Interview 006 with BranDi

Listen to native New Yorker BranDi Mingo who identifies as Black American and Caribbean American share her experience living in Atlanta, Georgia during the Covid-19 pandemic. She talks about sheltering-at-home with her teenaged son and her mom. Her mom is Black American and her dad is Caribbean American. Her paternal grandparents are from Antigua and St. Marten. Her paternal great-grandparents are from The Dominican Republic. She talks about working in the airlines industry during the pandemic, taking a pay cut for 11 months, and taking a 4-month voluntary leave. She talks about getting Covid-19 and the effects of Long-Covid on her. BranDi speaks on the social unrest that arose from the opposing messages from the Democrat Atlanta mayor issuing a mask-mandate and the Republican Georgia governor opposing a mask-mandate. She recounts how an airline passenger assaulted a flight attendant in conflict over the mask-mandate. She remembers a news story about a man who shot a cashier who asked him to wear a mask in the store. She remembers two Black Americans who sadly passed away and how quickly Covid-19 took their lives. She recounts how the loss of jobs and a rise in crime in Atlanta in 2021 adversely affected her when she was carjacked at gunpoint by five teenagers one night after work. She tells how she was traumatized by the incident when the teenager put a gun to her head and stole her workbag with her wallet and passport and cell phone and brand new vehicle. Take a listen to this Black American of Caribbean and African American lineage share her experience living and working in Atlanta, Georgia during the Covid-19 pandemic.