Black Patient’s Guide

Black people disproportionately live in “food deserts” where healthy produce and meat are hard to come by. And during the pandemic, getting access to safe high-quality food is even harder though it’s one of the best ways to stay healthy. After a Color Of Change member in Los Angeles launched a campaign on OrganizeFor, Capri Retail Services agreed to reopen its Crenshaw Farmers Market, serving a Black neighborhood without many other good options.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s more important than ever that tech companies and content producers hold themselves to high standards around the accuracy of the information they’re spreading. Companies initially let rumors proliferate about the virus, from the idea that Black people can’t catch COVID-19 to the lie that drinking bleach will cure you. These were endangering Black people's lives, so Color Of Change members took a stand and successfully pressed booksellers Amazon and Barnes and Noble to take down misleading materials from their sites and vet all COVID-19 information going forward.

Color of Change persuaded leaders at Twitter to adopt new policies to ensure the accuracy of COVID-19 information on the site after Blue-check users were posting dangerous (and scientifically debunked rumors) that Black people were immune to the virus or would recover quickly if they caught it. This misinformation was getting thousands of retweets. As COC Campaign Director Brandi Collins-Dexter is quoted saying, ”tech companies must assume responsibility for the content presented on their platforms. Not only does our democracy depend on it, but now our safety does too.” After we called them out, Twitter pulled the tweets and agreed to review the accounts of those spreading these lies in order to better protect people of color.

After serious pressure by Color Of Change, the LA Times agreed to drop the paywall around COVID-19 coverage. Public health messages, especially tied to the dangerous pandemic we’re all living under, ought to be available to everyone, not just those able to pay for a subscription. 
The LA Times first wanted to keep coronavirus articles behind a paywall, but when we organized a number of groups to speak up, they relented. This helps reinforce an industry standard that media companies need to put public health information above corporate profits, especially now – and do everything in their power to make sure people understand how to stay safe, where to get tested, and what to do if they get sick.

During this pandemic, it’s so important to stay in touch with loved ones, especially for people in prison where the risk of outbreaks are among the highest in the world. Price-gouging by telecommunication companies who service prisons and jails is a serious problem; the industry scrapes $1.2 billion from poor people and communities of color every year. That’s why Color Of Change launched a campaign to take the burden off and make sure people in federal prisons can call home for free. After 18,000 members spoke up and signed our petition, federal prison officials relented. Now we’re asking leaders at state prisons, county jails, and detention centers across the country to follow suit.