Aerika Loyd: COVID-19 and Heightened Racial Disparities

In this episode, psychology professor Aerika Loyd talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about how the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected minority communities in the United States and laid bare the deep roots of systemic racism in America ranging from healthcare inequity to lack of access in education.

About Aerika Loyd:

Dr. Aerika Brittian Loyd is an interdisciplinary, community-engaged developmental scientist, who employs psychology, human development, and prevention science theories to understand how intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, and identity inform health and development for youth and young adults of color (e.g., African American and Latinx). The ultimate goal of her research program is to provide recommendations for culturally informed youth practice, prevention, and policy.

Learn more about her work via https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/aerikal

Podcast Highlights:

“One thing I’ve been inspired by with the late John Lewis, is talking about how this is a movement of a lifetime.”

-       Aerika Loyd on the topic of ending racism in the United States

“I would like to redirect our conversation back to this conversation about… racial injustice and the protests following George Floyd’s murder. ”

-       Aerika Loyd on the topic of police brutality and Black Lives Matter

“The two pandemics that health researchers are talking about are COVID-19, a global pandemic, and racism as the second pandemic, and how they are interwoven together.”

-       Aerika Loyd on the topic of both COVID-19 and racism as public health crises

Guest:

Aerika Loyd (Associate Professor of Psychology, UC Riverside) 

Interviewers: 

Maddie Bunting (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Chief Ambassador)

Arleth Flores Aparicio (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador) 

Music by:

Samuel Roberts (UCR Public Policy ‘20)

This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/

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