22 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 4, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
protest
Queens nurse on a mission to
off er aid to protesters in need
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
aacevedo@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Esther Lauren, a registered nurse and
Queens resident, went from caring for
COVID-19 patients to off ering 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.
Th e protests — demanding justice and
accountability from police as well as an
end to the systematic racism that has let
police brutality persist — were sparked
aft er Minneapolis Black man, George
Floyd, was killed by white Police Offi cer
Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee
on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes
aft er 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. Th at’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.’”
Th e 25-year-old carries medical supplies
with her to take care of wounds, as
she says it’s important to minimize bleeding
in the fi rst 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.
She added that trying to maintain at
least some distance between each other
while protesting may help as well, even
though it might be diffi cult in instances
where the protest is at a standstill.
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 diff erent
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.
What’s worse, the systematic racism in the
United States’ justice system has repeatedly
allowed this to happen, with little to no
action taken to hold police accountable —
even aft er there’s public outcry.
In New York, Lauren sees this moment
as a “collection of frustrations.”
“Th ere 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. Th ey
don’t know when they’re going back to
work. And now they have to deal with
police brutality.”
Lauren’s fi rst time participating 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.
Th e Jamaica protest made headlines as
police offi cers from the 103rd Precinct
took a knee with protesters, a moment
Lauren captured and was later used on
the front cover of the New York Daily
News. But as more of these moments happen
across the country — in the same day
as police are seen shoving, pepper spraying,
pointing a gun at protesters or almost
running over them with their cars — people
can’t help but question the sincerity of
Photo courtesy of Esther Lauren
their actions.
“Th ere’s so much messages coming out
right now, and I think things can kind of
get skewed,” Lauren said. “I do think it’s
important for things to be documented,
recorded, and photographed, but anyone
who is choosing to only see that they’ve
kneeled … Well, there’s plenty of videos
showing you other sides of the story. So
remaining educated and remaining up to
date is very important.”
Lauren feels compelled to help so that
protesters can avoid going to hospitals or
medical centers — in which Black people
are disproportionately disadvantaged — if
it comes down to it.
“I think specifi cally 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 help them medically,” she said. “I
think people should be fi nding their role
and knowing how to play it very well. I
knew that I am a nurse, and my role is to
be a nurse at all times. Everyone should
just be fi guring out what role they want
to play in this and how they can play it
very well. Not everyone has to go out on
the fi eld, but everyone has to play a role
in some way.”
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