Tatiana Belenkaya Interview, April 19, 2020

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  • SEGMENT SYNOPSIS: Dan Kerr interviews Tatiana Belenkaya on April 19, 2020. Tatiana explains how COVID has affected her. She talks about its impact on her work and shares how it has been difficult to do work and schooling from home. SUBJECTS: COVID-19; (Washington, D.C.)
  • Daniel Kerr
    Hello, could you tell us your name?
  • Tatiana Belenkaya
    My name is Tatiana Belenkaya.
  • Daniel Kerr
    And who's invited you to do this project?
  • Tatiana Belenkaya
    Dan Kerr, and Elsa Kerr.
  • Daniel Kerr
    Alright. And are you willing to have this be a part of the Connected Perspectives project?
  • Tatiana Belenkaya
    Yes.
  • Daniel Kerr
    Excellent. So could you tell us, how has the pandemic impacted your life?
  • Tatiana Belenkaya
    Well, it's upended my work trial. We have been preparing to start a trial, a five day trial in Chicago, starting on April 20. So the very first thing that happened is we realized that it's most likely going to be the case that the trial was going to be postponed. And soon thereafter, the school closed and my permanent office closed down, and we began working from home and studying from home. So that's been difficult. But it's also been nice to spend more time together with my family and around the house and around the neighborhood.
  • Daniel Kerr
    Excellent. And so what's helped sustain you, besides your family?
  • Tatiana Belenkaya
    Nature, flowers. It's springtime and it's beautiful. It's been really nice weather. Cherry blossoms came out as the first thing and then tulips and other spring flowers are coming out. So that's been really nice to see the nature coming back to life. Trees and leaves and the trees, and running. So that's been really nice.
  • Daniel Kerr
    Alright, and what about painting?
  • Tatiana Belenkaya
    My hobby of painting has helped me, as does alcohol, drinking bourbon and nice IPAs, hazy IPAs. That's been kind of life sustaining experience.
  • Daniel Kerr
    And what do you hope that we learn from this whole experience moving forward?
  • Tatiana Belenkaya
    That we really need systemic change in this country to make the economy fair for all. My biggest hope is that people will realize that we need to decouple healthcare from employment. I grew up in the Soviet Union where we had very basic, but government provided health care for everybody. And it's always been a mystery to me as to how we've come to this situation that health care is tied to a person's place of employment, and there's so many people who are underinsured or the insurance is not working for them. But it just seems this crisis should be a call to action to mobilize people to pass a law that entitles everybody to good care. Hopefully Medicare for All will pass.
  • Daniel Kerr
    Alright. Thank you.
Description: Tatiana Belenkaya explains how COVID has affected her. She talks about its impact on her work, particularly regrading a trial in Chicago, and shares how it has been difficult to do work and schooling from home. However, she has found nature to be a positive sustaining force, as well as painting and alcohol. Tatiana hopes that the pandemic will spark systematic change, particularly in regards to decoupling healthcare from employment. “This crisis should be a call to action to mobilize people to pass laws that entitle everybody to good care.” This video is part of the Humanities Truck's From Me To You: A Covid-19 Oral History Project. https://humanitiestruck.com/frommetoyou/
Details
Title
Tatiana Belenkaya Interview, April 19, 2020
Creator(s)
Tatiana Belenkaya ; Dan Kerr ; Elsa Kerr
Interviewee
Tatiana Belenkaya
Interviewer
Dan Kerr
Solicitor
Elsa Kerr
Created
April 19, 2020
Topical Subject(s)
Washington, DC ; COVID ; COVID-19 ; coronavirus ; pandemic ; work ; school ; family ; spring ; painting ; alcohol ; social justice ; employment ; healthcare
Continent
North and Central America
Country
United States
First Order Political Division
District of Columbia
City
Washington
Neighborhood
Spring Valley, American University
Rights Statement
Copyright for this object is held by American University and does not preclude any use the co-interviewee(s) may want to make of the information in the recordings themselves. This object is made available through the American University Digital Research Archive for research and educational purposes. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the object beyond the bounds of Fair Use must be obtained from the American University Library -- Archives and Special Collections. 
URI / Handle
http://hdl.handle.net/1961/humanitiestruck:2103

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