Coronavirus Stories - Reaching Out From Isolation

Edited BY G P Kennedy This week we give our opening page to our sister, Peace. She is suffering the loss of a dear friend at a time when her home town and country are struggling with the global pandemic. Let us all reach out our arms to support Peace at a very difficult time. We are with you, Ogechi. Dear friend, Ibidun, with her family Peace – Lagos, Nigeria    It has been a busy week; working on the phone, Google hangouts, Zoom meetings, I’m tired of Zoom and Zoom conferences. Data costs are ridiculous.    The Black Lives Matter (BLM) campaign escalated around the world as protesters continued to make a point of asking Governments to realize that all humans are equal.    People defied the social distancing laws. “So, is COVID-19 real?” someone asked me. Many people who have a conspiracy theory that the coronavirus is a Biological virus that was released to reset the world order.    Remember we have all been locked down in our homes for over two ...

Edited BY G P Kennedy  Day 4 sees us travel west from Karachi, Pakistan to Istanbul, Turkey where we meet up with Gul. She is a former journalist and arts professional recently returned to her home city after a prolonged period living in England.   In two very different song choices Gul finds meaning in lockdown through prescient lyrics and lessons from history. Concierto de Aranjuez – Joaquin Rodrigo The concerto of last wish  It was 6 th of May 1972, a political activist and student leader Deniz Gezmiş was executed along with his friends Hüseyin İnan and Yusuf Aslan. He was only 25 years old, he was our Che Guevara who has done nothing apart from shouting against the 1970’s military junta in Turkey.                                                                             ...

Edited by G P Kennedy  Every day this week we will hear from one or two of our Storytellers as they share their two favorite lockdown listens.  We asked them to choose two songs that really stand out for them during our time in isolation. The songs may be new favorites old classics; they may speak to lockdown feelings or act as a beautiful distraction.  We had to start in New York City, with our resident professional musician and all-knowing man of music, Daniel.   Daniel's Songs Joni Mitchell - "Harry's House/Centerpiece"  Joni Mitchell’s records are never far from my turntable for very long in normal times, but for whatever reason I hadn’t been listening to her since the start of the lockdown. But then the other night, while I was making dinner, I decided to put on The Hissing of Summer Lawns. It’s a record I’ve come to know very well, but that certa inly wasn’t al ways the case. Joni was someone I came to many years after the fact and, even then, I got to kno...