Beyoncé and mom start campaign to urge Houstonians to get tested.
Like mother, like daughter. Following Beyoncé’s pledge last week to support several local organizations with supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic, Tina Knowles Lawson has created the #IDIDMYPART campaign to encourage Houstonians to get tested for the virus.
The campaign, in partnership with Beyoncé’s BeyGOOD, is urging the city’s black community in particular to get tested. A recent CDC report suggests “a disproportionate burden of illness and death among racial and ethnic minority groups,” particularly black patients.
“We are all in this together. But we have to look at what is happening in our black and brown communities and how they are being decimated by COVID-19,” Knowles Lawson said in a statement. “It is critical that we stay vigilant with social distancing, wearing a mask and most of all getting tested. Being asymptomatic is how you infect your entire household and those around you, the very people you love.”
United Memorial Medical Center health care staff will administer 500 tests Friday at Cullen Middle School. An additional 500 will be administered by UMMC staff Saturday at Forest Brook Middle School. Participants will never have to exit their vehicles.
The #IDIDMYPART campaign will provide face masks, gloves, essential vitamins and household supplies. BeyGOOD will distribute free H-E-B gift cards and vouchers for a hot meal from Frenchy’s Chicken and Burns Original Bar-B-Q. Supplies will be placed in vehicle trunks as patients exit the testing sites.
Tyler Perry has accepted Knowles Lawson’s challenge to do the same and will set up his own #IDIDMYPART campaign in Atlanta. He will then challenge another celebrity to pay it forward in their city.
Texas continues to lag behind most states in coronavirus testing. As of April 22, Texas had administered about 777 tests per 100,000 people, ranking 48th among states in testing per capita.