Vaccine Voices: Madeline Sayet

Madeline Sayet: Hi, my name is Madeline Sayet. I am the Playwright and Performer of "Where We Belong" from Wooly Mammoth Theater Company in association with The Folger Shakespeare Library. Right now, we are still presenting theater virtually, but we're so excited by the potential of being able to gather together again. And not just gather together again for theater, but for community, for celebration, for all of the things that we can do together. During the pandemic Native communities were facing some of the highest rates of death from the coronavirus. And in order to protect our communities, it's really important to get vaccinated. I recognize that there can be a lot of fear and trepidation around vaccination. Native folks, in particular, have justified reasons for not trusting some of the American government's medical systems due to a history of inequity and harm caused by past experimentations and forced sterilizations. But in this moment, in this moment, the role of vaccination is really, really important to be able to protect our elders, protect our language keepers, protect our culture bearers. And without them, none of our Nations can move forward the way that they need to. So, I really hope that everyone takes the moment to get vaccinated, to think about the lives they might be saving by doing that. In addition to creating spaces that mean that someday we'll be able to gather together around story again. Thank you. Doptim tamalish [ph?].