‘Mask it, vax it or choose the casket’: the pastor and barber urging his community to get vaccinated

The Rev Kenneth B Thomas Sr, also a barber shop owner, coach and teacher, is making a grassroots effort in a Black Arkansas community

This photo essay was published in partnership with Scalawag, a nonprofit journalism and storytelling organization that disrupts dominant narratives about the US south. Scalawag's series Breaking Through Covid is a collection of stories focused on illuminating the ways the Covid-19 pandemic has realigned communities and put sharper points on the crises the south was already facing.

At Bethesda Worship and Healing Missionary Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Arkansas, the Rev Kenneth B Thomas Sr preaches the gospel of Mask it, vax it or choose the casket. The choice is yours."