The Campaign

I’M STILL HERE, LOVE is an in-depth look at how social media platforms, savvy politicians, unqualified medical professionals, and religious leaders inundated desperate people with farcical information in order to make a profit off desperate, scared people who questioned the reality of COVID-19 and the validity of the vaccine, claiming they were exercising their First Amendment right to “Free Speech.”

Because of this country’s historic, systemic, racial health disparities and the unregulated disinformation that spreads instantaneously on social media, tens of thousands of people refused, continue to refuse, or remain hesitant because of disinformation, particularly in communities of color.

Many people refuse to sympathize with those left behind because of the controversial nature surrounding the deceased’s decision not to vaccinate. Now, people who lost loved ones to the virus are suffering from disenfranchised grief, refusing to tell others how their loved one died for fear of being judged.

Already vital community spaces, barbershops and salons are also becoming sources of trusted health information and services. Barbers and stylists are stepping up via the Health Advocates In Reach and Research (HAIR) Network. In the HAIR Network, barbers and stylists are trained as certified Wellness Warriors. They don’t give the shots themselves – they open the door. Their shops become Health and Wealth Hubs where nurses and other clinicians can provide screenings and, in some cases, vaccines in a place people already trust.