The Criminal Justice Activism of Naomi Osaka: A Case Study in the Criminology of Celebrity Culture.

This paper examines the criminal justice activism of tennis star Naomi Osaka as it evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic regarding matters of police violence and racial justice. Calls to reform and defund the police received much attention in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020. The Floyd killing also motivated Naomi Osaka to begin her criminal justice activism, which has generally been very well received. Adopting a constructionist perspective, I investigate how Osaka's criminal justice activism has, in the broader context of the development of celebrity culture, been subjectively motivated and inter-subjectively received by the public and in the news media. Theoretically this paper has the two-fold objective of developing a model of the conditions favorable to the successful reception of celebrity activism and, additionally, of suggesting how such criminologically relevant activism can be understood in terms of a process of celebritization of criminal justice and police reform as causes worthy of attention. This case study of Osaka's criminal justice activism reveals the important role a celebrity can play in influencing public sentiments about key aspects of policing and crime control as an important element of criminal justice culture.

Haitian and Haitian American experiences of racism and socioethnic discrimination in Miami-Dade county: At-risk and court-involved youth.

We examine how juvenile justice-involved youth of Haitian descent in Miami-Dade County cope with structural racism and its impact on their mental health. Drawing on longitudinal ethnography, psychosocial assessment data, and a family-based clinical intervention funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, this article explores youth narratives of discrimination prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use critical race theory and theory of practice to understand youths' perceptions as racialized bodies and stigmatized selves, highlighting the experiences and perspectives of a particular black immigrant group, ethnic beings caught up in the everyday practices of racialization, sociocultural marginalization, and racism. We frame these experiences as a variation of the complex continuum of structural racism and racial domination in the US. These experiences have caused anger, fear, anxiety, chronic anticipatory distress, and hopelessness among youth of Haitian descent. We conclude with some recommendations for therapeutic support that encourages youth to process their experiences, promotes their development of a positive self-concept, and provides them with mind-body techniques to attenuate the physical impacts of discriminatory events. The clinical trial registration number for this study intervention is NCT03876171.

The COVID-19, racism, and violence syndemic: Evidence from a qualitative study with Black residents of Chicago.

The COVID-19 pandemic emerged in the United States in the shadows of a vast history of structural racism and community and police violence that disproportionately affect Black communities. Collectively, they have created a syndemic, wherein COVID-19, racism, and violence are mutually reinforcing to produce adverse health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to understand the COVID-19, racism, and violence syndemic and examine how structural racism and violence contributed to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black communities. In early 2021, we conducted phenomenological qualitative interviews with 50 Black residents of Chicago. Interview transcripts were coded and analyzed using thematic analysis. We identified four primary themes in our analyses: 1) the intersection of racism and violence in Chicago; 2) longstanding inequities were laid bare by COVID-19; 3) the pervasiveness of racism and violence contributes to poor mental health; 4) and COVID-19, racism and violence emerged as a syndemic. Our findings underscore the importance of addressing social and structural factors in remediating the health and social consequences brought about by COVID-19.

Female sex workers and police violence during the Covid-19 health crisis in 2020-2021: results from the EPIC multi-country community-based research program in Argentina.

BACKGROUND: Female sex workers (FSW) have been disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 crisis. Data show increases of police violence toward key populations (KP), likely a consequence of their role in enforcing health government measures. This study aimed to identify factors associated with police violence experienced by FSW during the Covid-19 crisis in Argentina. METHODS: EPIC is a multi-country, cross-sectional, community-based research program evaluating the impact of Covid-19 among KP. In Argentina, the study was conducted in collaboration with FSW community-based organizations (CBO). Participants completed an online survey (October 2020-April 2021). Police violence was measured as having experienced episodes of violence (physical, verbal, psychological or sexual) by security forces since the start of the health crisis. Factors associated with police violence were assessed in logistic regression models. RESULTS: Among 173 respondents, median age was 34 [IQR 27-42], 39.3% were transgender women (TW), 78.1% declared sex work as their only income and 71.7% mentioned their financial situation has deteriorated with the health crisis. Nearly half of FSW (44.5%) reported experiencing police violence within the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, and among them, 76.6% declared more frequent violence episodes since the beginning of the health crisis. After adjustment for age, being a TW (aOR [95% CI] = 2.71 [1.21;6.05]), reporting non-injection drug use (2.92 [1.02;8.36]), having a considerably deteriorated financial situation (3.67 [1.47;9.21]), having had a consultation with a CBO worker for medical care/treatments (5.56 [2.15;14.37]) and declaring fear or experiences of discrimination by physicians/other health workers (2.97 [1.21;7.29]), since the beginning of the Covid-19 health crisis, were independently associated with police violence. CONCLUSIONS: FSW in Argentina have experienced an increase in police violence since the beginning of the health crisis. Belonging to multiple KP (FSW, TW, people who use drugs) increases the likelihood of experiencing police violence, highlighting the need of an intersectional approach to develop interventions to reduce stigma and violence against FSW. CBOs have provided essential support and services during the crisis to FSWs, and other KPs, who may have avoided traditional healthcare structures due to fear or experiences of discrimination.

