By Janice Dean
Ordinary people fighting powerful injustices
Subject
Themes
In the spring of 2020, Janice Dean's husband Sean lost both of his parents to COVID-19 in separate New York care facilities within two weeks. Mickey and Dee Newman, married nearly sixty years, died alone under quarantine. When Janice discovered that Governor Andrew Cuomo's March 25 executive order had forced more than nine thousand COVID-positive patients back into nursing homes without proper PPE or testing, her grief turned to rage. She began speaking out on television, writing opinion pieces, and attending rallies across New York, even as Cuomo's celebrity soared and the mainstream media fawned over his pandemic leadership.
In the spring of 2020, Janice Dean's husband Sean lost both of his parents to COVID-19 in separate New York care facilities within two weeks. Mickey and Dee Newman, married nearly sixty years, died alone under quarantine. When Janice discovered that Governor Andrew Cuomo's March 25 executive order…
I Am the Storm was published in January 2023, during a period when public trust in American institutions had reached historically low levels. Gallup polling from 2022 showed confidence in newspapers, television news, the presidency, Congress, and the medical system had all declined sharply over the…
Powerful institutions protect themselves by controlling information, silencing dissent, and punishing those who speak out. This pattern recurs across nearly every story presented, from state government to corporate boardrooms to the world of elite sport. The mechanisms differ in detail but share a…
Nearly every person profiled reaches a moment where personal loss transforms into public advocacy. This transformation is not automatic; it passes through distinct phases of pain, anger, and eventually purpose. The stories illustrate how grief, when channelled constructively, becomes one of the most…
One of the most striking patterns across these stories is how effective advocacy depends on forming alliances with people who might otherwise have little in common. Political divides, professional boundaries, and social circles all dissolve when individuals unite around a shared injustice. The…
Maureen Flavin Sweeney recorded barometric readings at a remote Irish lighthouse without understanding their significance. Her diligent, seemingly routine work helped postpone D-Day by one day and altered the course of the Second World War. Asked about it decades later, she said simply, "I was doing…
Every advocate profiled pays a tangible price for challenging authority, and the cost is rarely limited to the person who speaks up. The retaliation takes predictable forms, from professional destruction to legal harassment, public smearing, and threats to family safety, yet its predictability does…
Shelly Elkington of Montevideo, Minnesota, watched her daughter Casey transform from an energetic, athletic young woman into someone unrecognisable. Casey was diagnosed with Crohn's disease during her first year of college, and the debilitating pain led to prescriptions for oxycodone and fentanyl…
Eric Reed grew up following his father Herbert to the barns from the age of six, absorbing the rhythms of horse training in Lexington, Kentucky. On his eighteenth birthday, Herbert surprised him with two horses and stalls at Ellis Park, two hours away. When Eric asked where he would stay, his father…
Charlotte Bennett was twenty-five when she became an executive aide in Governor Andrew Cuomo's office. A survivor of sexual assault, she was drawn to public service and initially interpreted Cuomo's attention as mentorship. That illusion shattered on June 5, 2020, when she was alone with him in his…
Mike Eruzione learned to skate on flooded tennis courts in Massachusetts, wearing his sister's figure skates until his mother saved enough green stamps to buy him a proper pair. His father worked three jobs to support six children. Mike turned down the 1976 Olympic hockey team to chase a national…
Jennifer Sey made her first national gymnastics team at ten and was training thirty-five hours a week. At fourteen, she moved to a gym in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where the worst abuse unfolded. Gymnasts were weighed twice daily, with results announced over a loudspeaker. Their bags were searched…
Arlene Simmons, a travel nurse from Milledgeville, Georgia, held her newborn grandchild on April 1, 2020, memorising every detail of his face. The following week, she prayed on the decision and packed her bags for New York, where hospitals were overrun and the city needed 45,000 additional medical…
At twenty weeks of pregnancy, Carlla Detwiler learned during a routine ultrasound that her baby was missing a kidney and the remaining one was nonfunctioning. Without amniotic fluid, his lungs would never develop. Doctors suggested termination or carrying to term for a few final minutes together.…
Aaron Hale describes himself as a former world-class slacker who was suspended from college in Ohio. Directionless, he joined the Navy at twenty-one as a cook, serving on ships for eight years. After the September 11 attacks, he transferred to the Army's Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, taking on…
When Janice challenged Governor Andrew Cuomo over his deadly nursing home mandate, his spokesperson dismissed her as "not a credible source on anything except maybe the weather." Yet weather forecasting has altered the course of history in ways most people never consider. Fog saved George…
By Janice Dean
Subject
Themes
In the spring of 2020, Janice Dean's husband Sean lost both of his parents to COVID-19 in separate New York care facilities within two weeks. Mickey and Dee Newman, married nearly sixty years, died alone under quarantine. When Janice discovered that Governor Andrew Cuomo's March 25 executive order had forced more than nine thousand COVID-positive patients back into nursing homes without proper PPE or testing, her grief turned to rage. She began speaking out on television, writing opinion pieces, and attending rallies across New York, even as Cuomo's celebrity soared and the mainstream media fawned over his pandemic leadership.