Our community served as the forefront of the line to take care of each other by showing up. The student researcher team researched about how life in their community has changed with the increase of COVID-19 cases and lockdown. View their photographs and SHOWeD method down below!
This photograph is important to me because it is in the Teen Lounge of a public library that I went to often in high school. In those years, the area was always busy with teenagers from the local high schools studying together, using the computers to do homework, and to check out books and movies for both personal entertainment and for classes. I am struck by how this place that allows young adults to make the best of their education and for personal social development is now completely empty. While the sign says Teen Lounge, the area is taped off in six feet apart distances, and only one computer out of three can be in use.
– Chloe Low
Community building through religion & visiting the temple is a significant and meaningful activity for many members of the South Asian diaspora. This photo specifically features a Sikh temple, called a Gurdwara, and showcases the inside of the main prayer hall, called the Divan hall. A prayer hall such as this typically features
a multitude of activity, from live prayers being spoken in the “manji sahib” in the center (the area with pink cloth), to live music in the right corner next to the “manji sahib,” to crowds of men, women, and children squished together on either side of the room, with the grandparents typically getting the spots against the wall or on chairs at the back of the room. This photo, instead of the norm, features a completely empty prayer hall and social distancing circles, which is quite foreign for a spot such as this that typically hosts a large amount of activity.
– Rhea Jandu
Community building through religion & visiting the temple is a significant and meaningful activity for many members of the South Asian diaspora. This photo specifically features a Sikh temple, called a Gurdwara. One of the primary tenets of Sikhism is Service, and this is often displayed in a Gurdwara through “langar,” which is an offering of free food to all who visit the temple. The empty hallway shown here typically features many shoes outside the doors to the prayer hall, as people have to go into the prayer hall without any shoes as a sign of respect, as well as people sitting outside eating langar. This photo shows the effects of COVID-19 on the temple community, as shown through this empty and desolate hallway.
– Rhea Jandu
The photograph is important to me because in this photograph I am actively contributing to the fight against COVID-19. I read on the news that hospitals might be facing a shortage of PPE. This is dangerous because frontline workers are our first line of defense against COVID-19. If they are infected and get seriously ill, there will be even fewer professionals to save lives. Realizing the situation, I decided to make face masks and donate them to the Kaiser Permanente Laboratory in Anaheim and Harbor-UCLA Laboratory in Los Angeles so that frontline workers can be protected during their fight with the virus.
– Emma Hong Nguyen
This photograph is important to me because I am currently living under these conditions residing in university student housing. This is both a physical and symbolic representation of the barriers placed on community and relationship building on not only AAPI students, but the rest of the student population. Residents are prohibited from using the one space in their dorms (the common room/ living room) that was designed to host gatherings. Although residents and students are living in the same space, share the same restrooms, kitchens, and laundry facilities, they are prohibited from using the one space that they may need the most to during this time. Another important point to note is that this is in the freshman/ undergraduate residence halls. Many of the residents living in these halls are first-year students looking to find community and the first-year experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. They knew things would look different, but they didn’t truly know what they were signing up for. From the looks of this photo, it appears that student housing took little to no care for the well-being of the students who pay over $16,000 for this space. A space that could be more efficiently used with face-coverings and minimum 6ft physical distancing if the furniture was removed or put to one side. Instead, we see all the furniture, without a single desk or chair for residents to use, wrapped up in the middle of the space. Interestingly enough, this space allowed up to 4 people maximum with face-coverings and 6ft physical distance up until Orange County dropped to the purple tier for COVID-19. After Orange County was announced to be in the most restrictive purple tier, max occupancy dropped to 1 person in this space for the rest of the quarter. You are able to see the rush and lack of preparation this pandemic had at the university level.
– Grace Choe
This photograph is important to me because I saw the impacts the 2020 elections were having on small business owners. In fear of what happened with the looting and riots in Los Angeles a few months back, these shop owners were preparing themselves after hearing rumors of riots and looting in light of Election Day. Business owners were boarding up all glass windows, doors, atm machines, restaurants, retail stores, etc in fear of what would happen if riots were to break out in LA, again. My parents would tell me stories of the 1992 LA Riots that they experienced when they were working at their part-time jobs in LA. They told me how traumatic it was for them and the similarities they saw compared to the 2020 LA riots back in June.