"It Stays with You for Life": The Everyday Nature and Impact of Police Violence in Toronto's Inner-City.

In recent years, police violence has amassed notable international attention from the public, practitioners, and academics alike. This paper explores experiences and perceptions of police violence in Canada, documenting the impacts of direct and vicarious experiences of police violence on inner-city residents. The study employed semi-structured interviews with 45 community members across three Toronto inner-city neighbourhoods. Using a general interview prompt guide, participants were asked a range of questions about their experiences with and perceptions of police, and particularly, of police violence in their community. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, thematically coded, and analyzed. All participants reported direct and/or vicarious experiences of police violence, and most described experiencing long-standing, and continual fear that police contact would result in harm to them. Further, participants described a variety of serious and negative outcomes associated with experiencing and/or witnessing police violence. Police violence in Canada is a public health issue that requires an integrated public health policy approach to address the negative outcomes associated with direct and vicarious police violence exposure.

Where do Black lives matter? Coloniality, police violence, and epistemic injustices during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa and the U.S

Objective: South Africa and the United States face complex histories of antiblack policing, invigorated by increased state control during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This article explores the murders of Collins Khosa in South Africa and George Floyd in the U.S., to theorize the comparative differences in global attention given to both men. Method: A critical literature review was conducted of media statements by (South) African political organizations;(inter)national psychology organizations;and the emerging academic archive focusing on both murders. Data were analyzed using a qualitative summative content analysis approach. Results: African institutions ignored Collins Khosa's death until only after George Floyd's murder shone a spotlight on police brutality. International organizations ignored Collins Khosa's death altogether. These differences are framed as overlapping but divergent examples of epistemic injustice, that is, practices of exclusion and silencing in knowledge production. Both men were victims of testimonial injustice linked to individual believability, but Collins Khosa's geopolitical location placed him at greater risk of hermeneutical injustices too, linked to social intelligibility. This article argues that these are outcomes of both coloniality and epistemologies of ignorance that give disproportionate moral and political attention to the U.S. Conclusions: Epistemic injustice highlights practices of silencing that marginalize black people's lived experiences. However, during COVID-19, the death of George Floyd inadvertently displaced the global gaze toward black American lives-reinforcing geopolitical power imbalances. The Northern-centric locus of the #BlackLivesMatter (BLM) movement influenced a transnational social justice agenda in a manner than South African activism cannot. Despite its urgency, BLM's epistemic orientation may not generate hermeneutical resources against police violence in Global South contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

The Background and repercussions of the George Floyd case

After the violent death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, demonstrations and riots against police brutality started in numerous cities of the United States under the banner of Black Lives Matter demanding a thorough reform of law enforcement. Several studies examined factors of police violence and discrimination related to the incident. However, we are still short on comprehensive frameworks to adequately explicate the complexity of the events following. Amongst hundreds of similar cases annually, the question arises: what makes the George Floyd incident exceptionally prone to motivate collective social actions of such scale? Applying a framework of collective action theory, we argue for a detailed interpretation of the emerging circumstances, accounting for both traditional conflict theoretical perspectives, as well as the individual, highly situated characteristics of the focal incident-with a special attention towards the COVID-19 pandemic as not only social, but also psychological, economical, and political context.

Pandemics and systemic discrimination: Technology-facilitated violence and abuse in an era of COVID-19 and antiracist protest

Technology-facilitated violence and abuse is a truly global problem. As the diverse perspectives and experiences featured in this book have shown, the deep entanglement between technologies, inequality, marginalization, abuse, and violence require multi-faceted and collaborative responses that exist within and beyond the law. When this chapter was written, society was (and continues to be) facing an unprecedented challenge in COVID-19-a global pandemic. At the same time, a renewed focus on racist police and civilian violence has occurred following the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor in the United States. As we describe in this chapter, these two major moments are ongoing reminders of the profound social inequalities within our global communities, which are grounded in systemically discriminatory oppressions and their intersections. This chapter draws together some thoughts on technology-facilitated violence and abuse in an era of COVID-19 and antiracist protest. It explores these within the context of the book as a whole, highlighting the importance for improved understanding of, and responses to, technology-facilitated violence and abuse as part of a broader push for social justice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

What you should know about RACISM-20 in the U.S.: a fact sheet in the time of COVID-19

Drawing from social epidemiology literature on structural racism, and rooted in critical race theory and critical theory related to narrative power, this paper uses satire and humor as commentary on mainstream U.S. public health discourse related to the role of “race” (properly understood, racism) in shaping inequities observed via COVID-19. Taking the form of a “RACISM-20” fact sheet, this paper transposes structural racism and COVID-19. In doing so, it accentuates how individualist, ahistoric, and pathologizing “downstream” frames of health risks/solutions curtail productive dialogue and action to advance racial and health equity. In the spirit of “racial emancipatory humor”, this work represents a potential pedagogical tool to discuss and critique dominant frames of racial(ized) risks, “vulnerability”, and responsibility – both in the context of COVID-19 and within broader discourse of racial health inequities, including as related to racialized police violence. In this capacity, this “fact sheet” serves as an example health promotion product of critical resistance and counternarrative. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Critical Public Health is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

COVID-19, Police Violence, and Educational Disruption: The Differential Experience of Anxiety for Racial and Ethnic Households.

