Essential has been used ubiquitously throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Who decides who, or what, is and is not essential? Whose work is valued under these terms? What goods and services are essential to everyday life? Mostafa Henaway chronicles the precarious work that is largely fulfilled by marginalized workers, whose duties have been at once deemed essential and rendered invisible. For additional insights into who or what is highlighted as “essential” through acts of protest, see Maandeeq Mohamed.