– Grace Choe
At first glance, this photo presents somewhat of a vast, scenic view with palm trees and mountains in the distance. However, taking a closer look, it is evident that at the center of the image reveals what assumes to be a very clustered and unorganized garden. I think the photo mirror a very powerful message in relation to how our community functions. Within every community, we try to display the most presentable portrayal of ourselves to the public, which can lead to neglect of the flaws inside the community. What is presented on the outside is not always completely the real picture. Problems within our community is not always easy to find, you have to dig deeper. Similar to a garden, it takes a community to work together to grow healthy and organic produces. Especially during the time of a pandemic and voting year, a lot of us learned of deeper, rooted systemic flaws and social issues in our very backyard. During quarantine, my eyes opened to the fact that there are more issues that we aren’t even aware of due to lack of conversation, which is why it’s important to keep talking to progress needed change.
– Britney Huynh
This photo is of the empty benches in the area where Langar was served to members of the community. It speaks to the absence of community building and outreach work at the Sikh Center. This shows us how some spaces are not able to provide resources such as free food anymore due to COVID-19. Unlike some restaurants that are still operating as a place for people to gather, this photo offers us the perspective of how food directly relates to culture and religion in the AAPI community, and how these connections are no longer able to function.
– Micherlange Hemsley
This photo is of light streaming into the empty kitchen where langar is typically served to members in the community. As touched on in the previous photo, the Sikh Center of OC found other ways to serve the community by hosting food drives. Although I was not aware of the food drives this center did in the summer to ask if they were still doing them, the value in Sikhism of “sewa,” selfless service, was evident in my visit. Members who worked at the temple greeted and conversed with my friend and I as we photographed the space, served us tea and prasad (a sweet traditional dish served at Sikh temples after worship). As a person who is not Sikh, my experience interacting and learning more about the religion helped me understand who the values of Sikhism relate to the community’s response to COVID-19. This shows us how some spaces are not able to provide resources such as free food anymore due to COVID-19.
– Micherlange Hemsley
This photo is a sign posted outside the entrance of the temple that lists several COVID-19 rules and guidelines. One of importance to note is the dots that were placed inside the temple to ensure social distancing. Coming from the Christian faith, it was interesting to see how much the Sikh community values keeping their members safe, whereas a lot of Christian churches are open without requiring face masks or social distancing. Not being able to have as many people in the temple as once definitely alters the typical experience at the gurdwara.
– Micherlange Hemsley
This photo was taken inside the temple where Sikhs gather to worship. The photo is taken from a low angle to emphasize the social distancing dots on the floor. The microphone and instruments that can also be seen
in the photo are not being used anymore because the temple switched from live music to pre-recorded. Many Christian churches, which is the religion I’m from, are not requiring face masks nor social distancing to gather. Therefore, this photograph is offering us the unique perspective of the measures that only some religious groups are taking to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
– Micherlange Hemsley
This photo was taken outside the doors of the main building at the Sikh Center of Orange County (SCOC) The doors have some type of lock around them, and there is an empty chair to the right of the photo. The sign above the door informs us that this is the office for the SCOC which probably provides additional resources
to the community. By the locks on the door and no one at the chair to speak with visitors, we can infer that some connections and community engagement are not able to happen due to COVID-19.
– Micherlange Hemsley
This photo is of a COVID-19 guidelines and safety rules sign at the park. The sign was caution tape right below it which was wrapped around a park bench gazebo. The sign in the forefront of the picture is in Spanish, and the one in the background is in English. Also captured in the background is an empty
playground. This photo makes us think about all the time most children spend at parks when they’re young, and how the pandemic is shaping and changing these childhood experiences.
– Micherlange Hemsley
This photo is of the park bench gazebo that has caution tape around it. By nature of seating at a park being closed off, this photo reveals to us how even just seating down to eat, talk, or play games at a park is not allowed. We then can begin to think about the mental and physical toll of the Santa Ana community members to not even have spaces like a park fully accessible during COVID-19.
– Micherlange Hemsley
This photo is of two signs, (one in Spanish and one in English), that are posted near a parking lot at Adams park. The sign lists several restrictions and ways to stay safe at the park. Typically, a park is viewed as a public space where people can do as they want without being disruptive to others. On the contrary, this sign shows us that in almost every space we are in, there are rules we must abide by in order to stay safe and keep those around us safe.
– Micherlange Hemsley