Chimere L. Sweeney

Yay! Thank you, @yalejackson.bsky.social,
for featuring me as a Global Health Expert! It means so much to have your support dur this important conversation. Shout out to student, Merit Oyenkwere, for a lovely interview. Go on + soar, Girllll! Proud of you.

vimeo.com/showcase/118...

Episode 11: Racial Diversity Needs No Meetings I recently declined a meeting with Patient-Led Research Collaborative (PLRC) to discuss my "concerns" on racial diversity in Long Covid and MECFS organizations. Here's why.

"Heads nod, throats clear, + giant pauses signal how uncomfortable everyone is with truth baring down on them.

[They]...end meetings trying to assuage me away from the original point." #longcovid #disability

theblackestsidelc.substack.com/p/episode-11...

Episode 11: Racial Diversity Needs No Meetings I recently declined a meeting with Patient-Led Research Collaborative (PLRC) to discuss my "concerns" on racial diversity in Long Covid and MECFS organizations. Here's why.

"Meetings like these usually aren’t effective. They include mostly white people in power who wish to meet with Black people who have complained about their observations or experiences with racism by calling them out (and in)."

theblackestsidelc.substack.com/p/episode-11...

People have some nerve trying to send messages to me about concerns I make clear every single day. Also, racial diversity never requires a meeting. You either want racial diversity in #LongCovid advocacy and research or you don't.

Episode 11: Racial Diversity Needs No Meetings I recently declined a meeting with Patient-Led Research Collaborative (PLRC) to discuss my "concerns" on racial diversity in Long Covid and MECFS organizations. Here's why.

IACCI sent #LongCovid based Patient-Led Research Collaborative to request a meeting with me to discuss racial equity and my "concerns" about their organizations.

Watch my podcast and/or read its written companion now:
open.substack.com/pub/theblack...

Cosplay on Some #Coldplay

As a disabled woman, sometimes I have to pull my strength from places that are foreign (or fake) like in music.

In our community, we hate each other for sharing these moments of joy.

I want more than despair. Hate me if you must. #disability #LongCovid #mecfs #substack

Cosplay on Some Coldplay I scour through hardship to find radical moments of meaning and joy. On Sunday, Chris Martin and Coldplay was the treasure I found.

"...#ChrisMartin’s voice played in my head....His voice is raw with flavors I could never name. I just know it when I hear or feel it. It soothes, shakes, + surrenders. Chris’ voice has literally baptized me in the middle of vacuuming or cleaning."

theblackestsidelc.substack.com/p/cosplay-on...

Also, will Social Security still be responsible for declaring FL students as "severely disabled?" Or did #Florida schools take that over, too?

www.cfpublic.org/education/20...

Folks who think the #disabled don't pay taxes or want to work: what better way to keep disabled ppl from advancing in education and/or the workforce than by limiting their ability to receive a certificate from high school?

Next up: we will need a HS diploma to vote. #disability🤐

Banning books. Schools determining which students are severely disabled so they can determine who can get certificate of completions from high school.

Florida just keeps getting better with them, eh?

If ppl don't think that #Florida won't one day ban #disabled people from voting in the state, they are delusional. Classism + caste systems take roundabout ways to attack marginalized people every day.

Banning certificates of completion in high school for severely disabled folks is a start.

That's excellent. That's one of the best things I can say about having Long Covid. Everyone plays a game of telephone with my records. Now, let's make sure they write what your actual experience is or we gonna have to fight! Lol.

So lately, I've been praying that @rbreich.bsky.social lives forever. This man is so sensible, brilliant, and on time. Who needs church when Reich is preaching every single day? Sheesh.

Be sure to catch my upcoming post: The #LongCovid Movement: Trendy and Trumpy on #Substack.

The Blackest Side of Long Covid
theblackestsidelc.substack.com

This is why racial diversity and equality always matters. This is what Black people have always endured. This is why @keystonesymposia.bsky.social and the #LongCovid Movement's meeting was flawed, though well-intentioned.

“Science, however — including bad science — was a category of intellectual production that remained largely closed to African Americans throughout the nineteenth century.”

Dr. Gretchen Long, Doctoring Freedom: The Politics of African American Medical Care in Slavery and Emancipation

The #LongCovid Movement cannot continue unless we consistently incorporate Black patients, experts, physicians, and organizers.

Why does racial equality matter in public health + academia?
When has it not mattered?

Bone Broth with Bones to Pick... Sipping. Ice-packing. But the most fun of them all: bone-pickin'. Keystone Symposia's recent Long Covid meeting led with anti-Blackness and no real or innovation.

Innovative perspectives on scientific research starts with featuring more Black attendees, considering sliding scale price points for disabled and chronically ill attendees, + choosing to discuss methods to advance Black + Latino patient research.

theblackestsidelc.substack.com/p/bone-broth...

@keystonesymposia.bsky.social helped planned a Long Covid meeting that was not focused on diversity or racial equality in research.

"...now we're all suffering together." Hmph. As a Black disabled woman, I laugh at those who don't think we can build community in unconventional ways. Fuck the nation. For us.

And there are plenty of ways to resist and protest without marching or holding up signs. Ingenuity is in our bloodline. We should NOT forget.

After the election, many of us decided to sit home and sip tea, pointing at Hispanic Americans for voting for Orange Soda as they were being arrested by ICE. As marginalized folks, none of us have the time to point fingers at "them," when the "them" is us, and always has been.

White folks gentrified #DC over 30 years ago. Most Black folks were pushed to expensive ass PG County. That's the real crime that no one likes to talk about.

As a former #DC native, this week has made me pretty queasy. I grew up in the city when crack pipes were hanging in the hallways more than people were and toddlers were being scolded with hot water in the projects. You ain't seen crime in DC like I did.

Where are the DEMS again? They seem oddly silent this week. And if anyone wants to know the real problem, now we know.

My God today! Thank you! We spent the first few months of the year, sipping tea, pointing at "them" aka Hispanic Americans. Now, the "them" is US. Now, whatcha got?

We can't waste time with this petty shit.

Five years ago, I lost EVERYTHING when I got infected with Covid: every dime; most of my friends; and nearly lost my mind (Covid does cause psychological issues).

The Blackest Side of Long Covid is my love letter to me and other Black disabled and chronically ill folks w/great eavesdroppers.

The Blackest Side of Long Covid | Chimére L. Sweeney | Substack The Blackest Side of Long Covid is a series of personal stories of love, tragedy, life, and advocay tips. Curated by Chimére L. Sweeney, a Black disabled activist and writer, with over five years of L...

Look, I put my sweat, tears, and toes in my platform. And it's FREE AF! FREE! FREE! Not fake FREE!

I have Covid brain so I can't promise you that there won't be grammatical + typographical errors (as a former English and Language Arts educator, this shit is sad).

theblackestsidelc.substack.com

He had the chance to run in Biden's place last year. He declined although he was doing this weird exploratory campaigning in 2023 and early 2024. He should have run then to save us from this mess. IMO. Recently, he seemed to have wanted to become a Centrist. He's fine as hell but confusing.

The recent Keystone Symposium on #LongCovid gave me a bit to rant about. I will be writing on my Substack soon.

Here are my observational thoughts here:
www.instagram.com/reel/DNQ89QX...