top of page
SHINING THE ‘SPOTLIGHT’ ON 2020,
The Year of Admonition
A decade ago, many organizations l aunched endeavors meant to culminate in 2020, the realization ofdecades-long efforts, touting this to be a special year, rel ating it to a vision of 20/20. After all ,having a 20/20 vision means having perfect eyesight. Medically speaking, having this level of visionacuity means that one can see at 20 feet what could normally be seen at a distance.But as 2020 unveiled itself, the mood was somber; most pl ans foiled, and many lives lost
THE YEAR STARTED WITH THE WORLD MOURNING THELOSS OFA LEGEND, KOBE BRYANT AND DAUGHTER, GIGI.
Kobe Bryant inspired a generation of basketball players worldwide with awe-inspiring skills and an unquenchable competitive fire. Also known as “Black Mamba,” a moniker he embraced since 2003, he was a force to reckon with. Known as the soul of the LA Lakers, Bryant was an 18-time All-Star who won five NBA championships and became one of the greatest basketball players of his generation for 2 decades until he retired in 2016, beautifully scoring 60 points in his final NBA game. Legendary does not even underscore how this two-time Olympic gold medalist lived. But beyond the spotlight are his real treasures; his four beautiful daughters including Gianna “Gigi” Bryant who was only 13 when she and her father who was 41, met their demise last January 21, 2020 a board a helicopter that crashed above Calabasas, California, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Kobe and Gigi, you will forever remain in our hearts. This event was the prelude to the funereal tone of 2020 as COVID-19 cases marked a pandemic on the precipice.
NOVEL CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK TAKES LIVES ANDLIVELIHOOD ON A GLOBAL SCALE.
The Collins Dictionary recently unveiled “Lockdown” as the Word of the Year, besting other words and expressions that spurred from this unprecedented season such as “social distancing,” “together apart,” among many other nuances. Many have claimed to have seen this coming, but none has truly put set his foot down until this pandemic brought the world on its knees. The World Health Organization officially dubbed it “COVID-19” on February 11, 2020 and since then, many have sought to find ways to effectively battle the SARS-CoV-2 virus that was causing such dire challenges, from individuals to enterprises.
In the United States, this unprecedented situation prompted President Trump to declare a national emergency, signing the coronavirus relief package into law on March 27, 2020, releasing 50 billion dollars’ worth of federal resources to aid Americans. However, as any epic tale, it seems like we have yet to get to the tail end of this monstrosity...
But it wasn’t just this kind of virus that was linked to death. This year revealed a pandemic, no, a plague that was far more brutal and dangerous, thanks to a video that went viral...
SAY HIS NAME: GEORGE FLOYD AND HOW HISBRUTAL, SENSELESS DEATH BROUGHT THEBLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT TO LIFE...
Another word that seemed to reign this year, “Woke.” This refers to the perceived awareness of issues concerning social and racial justice. And it especially stepped on the podium after an African American man was murdered after his neck was knelt on for a harrowing 8 minutes and 46 seconds, just to bring to light many issues, especially police brutality, catapulting the Black Lives Matter movement unto the world’s attention.
George Floyd, a tall, gregarious star athlete told his friend, Jonathan Veal how “I want to touch the world.” And he did just that, but not as an NBA or NFL player but as someone whose last words included calling out for his mother and of course the famous line which seemed to encapsulate what 2020 is all about: “I can’t breathe.
THE WORLD WATCHED WITH BATED BREATH ASJOE BIDEN AND KAMALA HARRIS TRUMPED THE INCUMBENT.
As cherry on top of this messy, “just desserts” year, there’s the 2020presidential elections. Where do we even begin? We begin with the End.
Some say that it was finally the end of four dark years of a narcissistic racist autocrat while many still aver that he was the prophesied one and that the November 2020 was fraught with too much fraud. Various endeavors are being undertaken by both sides; on one end, the President and Vice President-Elect have been seen to rejoice with fellow Democrats, including Barack and Michelle Obama while the other side continue to see red, and claims to come out vindicated and victorious after numerous claims of electoral artifice.
Many things remain to be seen. On the vast political horizon, hurricanes seem to loom ahead, unless each and every one finally learns to espouse their role in the greater scheme of things.
2020, what a year you had been! You may not have lived up to the world’s hopeful expectations, but you have stuck to putting certain dark truths under the spotlight, that the world can no longer ignore.
As we go through this dark tunnel as one race, it is extremely important to know that the very light that had revealed the consequences of dark behaviors past and present, is the very same light that would lead us out to a brighter future. Keep following the light.
bottom of page