| Good morning, friend. It's been a minute. I've been gone for a few months — anything happen while I was gone? Jokes aside: I hope you've been keeping safe. It's good to be back to this newsletter. Drop me a note and tell me how you've been! — Elamin THE BIG STORY Who died for your dinner? It must’ve been difficult to have a proper 4th of July celebration with the whole pandemic thing. Maybe yours was lowkey this year. Maybe you decided to have a chill, socially distant cookout with a few friends. Everyone agreed they’ll wear masks. That’s fine, right?
Not quite. An extraordinary report sheds light on the costs of such a simple pleasure on the workers who get you your food. There’s the meat processing plant that stayed open, even as the virus spread through its staff. Or the grocery clerks whose employer was slow to close down for a proper cleaning after workers got sick.
A BuzzFeed News investigation reveals the extent to which the virus — and the nation’s inadequate response to it — has infected, sickened, and even killed workers up and down the nation's food supply chains as they work to keep our refrigerators full.
The cost of a simple meal in a pandemic. STAYING ON TOP OF THIS Three officers have been fired for their involvement in a photo taken near where Elijah McClain was arrested in a chokehold
Three police officers in Aurora, Colorado, have been fired for their involvement in a photo reenacting a chokehold near the site where Elijah McClain was violently arrested before his death.
A fourth officer, who was involved in McClain's arrest, has been fired for reacting to the chokehold reenactment photo with “haha.”
McClain, a 23-year-old Black man, was arrested last August and placed in a chokehold. Before he passed out, audio from the officers' body cameras revealed that McClain was struggling to breathe and crying. He died three days later in hospital.
SNAPSHOTS A protester was killed after a man drove his car onto a closed Seattle freeway. Video of the incident shows the car plowing into a group of protesters. Summer Taylor, 24, died Saturday as a result of their injuries.
112 fraternity members at the University of Washington have tested positive for COVID-19. The figure raises concerns about the safety of students as the university prepares to reopen its campus for in-person instruction in the fall.
The Washington Redskins will review their team name amid pressure from investors. The NFL franchise said they’ve launched the review “in light of recent events,” which I can only assume means someone finally told them what their name is.
Protesters in Baltimore pulled down a statue of Christopher Columbus and threw in the harbor. Videos showed demonstrators cheering as they pulled down the statue near the city's Little Italy neighborhood with rope, and later pushing it into the water.
MAKING TROUBLE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD What happened in Bethel, Ohio? The village’s official population is 2,800 people. Inescapably, most folks know each other. So when a local history substitute teacher planned a small demonstration in support of Black Lives Matter, she figured she’d see a couple dozen familiar faces.
Then the bikers from out of town came. Representatives from four different biker gangs had come to “protect” the town from looters and rioters. The energy of the day grew darker, as BLM demonstrators were violently attacked, or had their signs ripped to shreds.
Here’s how one local put it: “People were screaming at us to go back where we came from...The people yelling at us weren’t from here, because if they were, they would’ve known we were home.”
Anne Helen Petersen chronicled that tense day in Bethel. She’s been writing about the BLM protests in small-town America for some time.
Downtown Bethel, Ohio. Maddie Mcgarvey WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY THERAPIST A Black psychologist shares tips on starting therapy On the one hand, we know for certain that racism is bad for Black mental health. On the other hand, the mental health system can be daunting to navigate, especially when you don’t know where to start.
So Dr. Rheeda Walker wrote The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health, to help with that feeling.
Tip #1: Don’t wait for crisis mode — seek out the help you need now. Here are the rest of the tips.
Wishing you the softness you need to connect to yourself today, Elamin P.S. If you like this newsletter, help keep our reporting free for all. Support BuzzFeed News by becoming a member here. (Monthly memberships are available worldwide). 📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by Elamin Abdelmahmoud and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here.
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