Laymon juxtaposes the mounting death toll with the refusal of leaders, like Donald Trump and Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, to mandate masks or acknowledge policy errors.
While the Mississippi legislature finally agreed to remove the Confederate emblem from the state flag during this period, Laymon weighs this symbolic victory against the ongoing physical and economic toll on Black communities. 125039
He reflects on the danger posed to his ninety-year-old grandmother, a Black woman from Mississippi with a compromised immune system, whose caregiver had contracted the virus. Laymon juxtaposes the mounting death toll with the