Thai Lu
Los Angeles, CA
“Marginalized communities don’t always have access to proper safety protocols for protesting. So, we worked with printers across the country creating a printable flier that could be distributed at protests or just in the neighborhoods because a lot of those communities don’t have access to the internet or printing.”
Ryan Roach: Could you let us know how you identify and give us a bit of background on who you are?
Patty Lu: I am Patty Lu and I identify as Vietnamese American, non-binary, neurodivergent, chronically ill and disabled. I’m an artist and a disability justice activist. I am part of a group called Sick In Quarters that is focused on patient advocacy.
RR: What has your experience been like during the pandemic?
PL: As someone who’s bedbound and immunocompromised I’ve been especially isolated with almost no human contact besides my partner and caretaker. So it’s been challenging to hear people complain about things that me and other members of my communities have been talking about for a long time and now other people are getting to experience that isolation.
RR: What has your day-to-day looked like during the pandemic?
PL: For someone who already suffers from depression and CPTSD with no access to mental health resources it’s no-compromised I am unable to risk exposure. I’m unable to receive weekly physical therapy that was prescribed. Endometriosis surgery as well as treatments for my chronic illnesses. I can no longer drive so I rely on a local network of friends to help me get groceries and prescriptions. I receive no financial aid for medical dressings I need every day to manage my skin. And with the pandemic it feels like there’s just more to do along with more fatigue and more obstacles. And I can’t express how heavy this has been on my mental health and that of the sick and marginalized communities. I wish there were more lines of support for these demographics.
RR: What has your experience been like accessing information about CO- VID-19 and the pandemic?
PL: I feel like the chronically ill and disa- bled communities have been used to sharing space and connections online so, in that sense, it’s been helpful to share resources. But at the same time the social platforms that allow us to connect are flooded with like a minefield of triggers and it’s a challenge to want to stay informed while also balancing your mental health.
News notifications are almost always grim these days. Most recently the rise of numbers that we knew were coming are here. And it’s been very depressing checking those statistics and seeing the impact of ableism.
RR: Over the past few months, media correspondents and politicians have continuously talked about “vulnerable” populations, yet rarely invite anyone from these communities to represent themselves or their communities. Why do you think that is?
PL: I think the more marginalized someone is the more vulnerable they feel. Particularly under a corrupt, capitalist, white supremacist, patriarchal government. So intersectionally marginalized people aren’t unfamiliar with vulnerability. Not now and not since before the pandemic. It’s part of our daily lives. I think what’s more concerning is how vulnerability and fragility is perceived as if we’re disposable and unworthy of care. I do feel vulnerable so it’s not that I don’t identify with that, but I think it’s how we perceive vulnerability.
RR: What are your thoughts on how the government and the media have been treating these populations they have deemed “vulnerable”?
PL: Like I said they think we’re dispo- sable. I think they’re putting vulnerable people in more vulnerable situations. So, there’s a less likely chance of those vulnerable people surviving.
RR: During the pandemic, society has been able to accommodate the general public with accommodations, like work from home, that have been asked for previously by the disabled, chronically ill, immunocompromised, and neurodiverse communities, yet these communities were typically denied. Why do you think society has been able to accommodate the general public when these accommodations have been denied previously?
PL: Ableism [laughs] and the relentless pursuit of capitalism. We live in a society that doesn’t value bodies that
aren’t productive and for the most part doesn’t know what ableism is. So, the truth is these accommodations aren’t and haven’t been unreasonable or undoable, but society has been unwilling to make those changes for these communities because I think society confuses accessibility with compromise.
RR: Moving forward, how would you like to see the government and society start responding to the COVID-19 pandemic?
PL: I’d like to see more direct action. Starting with federal regulation policies for the tests which are currently faulty and inaccurate. As well as for vaccines, any vaccines. The government should be providing financial aid especially to small businesses. Access to food and shelter for the homeless and hungry. Rent freeze. Enforcing lockdown measures to control the spread. But at the same time I’m not confident that we can rely on the government to do any of these things so I’m trying to focus on community care and what’s possible there.
RR: Do you mind elaborating a little bit about why community care is important and how that can look in our current world?
PL: I think it’s definitely a newer conversation because in the past we haven’t even addressed white supremacy in the way we are now. So I think something I already felt before the pandemic that there weren’t many options for marginalized communities to access mental health resources and not only access but they don’t really exist. And a lot of them are just not safe. So I feel like community care has been the
most reliable for me to find other voices that are also struggling with this and learning that we kind of have to build it ourselves because it’s so new.
RR: In addition to the pandemic, the United States has experienced uprisings across the country in response to the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by police. Uprisings in physical spaces are not always accessible to all folx. Have you been involved at all with the uprisings over the past few months? And, if so, what has that looked like for you?
PL: Well, during the Black Lives Matter movement I was unable to be physically present along with many of my peers. Instead, we gathered online sharing and creating resources for harm reduction. Marginalized communities don’t always have access to proper safety protocols for protesting. So, we worked with printers across the country creating a printable flier that could be distributed at protests or just in the neighborhoods because a lot of those communities don’t have access to the internet or printing. We also just did our best to boost fundraisers for Black communities and prioritizing the forgotten needs of the Black disabled communities.
RR: Why is it important to you to share your story?
PL: For me I come from a refugee family, so a lot of these conversations weren’t accessible for me growing up. And I’m not really seeing my story from the point of view of a Vietnamese-American coming from a family of refugees. I’m not really seeing that voice. And I just know culturally these conversations don’t exist. I mean there’s no awareness of mental health. So, yeah, I just think it’s important to me because I want other people in my demographic to know that they’re not alone.