Project

The COVID-19 Writers Project (C19WP)

The COVID-19 Writers Project (C19WP) captures a hyperlocal viewpoint of the coronavirus Pandemic from inside the virus’s hotspot—New York City—while examining the extent to which health outcomes are impacted by socio-economics, education, and race.

Inspired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Federal Writers Project (FWP) of the 1930s that produced audio and written recordings of formerly enslaved Americans, similarly, C19WP presents first-person multimedia narratives that reflect our current condition.

Through video, essays, and photography, the multimedia project builds a historical record—a cross-section of experiences, from the emergency medical physician whose wife delivered their first baby during the pandemic, to a formerly incarcerated man trying to survive in the pandemic while homeless and washing windows, to the landlord whose tenants have mounted a rent strike—ultimately answering: What is the crisis telling us about who we are as a society today?

Photo Essay: RESPONSE

Mateo Ruiz González photographed what the response to the coronavirus pandemic looked like on the streets of Brooklyn.

Photo Essay: RECOVERY

What does recovery and reopening look like across Brooklyn during the pandemic? Mateo Ruiz González captured images of Brooklyn's streets in this COVID-19 Writers Project photo essay.

Video Narrative: RESPONSE II

The coronavirus pandemic was accelerating. More tests were needed. More personal protective equipment was needed. Food supplies were depleting. Prices for essential products skyrocketed. Hysteria was setting in.

The Road to Recovery

The pandemic underscored long-standing inequalities in American society. It also created scores of new social activists in Generation Z ready to become the leaders of tomorrow.