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 injustices––despite many wishing it otherwise––has proven just as deadly and costly. As a self-styled “Seeker of Beauty with Beauty,” (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.