From making comfort food to speaking with ancestors, immigrant families across the U.S. are turning to cultural traditions to cope with the isolation and stress of quarantine.
Latino communities have been affected disproportionately by the virus. In Texas, Latinos make up almost 40% of the population but account for 53% of the state’s COVID-19-related deaths, according to CDC data from December 2020.
During a challenging pandemic, comfort food has helped many of us sustain ourselves, whether it’s nutritional or emotional support we seek. For the children and grandchildren of immigrants, reconnecting with ancestral practices have helped us survive and stay connected to family when we can’t be together physically.
“Engaging in traditions and practices of one’s cultural heritage can be a psychologically meaningful experience that can engender feelings of connection,” says Sumie Okazaki, a professor of applied psychology at New York University.
At a time when feelings of isolation are particularly potent, Okazaki says, “seeking out new ways or new rituals to feel connected can certainly promote well-being.”
But it’s not just children of immigrants who are seeking ritual. Immigrant parents, too, are rediscovering traditions they haven’t experienced in years.
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