These Black and Blue Red Zone Days

These Black and Blue Red Zone DaysIn the compelling stories, letters, and poems which comprise These Black and Blue Red Zone Days, author and artist Aberjhani presents readers with portraits of what has it has meant to confront, and survive, different facets of the great pandemic of the 21st Century. Through observations which combine the intimacy of journal writing with the objectivity of journalism and scholarly documentation, the celebrated creative explores how and why COVID 19

In the compelling stories, letters, and poems which comprise These Black and Blue Red Zone Days, author and artist Aberjhani presents readers with portraits of what has it has meant to confront, and survive, different facets of the great pandemic of the 21st Century. Through observations which combine the intimacy of journal-writing with the objectivity of journalism and scholarly documentation, the celebrated creative explores how and why COVID-19 and its different variants have represented only one plague which America and the world are still battling. A pandemic of social, racial, and political imbalances and injusticesÐÐdespite many wishing it otherwiseÐÐhas proven just as deadly and costly.

As a self-styled ÒSeeker of Beauty with Beauty,Ó (borrowing from a quote by W.E.B. Du Bois), the author brings to life mesmerizing moments of recognition revealing the startling depths and vulnerabilities of our shared humanity. Readers experience as well instances of unexpected grace, such as when encountering two physically challenged people attempting to return home after venturing out on foot, and in a wheelchair, to find food during lockdown in Savannah, Georgia. There are acknowledgements of absurdities like simultaneously risking oneÕs life to appear in court to argue the urgency, or non-urgency, of painting a back-yard shed. Letters to Homeless Friends of the Library, to his own 14-year-old self, and diverse public ÒessentialÓ servants capture the sorrow of heartbreaking choices and the unexpected beauty of astonishing compassion.
If the peeled-back layers of the pandemic have magnified societal flaws and weaknesses, it is possible the pages of These Black and Blue Red Zone Days reveal clues to reserves of hope and hidden potentials yet to be discovered. Or claimed.