Now, Former U.S. President Barack Obama is using his influence to make sure that the specific challenges Black communities are facing and will continue to face, is not ignored. The former POTUS, who warned of the need to prepare for an oncoming pandemic back in 2014, tweeted on Monday (April 13) that “we can't deny that racial and socioeconomic factors are playing a role in who is being hit the hardest by the virus.” He added, “It's a reminder for our policymakers to keep our most vulnerable communities at the forefront when making decisions.”

Barack Obama also shared a link to an article from The Atlantic, which outlines, with numbers, how much more likely Black people are susceptible to catching COVID-19. In the article, the author Ibram X. Kendi (director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University), compiles data from major cities in Michigan, Illinois, North Carolina and Wisconsin, among others that shows the disproportionate rates African Americans both contract the disease and die from it.

Specifically regarding Michigan, the article points out that “Black Americans comprise 14.1 percent of the state population, but an ungodly 40 percent of coronavirus deaths. In Washtenaw County, home to Ann Arbor, 48 percent of residents hospitalized with the coronavirus are black, though black people make up only 11 percent of the county.”