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QUEENS WEEKLY, JUNE 7, 2020
Queens nurse on a mission to offer
aid to Black Lives Matter protesters
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
Esther Lauren, a registered
nurse and Queens resident,
went from caring for
COVID-19 patients to offering
care for individuals who
may be in need during the
Black Lives Matter protests
happening in Queens and
elsewhere in New York City.
Initially, Lauren wanted
to support the movement
by donating and spreading
awareness, as she’s been
working non-stop for months
assisting COVID-19 patients.
The protests — demanding
justice and accountability
from police as well as an end
to the systemic racism that
has let police brutality persist
— were sparked after
Minneapolis Black man,
George Floyd, was killed by
white Police Officer Derek
Chauvin, who pressed his
knee on Floyd’s neck for almost
nine minutes after he
was already arrested and on
the ground.
But as Lauren continued
watching the news and social
media posts, she changed her
mind.
“It doesn’t make sense,
when you’re someone who
is always working with your
hands, to just sit at home,”
Lauren said. “My best skill
set are my hands and nursing
people back to health.
That’s literally what I do
for a living. So I said, ‘you
know what, I’m going to get
involved, and just help
in that aspect, use the resources
that I have and the
knowledge that I have to do
that.'”
The 25-year-old carries
medical supplies with her to
take care of wounds, as she
says it’s important to minimize
bleeding in the first 30
minutes of an open wound,
and help with hydration (water
bottles, granola bars and
Vitamin C packets).
Lauren said that while
it’s important to wear masks
and gloves, having healthy
meals and taking vitamins
before protesting should also
be a priority, being that we’re
still in a pandemic.
“You want to prevent
yourself from ending up in
the hospital,” she said, noting
that the warmer weather
may cause some people to
lose balance or pass out if
they’re not properly hydrated.
While some people worry
the protests will spread
the virus, Lauren’s experience
as an essential worker
— which involves taking
crowded public transportation
and not working from
home like many others have
during New York state’s stayat
home order — puts her in
a different position.
“I’ve done my part in
terms of staying away from
my friends, I have stayed
away from large groups up
until now,” she said, adding
that she mostly fears
for her mother, who’s also a
nurse. “It’s not that you’re
not afraid, but you just can’t
live like that because, at the
end of the day, I still have to
get up and go to work and do
what I need to do.”
Data reveals that Black
people, who are most of the
people organizing and protesting,
are not only contracting
COVID-19 at higher rates
than the rest of the population,
but are also dying from
the disease at higher rates
than the rest of the population,
in New York and the
whole nation.
Knowing this, they’re
still risking their lives not
only because of what happened
to Floyd, but because
of the police brutality that
took the lives of Louisville’s
Breonna Taylor and David
McAtee, Georgia’s Ahmaud
Arbery, and countless other
Black people in recent years.
In New York, Lauren sees
this moment as a “collection
of frustrations.”
“There was already a
disparity going on with the
actual virus,” Lauren said.
“New Yorkers have been
inside for two months. A lot
of people are not collecting
unemployment, they’ve applied
and they’re not able
to actually physically get
it. And they’re losing loved
ones. They don’t know when
they’re going back to work.
And now they have to deal
with police brutality.”
Lauren’s first time participating
Photo courtesy of Esther Lauren
and aiding in the
current Black Lives Matter
protests was at the Jamaica
demonstration and later the
Brooklyn marches that led
to the Manhattan Bridge on
Sunday, May 31.
Lauren feels compelled
to help so that protesters can
avoid going to hospitals or
medical centers if it comes
down to it.
“I think specifically for
me, I’m not in a place to tell
anyone how to protest or how
to take out their frustrations,
I’m just here to to help them
medically,” she said.