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2020: A Year in Review

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A global pandemic. An election. Civil unrest. 2020 was one hell of a year. I remember back in my 2016 recap I said 2016 was hell. Well, 2020 damn sure took the cake. JFC. We started the year talking about world war 3, so I guess we should have known the year was going to go ape shit.

Politics

Election 2020 was a shit show. The idiot in chief vs the former vice president whose actually been in Washington longer than I’ve been alive. Literally, joe Biden has been in Washington for 47 years. No matter how hard we the people try, the political establishment really only wants old white men in power. Even the working class darling, Bernie Sanders, is in his late 70s. They even tried impeaching the idiot in chief and of course, that didn’t work. Because of the pandemic, most people, including me, voted by mail for the first time in our lives. When election night came around, I knew some mess was going to go down, but damn. It took 5 DAYS for Biden to be declared the winner. 5 DAYS. JFC.

Social InJustice

More people got shot by cops this year. George Floyd and Breonna Taylor became the latest victims of deadly police. It took Minneapolis police 8 minutes and 46 seconds to end George Floyd’s life. It took 4 days for the officers to be fired and charged. In those four days, the city burned. Protests swept the nation and the world. Then the news of Breonna Taylor came out. She was shot while sleep in her house. Police wrongly enforced a no-knock warrant on her home. She was shot 9 times. The protests that were already going on, intensified. Here we were in late May/early June, in the midst of a global pandemic and people risked their lives to once again go protest police brutality. I’m tired. As a Black woman, I’m fucking tired. As a human being, I’m fucking tired. Also in the midst of all this, celebrities and corporations decided to jump in the trend of pretending to care about Black people by posting black squares on instagram, putting the hashtag #blm in their twitter bios, and making videos about how much of an “ally” they are. This was quite an annoying summer. JFC.

Entertainment

Celebrities got slapped in the face with reality during this year. Us regular people are in the midst of a global pandemic that is killing people and there was no time for celebrities and their stupidity. As someone who rarely gets caught up in celebrity stuff, it was hard not to hear about their constant tone deaf behavior. From Ellen Degeneres comparing the lockdown to prison, to a well known Black celebrity lamenting about how people on EBT should only be allowed to buy fresh foods, I have had ENOUGH. Damn, they all need new publicists or they just need to log off the fucking internet. Good grief. We also can’t forget the many idiots who partied and traveled in the midst of the god damn pandemic and had the audacity only rich people have, to post it all online. It was also funny to see these once beloved celebrities get dragged with the fierceness that a shark drags it’s victims 😂😂😂.

We lost Kobe Bryant, Chadwick Boseman, Alex Trebek, Jerry Stiller, Carl Reiner, Naya Rivera, Little Richard, Elijah Cummings, John Lewis, and many more this year. RIP to all of them.

Music

I am putting music in a separate section because the music of 2020 was really the only good thing to come out of this year. From Chloe x Halle’s sophomore album Ungodly Hour to Mac Miller and Pop Smoke posthumous releases, the music of 2020 was A1. I profiled my favorite albums from this year in my previous post.

Personal Life

In the midst of a global pandemic that saw a nationwide lockdown lead to over 50 million people becoming unemployed, I am still employed throughout this pandemic. It’s a catch 22 because while I am grateful to still have a job, I work in what is now known as a high risk profession.

Going Forward

In my opinion, the first few months of 2021 won’t look much different than the last few months of 2020. Yes there is a vaccine, but it is slowly being rolled out and there is still much debate as to whether those who need it will be able to get it. There was also a new strain of the virus that was just discovered the other day. We really don’t know what we are going to do regarding this virus. We can only hope for the best.

Biden takes office on January 21, he has a lot of work to do. It would be wise of him to not make excuses about why he can’t do anything because of the current occupant of Pennsylvania avenue. People are struggling and now isn’t the time for excuses and empty platitudes.

I hope next year is vastly better than this year on a national and global scale. Life was very hard for many people this year. To anyone reading this and who may be struggling, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text HELP to 741-741 to reach Crisis Text Line.

Feelings

2018: A Look Back

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What a year. This year has had its ups and downs. Personally and through the nation, 2018 has been a gut punch. Lets take a look back.

The Good

Personally: I bought a bike. I quit a terrible job for the better one. I updated my WordPress plan from free to personal. I wrote in my journal more. I read more books, even though I did not meet my Goodreads challenge goal.

The Nation: New TV series such as Pose and On My Block premiered to critical acclaim. Black Panther swept the box office. Yanny vs Laurel had everyone in a tizzy (I heard Yanny). Beyonce headlined Cochella.

The Bad

Personally: A close family member was diagnosed with an illness.

The Nation: Parkland High school shooting. Philadelphia synagogue shooting. Aretha Franklin died. Half of the White House administration quit or got arrested. Migrant children were contained in jails/concentration camps along the border. Troops were deployed to the border. A supporter of the Orange ass hat sent package bombs to prominent officials including the Obama and Clinton families. Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court.

The WTF?!

  1. Larry Nassar & the USA Gymnastics sexual abuse scandal. Following the mass sweep up of sexual predators from Hollywood last year, it was revealed early this year that Larry Nassar, the USA Gymnastics team doctor, had been sexually abusing gymnasts. Not only this, but it was also found out that Nassar had sexual assault allegations against him from when he worked at Michigan State. Nassar was sentenced to 325 years in prison.
  2. Anthony Bourdain died. This shocked me. Even though I was not an adherent fan of his show, I watched some episodes and he seemed like a cool guy.
  3. The Orange ass-hat is still in office. Why hasn’t this fool been impeached yet?!
  4. The University of Maryland was responsible for the death of Jordan McNair. Upon further investigation, it was revealed that the head coach and staff of the football program had been engaging in physical & emotional abuse against players, including against McNair. Initially the university decided not to fire the head coach or athletic director, but protest from the students and alumni pushed the school to reverse that decision. I feel that McNair’s family should also file a civil suit (wrongful death) against the university.
  5. White people calling the police on Black people for everything. From BBQ Becky to Cornerstore Caroline, white people( white women in particular) were caught read handed calling the cops on Black people for almost anything. Although the nicknames are funny, the situations are very serious. Black people know that any interaction with police can lead to our death. So calling the cops on us for buying a snack, having a BBQ, or waiting for a friend is dangerous and uncalled for. We deserve to exist in the same spaces as the white majority without having to fear for our lives.
  6. Demi Lovato had a suspected drug overdose. Thankfully she did not die. I have been a fan of her since her days on the Disney Channel and I was shocked and saddened to hear this news. Demi had been sober for 6 years prior to this incident. Demi has since completed rehab and released a statement thanking fans for their continued support.
  7. Bill Cosby was convicted of sexual assault. Bill admitted in court that he drugged and assaulted numerous women throughout his career. Who we once new as Cliff Huxtable, a loving father and successful doctor, we now know as a sexual predator. The Cosby Show was subsequently pulled out of syndication on TV throughout the U.S.

Well that was my look back at 2018. We lost some good people this year. There were more mass shootings. The Orange ass-hat is still in office. Sexual assault allegations and convictions made national headlines. But we are still here. Let us raise a glass to the new year. See you all in 2019.