I opened up my instagram today and while scrolling through my feed came across Melody Godfred’s quote from her book, “Self Love Poetry,” “I thought 2020 would be the year I got everything I wanted. Now I know 2020 is the year I appreciate everything I have.” 2020 has been a year of extreme hardship; this cannot be discounted or forgotten. With the COVID-19 pandemic looming and the fight for racial equality, this is in no way written to minimze these battles and the many losses, only to list ten good things that have happened this year, in no particular order.
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In February, we were graced with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira’s incredible Super Bowl performance. They gave us the badass show no one thought they needed, and still to this day I am in awe of their incredible dance moves.
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“Parasite,” the international feature film, won the Academy Award for best picture, the first international film to do so.
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“Tiger King”… happened and somehow brought us together?
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When quarantine came upon us in March, comedians took their art into their homes, and those like Jimmy Fallon kept us smiling throughout.
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Balcony concerts, New York’s 7pm clap for essential workers each night, and street art flooded across the nation and brought hope.
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In July, the Chicks hit us with “Gaslighter” after 14 years of not being blessed with their beats. Beyoncé dropped “Black is King” and her “Juneteeth” track. The surprise of “Folklore” gave us Taylor Swift’s eighth album.
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Online dating began to soar, and we were graced with many hilarious Zoom mistakes across media. Of course, god bless TikTok as well.
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As the summer wrapped up and the leaves began to change, we became tied up in the presidential election, which resulted in the highest voter turnout and the Biden/Kamala ticket win.
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Mondaire Jones and Ritchie Torress became the first openly gay black candidates elected to Congress. Sarah McBride became the first transgender person elected to Senate. Not to mention the other LGBTQ victories in the election.
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And, of course, our health care and essential workers who tirelessly work to care for all of us.
This is a small, happy list, with historical moments and silly moments. It does not disregard the awful losses that have occurred and the fight for equality we have before us.