The coronavirus pandemic is brutalizing minority communities. Black Americans are dying of the virus at much higher rates than white people, further exposing our society’s brutal inequities. For WNBA guard and social justice advocate Layshia Clarendon, the alarming reality is a call to action.
Clarendon is part of the Masks for the People campaign, which seeks to secure protective masks, sanitizers and testing kits to underserved communities. The project is in partnership with the LIVE FREE campaign and Black Church Action Fund. Together, the organizations form a 40-year partnership and network of congregations addressing the issues of systemic racism and exclusion.
Several sports figures and celebrities, including Steve Kerr and W. Kamau Bell, are promoting Masks for the People as well. Clarendon says the involvement of Pastor Michael McBride, the director of LIVE FREE, is especially important to her. “It’s really cool to see the work Pastor Mike does and those who truly follow the message of Jesus: caring for the least, caring for the most marginalized,” she said to Outsports. “For me, it’s so close to the core of the person I want to be and I try to follow the most in my life. So it was like, why not get involved? This is a great cause and absolutely something we should be doing.”
