In the first session, Denise Milstein provides some information on her life history, her family's history in Uruguay, and her academic background. She shares her memories of first hearing about the pandemic, preparing with supplies, news from family in Uruguay, and concerns about anti-Asian sentiment in New York. She discusses life in New York and the flight of many peers from New York City. She ex presses concern that New York might become more dangerous as a result of the pandemic. She discusses sources of news about the pandemic and conditions in Harlem. She describes interviewing for the New York City COVID-19 Narrative and Memory oral history project.
In the second session, Milstein talks about developments as the pandemic has progressed. She discusses traveling out of the city, socializing and playing music on Zoom, and family conversations about managing social distancing. She speaks about the murder of George Floyd and the protests in Harlem. She discusses her son's remote education at Hunter College High School and conversations about the Black Lives Matter movement. Milstein describes routines and work-life balance at this juncture in the pandemic. She discusses attending protests and health precautions for going into these crowds. She analyzes how she has reckoned with her whiteness, and describes gentrification in Harlem.
In the third session, Milstein describes coming to terms with allowing herself to have a non-rational risk assessment to do the things that bring her joy. She has worked with a group of artists in an online residency for two years, which culminated with a trip to Venice where the group's work was exhibited. Milstein speaks about how her relationship with her son has developed over the past two years, and how it grew stronger and more egalitarian because of COVID. Milstein volunteered with the Armory at Columbia and describes her experiences helping less-privileged communities with vaccination procedures. Milstein analyzes how the pandemic diminished her trust in the competence of institutions, especially local government
College teachers; COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-; COVID-19 (Disease)--Social Aspects; Epidemics--Social Aspects; Social distancing (Public health) and recreation; Social distancing (Public health) and education; COVID-19 vaccines; Black lives matter movement; United States Race relations 21st century; United States Politics and government 21st century; Harlem (New York, N.Y.); Uruguay; Milstein, Denise, 1974-
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2022
Physical Description
117 pages
Note (Biographical)
Latin American scholar Denise Milstein received her PhD in sociology from Columbia University, where she teaches sociology and is the director of the MA program in sociology. Milstein lives in Harlem and was a co-investigator on the New York City COVI D-19 Narrative and Memory oral history project
Note
Interviewed by Amy Starecheski on April 9 and July 29, 2020 and July 11, 2022
Note (Provenance)
Denise Milstein, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023