BACKGROUND: The threat of a deadly pandemic, racial tension, recessionary economic circumstances, and educational disruption likely contributed to the heightened anxiety felt by many Americans in 2020. This study examines the differential anxiety experienced by Black, White, and Hispanic households with and without children during 2020. METHOD: Data from the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey detailing the frequency of anxiety among a nationally representative sample of adults from April 23 to December 21, 2020, was coupled with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention records of COVID-19 diagnoses and state-level police killings. Multinomial logistic regression assessed the relative contribution of COVID-19 deaths, police violence, unemployment, fear of unemployment, change in educational delivery, and geographic location to anxiety among racial/ethnic cohorts with and without children. RESULTS: Anxiety frequency increased over the sample for all groups. However, White anxiety was highly responsive to state-level COVID-19 fatalities, while Black anxiety was highly correlated with police violence. Households with children showed higher levels of anxiety during nontraditional educational delivery, whereas both households with and without children experienced high levels of fear regarding employment uncertainty and poverty. CONCLUSIONS: Experiences in 2020 impacted all groups differently, but each showed a high frequency of anxiety.

What We "Cannot Not Know in America": 400 Years of Inequality and Seven Sins.

The 400 Years of Inequality Project was created to call organizations to observe the 400th anniversary of the first Africans landing in Jamestown in 1619. The project focused on the broad ramifications of inequality. Used as a justification of chattel slavery, structures of inequality continue to condition the lives of many groups in the US. Over 110 organizations joined this observance and held 150 events. The highlight of the year was the homily given by Reverend William Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, who described the "seven sins" that link the concept of inequality to every aspect of national life, from politics to militia. These "seven sins" help us to analyze and address crises, such as the COVID pandemic.

PARTICULATES//Tulips: (Or, Estimating Respiratory Effects of Ambient Air Pollution and COVID-19 Using a Policing-Climate Adjusted Hazard Function).

Through poetry, I offer a creative, critical analysis of the intersections of COVID-19, structural racism, and racialized police violence-situating present COVID-19 discourse within a broader historical arc of respiratory distress within communities of color, all while centering Earth Day and climate change as both metaphor and corollary. In doing so, I enact poetry as praxis, reflecting critically on the racialized contexts and consequences of overlapping threats to our health, while simultaneously crafting counternarrative to public health's ahistoric, apolitical, and racist proclivities in times of public health crises.

Violence and discrimination among Ugandan residents during the COVID-19 lockdown.

BACKGROUND: In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda inclusive, implemented lockdowns, curfew, banning of both private and public transport systems, and mass gatherings to minimize spread. Social control measures for COVID-19 are reported to increase violence and discrimination globally, including in Uganda as some may be difficult to implement resulting in the heavy deployment of law enforcement. Media reports indicated that cases of violence and discrimination had increased in Uganda's communities following the lockdown. We estimated the incidence and factors associated with experiencing violence and discrimination among Ugandans during the COVID-19 lockdown to inform control and prevention measures. METHODS: In April 2020, we conducted a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data under the International Citizen Project (ICP) to assess adherence to public health measures and their impact on the COVID-19 outbreak in Uganda. We analyzed data on violence and discrimination from the ICP study. We performed descriptive statistics for all the participants' characteristics and created a binary outcome variable called experiencing violence and/or discrimination. We performed logistic regression analysis to identify the factors associated with experiencing violence and discrimination. RESULTS: Of the 1726 ICP study participants, 1051 (58.8%) were males, 841 (48.7%) were currently living with a spouse or partner, and 376 (21.8%) had physically attended work for more than 3 days in the past week. Overall, 145 (8.4%) experienced any form of violence and/or discrimination by any perpetrator, and 46 (31.7%) of the 145 reported that it was perpetrated by a law enforcement officer. Factors associated with experiencing violence or discrimination were: being male (AOR = 1.60 CI:1.10-2.33), having attended work physically for more than 3 days in the past week (AOR = 1.52 CI:1.03-2.23), and inability to access social or essential health services since the epidemic started (AOR = 3.10 CI:2.14-4.50). CONCLUSION: A substantial proportion of Ugandan residents experienced violence and/or discrimination during the COVID-19 lockdown, mostly perpetrated by law enforcement officers. We recommend mitigation of the collateral impact of lockdowns with interventions that focus on improving policing quality, ensuring continuity of essential services, and strengthening support systems for vulnerable groups including males.