2021 Contemporary Issues

Maricopa County constable Darlene Martinez escorts a family out of their apartment after serving an eviction order for non-payment on September 30, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona. The mother said she had been unemployed and unable to pay rent since the beginning of the pandemic while staying home to supervise her children's remote learning. In Maricopa County, Arizona constables enforced thousands of court-ordered evictions removing pandemic-affected families from their homes, despite a U.S. despite a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) moratorium meant to protect renters. Many parents, swept up in the economic chaos of unemployment while supervising remote learning for their children, were simply unaware of the legal steps necessary remain in their homes. With millions of Americans months behind in rent payments, a nationwide eviction crisis looms once government protections expire.

Valley Stream, NY – June 25, 2020: Sally Lutchman and her husband Kris Knight share a dance to one of their favorite songs "Faithfully" by Journey on his first day back home after being apart for 95 days. COVID-19 has ravaged Sally Lutchman’s family. Both her mother and husband were hospitalized. Her husband was intubated for 27 days in Long Island Jewish Medical Center. Sally though testing positive herself has had to shoulder taking care of her family, including her two children 10 and 7, on her own throughout the entire pandemic.

The workers of the San Carlos de Celanova residence celebrate the birthday of Elena Pérez, 98, two weeks after having overcome the coronavirus. Nine residents died at this residence and more than forty tested positive for COVID-19. Older people have been the most vulnerable group to the coronavirus pandemic that has shaken the entire planet.

Olinda Tafur, 20, lies on an examination table as she waits to be seen by obstetrician Dr. Osvaldo Sierra, inside a red tent set up in the emergency area of the National Perinatal and Maternal Institute to receive women in labor who are infected with COVID-19 , in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, July 29, 2020. Just before giving birth to her first child, Tafur learned that she had tested positive for the new coronavirus upon arriving with labor pains to the emergency area of the Institute. The National Perinatal and Maternal Institute, better known as the Maternity Hospital, has dedicated about half its facilities to care for pregnant women infected with the coronavirus. Between April and the start of August, more than 2,000 infected patients gave birth here, with more than 100 newborns testing positive.

Protesters chant "Open Ohio Now!" in defiance of social distancing guidelines outside the doors to the Statehouse Atrium as news reporters listen during the State of Ohio's Coronavirus response update on April 13, 2020 at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. About 100 protesters assembled outside the building during Gov. Mike DeWine's daily update on the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic to rally against his administration's stay-at-home order and closure of non-essential businesses and schools.

Queens, NY – April 9, 2020 A woman in medical scrubs just before she wipes down her seat on the A train in Far Rockaway, a neighborhood that according to City Health data has been hit particularly bad by the COVID-19 crises gripping New York City.