Asked to list activities enjoyed by Southeast DC youth, horseback riding and crewing on the river might not top most people’s lists. But these activities and more, along with tutoring, are offered through Serve Your City DC. Miranda Mlilo, Tutoring & Extracurricular Education Lead for Serve Your City/Ward 6 Mutual Aid, joins the next “Community thru Covid” to discuss successes and challenges of this work during the pandemic.
Segment begins at the 21-minute mark —
Serve Your City DC provides life-changing experiences and opportunities for at-risk DC students, giving Black and Brown children access to rowing, swimming, yoga, tennis, tutoring, and inspiring experiences often not readily available to children from under-resourced families.
Building on more than a decade of work with students and families in DC, SYC began serving as the hub for Ward 6 Mutual Aid. DC’s Mutual Aid Network launched in March 2020 as Covid-19 was becoming a pandemic. The Ward 6 hub is a partnership of dozens organizations—many of them hyper-local, Black- or Brown-led groups—sharing resources and saving lives.
Miranda Mlilo is the creator and coordinator of the Tutoring and Youth Enrichment Program at SYC. She works to end the opportunity gap by providing academic tutoring and creative after school activities for students in historically underserved communities. As a child of immigrant parents from Palestine and Zimbabwe, Miranda is passionate about advancing equity and works in the community to organize around indigenous sovereignty, and racial and environmental justice.
DCPS and Covid Testing
Also on today’s show: This survey about asymptomatic testing in DCPS schools — not affiliated with DCPS but organized by a community member — asks staff and those with students in DCPS schools to share some basics about how the 10% randomized testing is working in practice. Here is the direct link to the short, anonymous survey; or find it via @DCPSCovidCases on Twitter.
If DCPS responds to our query about delays in notifying school communities of positive cases, that response will be added.
Related data at DC’s Coronavirus page
April 9 article about Covid infection and testing in DC schools — DCPS, charter, and private — from Perry Stein in Washington Post NOTE: Covid-related stories are offered free of charge.
The “race against variants”
Dr. Reed Tuckson, of Black Coalition Against Covd, on J&J vaccine and the “desperate race” between variants, some of which are more contagious and more potent, and vaccines.
Also recapped on today’s show, information from Dr. Daniel Fagbuyi, from last week’s show.
Dr. Dan and Dr. Tuckson at the 11-minute mark —
Pandemics and Economics in History, Episode #10: The Disease Persists. Full text and related links
“Community thru Covid” airs weekly on Wednesdays at 11 a.m. ET. Tune in to We Act Radio (audio only) or Facebook Live and YouTube Live, or check back for recordings.
Community Thru CRT: 