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Month: March 2024

Texas Observer: Long COVID Sufferers Demand to Be HeardAn outdoor photograph of a person wearing a purple mask, with brown hair past their shoulders. They are wearing a white dress with black polka dots, and supporting themselves with a cane. Tattoos are visible on their arms.
Jordan Vonderhaar/Texas Observer
March 25, 2024
Kit
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Texas Observer: Long COVID Sufferers Demand to Be Heard

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and The Texas Observer

Most people survive the Coronavirus with their kidneys intact. But not 34-year-old Austin resident Vanessa Ramos. 

An experienced community organizer with nonprofits like the Sierra Club, Ramos was healthy and active before she got infected. Then she caught the COVID-19 virus in December 2021, and symptoms lingered through the new year despite her efforts to focus on healing and recovery. 

“I was trying to prioritize my physical health because I couldn’t lift things; I couldn’t open things,” Ramos recalled. “I didn’t understand why I was getting weaker.”

Read moreTexas Observer: Long COVID Sufferers Demand to Be Heard
Review: The Queen vs. Texas (at SXSW)Drag queen Hermajestie the Hung holds a microphone under bright stage lights, in dramatic drag makeup and a red fishnet outfit.
Courtesy of Emil Lozada
March 14, 2024
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Review: The Queen vs. Texas (at SXSW)

Posted in Austin, Journalism, LGBTQIA, SXSW, and The Texas Observer

When the drag queen known as Hermajestie the Hung  reached her breaking point, she transformed into the Joker, becoming the  scourge of patriarchy, homophobic lawmakers, and anti-transgender  bigots everywhere.

“She’s that queen that’s just had enough,” Hermajestie told the Texas Observer.

Read moreReview: The Queen vs. Texas (at SXSW)
Deceleration: ‘Viva Viva Tortuguita!’ Atlanta Mayor Chased Out of SXSW ConferenceProtesters lock arms at the front of a conference roon, holding a banner reading Andre Dickens GOP Stooge. Stop Cop City
Kit O'Connell
March 12, 2024
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Deceleration: ‘Viva Viva Tortuguita!’ Atlanta Mayor Chased Out of SXSW Conference

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and SXSW

On Monday, a group of protesters at a conference in Texas challenged  the mayor of Atlanta over the city’s ongoing plans to build a massive  training center for police and other law enforcement agencies,  eventually forcing Andre Dickens to leave the event entirely.

The direct action took place at South by Southwest (SXSW),  an annual conference, film, and music festival in Austin, Texas, at a  ballroom of the downtown Hilton hotel (one of several sites where the  conference occurs). The panel discussion was intended to be about conflict between city and state governments. Instead the audience received a very different lesson in civic engagement, as the Austin chapter of the Weelaunee Defense Society, an activist group devoted to the national “Stop Cop City” movement, would soon dramatically change the agenda.

Read moreDeceleration: ‘Viva Viva Tortuguita!’ Atlanta Mayor Chased Out of SXSW Conference
In Print: Long COVID feature out now in Texas Observer!An outdoor photograph of a person wearing a purple mask, with brown hair past their shoulders. They are wearing a white dress with black polka dots, and supporting themselves with a cane. Tattoos are visible on their arms. Text: Clearing the Air. Long COVID sufferers advocate for a healthier world.
Photo by Jordan Vonderhaar
March 8, 2024
Kit
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In Print: Long COVID feature out now in Texas Observer!

Posted in Journalism, and The Texas Observer

Millions of Texans are suffering from long COVID and you might be surprised to learn that many of them are young and formerly healthy. Studies show that the more often you get infected, the more likely you are to have lingering, potentially life-changing health effects.

Look for it in print in the Texas Observer magazine now, and online later this month.

Read moreIn Print: Long COVID feature out now in Texas Observer!