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To date, 110,000+ people in the United States have died from the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, the authors will discuss COVID-19 relative to Black people and their overrepresentation among those who are infected and died from the disease. Their dying, death, and grief experiences are explored through a cultural and spiritual lens. The physical distancing, social isolation, misinformation, and restrictive burials and cremations now elicited by this unprecedented pandemic have had diminished familial, cultural, emotional, and economic impacts on the Black community. Implications for public health and Black peoples' involvement in the political process are also addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dying, death, and grief are universal human experiences that are impacted by cultural values and beliefs. We provide service providers a context from which to consider the importance of spirituality and religiosity in the grief process and the variances in grief practices that exist within the Black community. This knowledge can serve as a catalyst for developing culturally appropriate interventions for Black people aimed at helping them to more effectively cope with grief and further enabling them to thrive rather than merely survive a sociopolitical US climate that is laden with grief producing experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dying, death, and grief are significant events that impact individuals, families, and communities. In the United States, Blacks historically have higher morbidity and mortality rates than other racial-ethnic groups. While death is a normal and natural phase of the life-course process, high incidents of infant mortality, premature death, and preventable death are not. The disproportionate burden of dying, death and grief among Blacks have detrimental consequences which demand interdisciplinary interventions from public health and death study researchers. This manuscript explores dying, death and grief from three distinct fields of study: (1) epidemiology of death, (2) social epidemiology of death, and (3) thanatology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the history of racism in the American presidency and the implications that it has had for Black residents of this country. The paper begins with a discussion of President Trump's racist rhetoric towards Blacks but notes that a history of racism is woven into the US presidency. We employ critical race theory as a theoretical framework to demonstrate why institutional racism has always been pervasive in the American presidency. Using a case study analysis, the authors conduct a comparative study of the history of racism of American presidents with the presidency of former president Donald J. Trump. The authors conclude that for most of the nation's history, racism and indifference to African Americans permeated the US presidency. It has only been since the advent of the second half of the twentieth century, for the most part, that there have been meaningful efforts by US presidents to address the concerns of African Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The importance of self-care for social workers as first responders is underscored in light of the sociopolitical, economic, and pandemic challenges that accompanied the presidency of Donald J. Trump, the 45th president of the United States. Methods: We conducted an extensive review of the literature on the conceptualization, dimensions, benefits, importance, and indispensability of self-care for social workers, especially in stressful socio-political and toxic work environments. Chaos theory served as the theoretical scaffold of our research. Results: Inevitably our research found that the ability of social workers to effectively serve as first responders during chaotic times depends on a proactive and consistent practice of self-care by social workers as an essential best practice. Conclusions: The consequences of the policies of the 45th president of the United States have taken their toll on the citizenry, with the increase in stress in the nation. Undoubtedly, social workers as first responders, therapists, and educators are at the receiving end of ensuing political and socioeconomic uncertainties. We posit that for social workers to remain steadfast, unshakable, and abiding in the solemn pursuit of social justice and an egalitarian society, this is the era for social workers to embrace and persistently practice self-care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States, generations of young Black males, ages 15 to 24 years, are prematurely dying from homicide and suicide. Between 1950 and 2010, the average death rate for young Black males due to homicide was 81.7 per 100,000 and suicide was 11.8 per 100,000. Ages 15 to 24 years are the intersecting developmental stages of adolescence and young adulthood when premature death should not be expected. The trauma and ceased procreation prospects stemming from Black males' premature deaths represent a public health crisis in America. Heightened public health approaches are needed to bring attention to a young racial-gender group that is dying five to six decades prior to their life expectancy. The mass suicide-homicide killings, premature deaths, and death disparities among young Black males, ages 15 to 24, in the United States is not a paranoid propaganda. It is undeniably a disturbing public health crisis that requires an urgent national response to reverse and ultimately eradicate the premature death of young Black males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genocide is a dehumanizing crime that threatens the welfare of any civilized society. Yet, before the annihilation of any targeted human group, the collective outcomes of the genocidal process (e.g., systemic desecrations) and genocidal death effect (e.g., years of mass deaths and death disparities) have often gone undetected, underestimated, or ignored by public health and human rights advocates. From1950-2010, the mass homicide-suicide killings engendering the premature deaths of Black males, ages15-24 years, corroborate that aspects of the genocidal process and genocidal death effect are happening in America. The mass killings of young Black males from these preventable homicide and suicide deaths are ethically alarming, and the determinants of death impacting their premature deaths command immediate primordial prevention and reinforced prevention efforts. An epidemiological genocide prevention matrix is explored as an innovative approach to address, prevent, and research premature deaths resulting from homicide and suicide, and genocidal death effect of young Black males. Undergirded by the Theory of Epidemiologic Transition, this article also examines the mass killings of young Black males through the genocidal and pragmatic lens. Death disparities, determinants of death, and genocidal death effect definitions are operationalized, and the Genocidal Death Effect Conceptual Framework is debuted in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article purports to examine the chaotic presidency of Donald Trump and how it has been harmful to the African American community. To accomplish this, the authors use chaos theory as our theoretical framework. Chaos theory appears to be random and haphazard at first glance, but it is actually structured. Trump has been successful with this leadership style by diverting attention away from these harmful actions and by having the electorate focus on his erratic behavior. After a discussion of chaos theory, the authors examine several of the Trump administration's policies which we argue are harmful to African Americans. We analyze specific policies in the areas of criminal justice, voting rights, and environmental racism, which we believe are causing significant damage. Finally, we probe some of the implications of the Trump administration's policies and what can be done to counteract them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]