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Seanan El Daher, delivery nurse, Rhode Island
Illustration by Molly Crabapple

Underpaid, Ignored, and Essential: A Coronavirus Sketchbook

Underpaid, Ignored, and Essential: A Coronavirus Sketchbook

Justice, janitor, Albany, New York

Quarantined in my apartment, I put out a call on Twitter saying that I wanted to draw those workers who could not stay at home: delivery people, shelf stockers at grocery stores, nurses, janitors, and cashiers. In the next few hours, more than 50 people wrote to me. I drew these portraits from the selfies they sent me in their work clothes. These are the underpaid, ignored, essential workers who have always made the earth move—and now are forced to risk their lives doing it.

Underpaid, Ignored, and Essential: A Coronavirus Sketchbook

Ross Grooters, railway worker, Iowa

Underpaid, Ignored, and Essential: A Coronavirus Sketchbook

Seanan El Daher, delivery nurse, Rhode Island

Underpaid, Ignored, and Essential: A Coronavirus Sketchbook

Sarah, pharmacy clerk, Tustin, California

Underpaid, Ignored, and Essential: A Coronavirus Sketchbook

John, janitorial facilities cleaner, Paso Robles, California

Underpaid, Ignored, and Essential: A Coronavirus Sketchbook

Joe, Amazon worker, Houston

Underpaid, Ignored, and Essential: A Coronavirus Sketchbook

Dot, physician assistant, New York City, New York

Underpaid, Ignored, and Essential: A Coronavirus Sketchbook

Anty, grocery shopper, Brooklyn, New York

Underpaid, Ignored, and Essential: A Coronavirus Sketchbook

Abby, grocery store cashier, New Jersey

Underpaid, Ignored, and Essential: A Coronavirus Sketchbook

Aaron, grocery store worker, Morningside Heights, New York

Underpaid, Ignored, and Essential: A Coronavirus Sketchbook

Alison, Target worker, Massachusetts

Underpaid, Ignored, and Essential: A Coronavirus Sketchbook

Jacob, paramedic, Ohio

Underpaid, Ignored, and Essential: A Coronavirus Sketchbook

Simon, delivery worker for goPuff, Texas

Molly Crabapple is an artist and writer for outlets including The New York TimesThe New YorkerRolling Stone, and The New York Review of Books. She is the author of Drawing Blood and National Book Award–nominated Brothers of the Gun, with Marwan Hisham. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.

Co-published with The Nation.

Save An Endangered Species: Journalists

Molly Crabapple is an artist and writer whose inspirations include Diego Rivera and Goya’s The Disasters of War. She is the author of Brothers of the Gun, an illustrated collaboration with Syrian war journalist Marwan Hisham, which was a NY Times Notable Book and long-listed for the 2018 National Book Award. Her memoir, Drawing Blood, received global praise and attention. Her animated short film “A Message from the Future with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez” has been nominated for an Emmy award in the category of Outstanding News Analysis: Editorial and Opinion.

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