Healing/Mourning

The chapter of healing and mourning seeks to stress the importance of grieving through documenting and interviewing individuals who expressed their emotions felt during the pandemic of Covid-19. The ability to mourn allows one to take a step closer to their subjectivity, which is a prerequisite to healing. Mourning can look like therapeutic sessions, completing small tasks throughout the day, or even exercising–things that help to maintain mental well-being. The chapter finds that the issue of healing and mourning is one that is unique to the residents of Newark. Being that violence plagues the community, death has become the norm. The death toll has not only been exacerbated but is the highest in the state with 8,135 cases and 652 deaths. Discussing the effects of Covid allows the community to sit back and dissect its feelings of loss rather than the constant disregard of emotions. Loss is especially key because it plays a vital role in the trajectory of the pandemic.