Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and International Students: Experiences and Resolutions Beyond COVID-19

The Black Lives Matter Movement has awakened many to racism and anti-Blackness during the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID data tracker reveals that Black people nationwide are dying from COVID-19 at twice the rate of White people.1 The data also disclose that Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color (BIPOC) are disproportionately affected by COVID-19.2 Racial disparities are also seen in academia. In June 2020, Shardé Davis and Joy Melody started #BlackInTheIvory on Twitter to talk about their journeys as a Black female professor and doctoral student, respectively.As BIPOC public health doctoral students at a US Deep South university, these kinds of discussions have motivated us to share our own stories and contemplate solutions to help spur change. As students of color from the same cohort at a predominately White institution, we are facing a few realities that impede both our identities and our lived experiences, and we seek resolve in this time of uncertainty. We have provided four personal accounts of our diverse public health doctoral student experiences and recommendations to address some of our challenges.