‘Essential and undervalued: health disparities of African American women in the COVID-19 era’

This manuscript asserts that decades of racism and discrimination have isolated communities of color and made them particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus. As many African American women deal with unemployment or continue to work as 'essential workers', the intersectionality framework sheds light on the continued legacies of racism and sexism. It asserts that targeted policy interventions are needed to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 and lessen the devastating impact(s) it has had on African American communities.