One thing the pandemic has made clear is our need for essential workers. The NewsHour has heard many of their voices during this last year. On this "Equal Pay Day," Ai-jen Poo, Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance gives her Brief But Spectacular take on the importance of caregivers and how we can protect and value their work in America as we navigate the pandemic.

With stay-at-home orders in place, many victims of domestic violence have been trapped at home with their abusers. In this Brief But Spectacular, we meet Kathryn Jacob, the CEO of SafeHaven, which focuses on creating preventative programs that help high-risk people before they become victims. Here's her Brief But Spectacular take on confronting the pandemic of gender-based violence.

In 1967, George Henderson and his family relocated to Norman, Oklahoma, where he became a professor at the University of Oklahoma. Up until that year, Norman was a sundown town that prohibited non-whites to be outside after dark and the Hendersons became the first African-American property owners there. He shares his Brief But Spectacular take on living what he teaches.

When Kev Marcus and Wil B met in a high school music class they shared their desire to disrupt people's impressions of what classical music should be. Together they formed a group called Black Violin, which we featured on the NewsHour early on in their success. Now they're back with a Brief But Spectacular take on defying stereotypes, as part of our coverage of arts and culture, "CANVAS."