Cardi B and The CoronaVirus Remix: How Humor in the Midst of Madness is Saving our Lives

Laughter is good for the soul

I don’t know about you but all of the news reports on MSNBC, CNN, NPR and other outlets reporting the death of Americans in general, and Black people in particular, from the Corona Virus (aka DaRona) has me feeling some type of way.

One thing DaRona has revealed, what many in the Black community have known, are the racial disparities and inequities around access to healthcare. What this pandemic has made absolutely clear is the confluence of socio-economic factors, including racism, classism, sexism, lack of access to healthy food, and the dearth of safe and affordable housing, just to name of few, that impact the high rates of death of Black people to this disease. What is also evident is that within these communities are those on front lines providing the “essential” services we “need.” Nah, truth be told, they are the black bodies that are offered as sacrifical lambs for this pandemic (but that’s another article). I’m not buying into the narrative that it’s the lifestyle of Black people that makes them more succeptible to the disease. I’m straight blaming racism, medical aparthied, and folks refusing to listen to Black people when we tell the truth and sound the alarm about the larger systemic issues that negatively impact our lives (#blacklivesmatter). That’s why in the midst of all this pain, horror, and madness we need some laughter to help us get through.

Enter DJ iMarkkey2 and his Cardi B Corona Virus Remix! Yooooo #issabop!!!

Image: New York Times How Cardi B’s Off the Cuff Video Because the Corona Virus Anthem

This video remix is just what I needed in these days that seem like we are living in a dystopian horror novel written by Stephen King and directed by Quentin Tarrantino. I need to dance and laugh off the pain, horror, and complete devastation of the failure of the federal government, specifically 45, to respond to but also head off DaRona. I need Cardi B yelling, “Corona Virus this sh*% getting real!” as we deal with a White House that demands loyalty as it offers none, commands sacrifice that it is unwilling to make, and a larger culture that worships at the altar of “America first.” And now we see America leading in the death toll. Yup, there is your America first. Oh,the irony of it all! America is ripe for the critique. I need to scream and engage in a full belly laugh becasue BLACK WOMEN TOLD YOUR ASS THIS WOULD HAPPEN!

We told you so

I need the Corona Virus remix video with its montage of popular memes and viral dances featuring Elmo, Donald Glover (with his fine ass), and Queen Bey (heeeyyyyyy Mrs. Carter) as a testament to the ability of Black people to celebrate and laugh at the outrageousness of white supremacy and its blindness to the pain it causes until it is directly impacted by its own handiwork. I need the Corona Virus Remix to laugh in the face of despair to prevent it from overwhelming me, to keep me from falling apart when everything around me is, to prevent me from coloring everyone with the paintbrush of fear and anxiety. And before you issue a critique about Black people not taking DaRona seriously, I just find it funny how our methods of dealing with madness are pathologized and white people handling insanity is called a coping method. Yeah, that part.

So imma laugh, dance, and scream a la Cardi B “Corona Viiiiirus” as a way to save my life and the lives of those around me to shift how we see ourselves and our circumstances becasue we’ve been here before. We know how to laugh at and through our pain because we have to survive and thrive. Humor is our healing and our rebellion. It’s how we deny fear its victory.

So come on and yell it with me….Corona Viiiirus and get free!