It's Your Week. Connecting with subscribers, mourning as a community
Hi everyone! It's Sallee Ann and welcome to Your Week, our newsletter exclusive to Paste BN subscribers.
I'm back from vacation (thank you Nicole for hosting last week!) and I have some exciting news I just can't wait a moment longer to share: We can now text one another!
I am hosting a texting experience just for subscribers. By joining, you will be able to discuss the news of the day, ask questions and join in Q&As with reporters and editors.
Think of it as a mini Your Week scoop every day.
Earlier this week, I featured our broken adoptions investigation over text and shared some thoughts from one of the lead reporters, Marisa Kwiatowski. We also talked about our favorite sports teams, even if they made the worst fans list.
I love being able to connect my talented colleagues with you, our most loyal readers, so I really hope you sign up for this free subscriber perk.
Enough of my elevator pitch – let's get to this edition of Your Week, y'all.
Stories made possible by your Paste BN subscription:
- ‘A terrible price’: As the U.S. mourns 1 million COVID-19 deaths, preventable losses among the unvaccinated are a major regret
- Jane Roe's conflicted existence: Sex, religion and the daughter she left behind
- Lake Tahoe's popularity may be its downfall, but scientists think tons of junk could save it
- The average gas price is above $4 in every state. How long will the cost of a gallon continue to rise?
- 'I have been made fun of by people young and old': Plus-size travelers face additional scrutiny at the beach
- What is 'gray rocking'? How to set boundaries with the narcissist in your life
Collective grief after Buffalo shooting
On May 14, a white 18-year-old gunman in military gear opened fire at a Buffalo supermarket in a Black neighborhood. Ten people died, and the racist attack reverberates across broader communities.
Reporters Tiffany Cusaac-Smith and Chris Kenning talked to experts about how hate crimes have a cumulative impact. Hate crimes shatter trust and can fuel collective anxiety, stress, depression, hopelessness and post-traumatic stress, experts said.
"By telling this story in the aftermath of the Buffalo massacre, I believe that we were able to illustrate what experts describe as collective grief that can travel across geographic bounds in groups that have been oppressed, reawakening hurt and fears opened by historical traumas," Cusaac-Smith said.
"While reporting this story, one of our experts said what makes hate crimes particularly insidious is that they are not just crimes against the victims but a violation of the community. That stuck with me."
Mental Health America, a Virginia-based advocacy, research and education group, said studies show race-based traumatic stress can result from experiences with hate crimes and racism and can lead to symptoms such as depression, physical pain, insomnia and hypervigilance.
"In talking with psychologists and other experts about the larger fallout of high-profile hate crimes targeting Black Americans, I was struck by how widely the toll on mental and physical health can extend beyond those directly involved in such incidents," Kenning said.
Da'Mere Wilson, a researcher at the University of Arizona, said coping strategies, such as group prayer or activism, can help deal with racial violence in communities. She said addressing underlying structural concerns should be part of that healing.
"It is very hard to heal a wound that is continuously reopened."
More on Buffalo:
- Why you won't see a picture of the Buffalo suspect on our front page. This is how we cover mass shootings.
- A security guard, a deacon, an 86-year-old shopper: These are the victims of the Buffalo shooting
- Opinion: How can we stop hate crimes? Schools must teach our nation's racist past.
Thank you
Thank you for being part of our community of subscribers. Whether we're soon-to-be texting buddies or not, know the whole newsroom appreciates your support in helping us do journalism that matters.
See you next week!