe, I think you need to go down there,' " Shae recalled. " 'You need to see what's going on, we need to be a part of this.' "
At 2:15 a.m., Walt went downtown to see, to make a statement. The Smiths had talked and talked about the virus; they knew joining the protests against police brutality meant a higher risk of being infected. They took the risk to give their 10-year-old son a chance at a future in which he is not "walking around with the spirit of fear," Shae said. They took the risk because after dealing with the pandemic "we still have to do whatever it takes."
The protests mean exposure to the virus and potentially accelerating its spread. The virus has killed more than 109,000 Americans, including a disproportionate number of blacks. Yet the Smiths and tens of thousands of others have chosen to take the risk.
Far from being separate crises, the deadly epidemic of covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and the sudden explosion of street protests against police violence are intimately connected, according to protesters and public and mental health professionals.
"People are so pent-up with frustration from being inside for so long," said Patricia Newton, chief executive and medical director of the Black Psychiatrists of America, which has about 2,000 members. "That was the kindling, and the police brutality lit the fire. People tell me, 'I need to get out of the house,' and 'I'm having cabin fever.' When people feel hopeless, they feel they have nothing to lose and caution goes...
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