Young Rural Black Women’s Struggle in the Covid-19 Era

Earlier this year, we spoke to a 17-year-old from rural Bolivar county, Mississippi who had been planning to head to college this fall, the first in her family to attend. She had to put aside her plans when the Covid-19 pandemic struck. Instead she found herself caring for her ailing grandmother and setting up a K-5 classroom at her dining room table in the family’s trailer to teach her younger siblings. She had to quit her job at Dollar General, where she was earning money for college, to protect her family’s safety.