2020, The Year Of Awakening And Re-Adjusting: Racial Tension, Protests, And A Pandemic
The start of 2020 brought excitement for a new decade, but ultimately brought unforeseen changes. A pandemic, and growing racial tensions have forced Americans to focus on bringing in a new “normal”.
Nick Cannon Speaking Out at a Protest For George Floyd - STAR TRIBUNE VIA GETTY IMAGES
By: James Teague
Everything that’s been happening so far isn’t a coincidence. When the new year started, everybody proclaimed that 2020 was going to be the year of clear vision as we closed a chapter of the last decade. But ever since the year started, it has been a chain of bizarre events that have occurred.
I know for me, everything started when we lost our NBA childhood hero Kobe “Bean” Bryant. It still doesn’t sit right with me that physically Black Mamba is no longer here with us. Next up, was the introduction of COVID-19, an unknown virus that suddenly spread worldwide causing a global pandemic. At first America didn't think too much about Coronavirus for it to really be a threat and took things lightly. But suddenly the number of people that came into contact with COVID increased, which then caused all of America to shut down and quarantine.
Everybody transitioned from working in their offices to working from home while other workers who still had to stay outside in the public due to their place of employment were deemed essential. These turn of events caused jobs to either place their employees on furlough or make major budget cuts by letting go of their employees. The unemployment rate was said to have been at 13.3 percent, but recently it was discovered that an error was made with the May numbers of unemployment and that it should be higher.
We sat back and witnessed the government give big corporations unchecked billions of dollars for bailout meanwhile Americans experiencing unemployment only received a one time $1200 stimulus check payment to cover for four months of quarantine. Not only was the stimulus check not enough to cover for all of the months of quarantine but some households still have yet to receive their money. Then as the curve for COVID-19 started to slowly flatten, Trump and his cronies all decided they wanted to prematurely open America back up while unemployment was still high and citizens were still in need of financial assistance. The government showed that they failed to act by not putting enough effort in assisting American in our time of need.
Tension is rising between Americans and the government. Citizens were getting frustrated watching the government lose focus on assisting those heavily impacted by COVID-19. The political parties were all too focused on saving their own asses by pointing fingers at each other while either have provided very little updates on a vaccine to battle against coronavirus. I started watching this thinking to myself like ”I really can’t believe that I'm watching this unveil in front of our eyes. It feels like this is nothing but a sick joke.” At first I thought to myself that “things just couldn't get any worse. But then I learned that death comes in 3’s.
It first started off with the death of Ahmad Arbery, who was killed by a racist father and son duo while he was jogging midway through a neighborhood in Brunswick, Georgia. Then next up, was Breonna Taylor who was murdered in her own home while in her sleep by the Louisville Metro Police Department. The final straw was the death of George Floyd as footage was released of Police officer Derek Chauvin with his hands in pockets acting nonchalant while his knees were to the back of George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
To be Black in America and know that racism and police brutality can still happen to us even while in a Global Pandemic is just egregious. To get reminded that we’re not safe by either the coronavirus, the police department, and the government is insane. We’re really experiencing two pandemics and one of them has been continuous for the last 400 years even with the quote on quote “minor changes” in America.
So here we are again having to repeat again and go back outside to protest our right except this time this is occurring in the middle of a pandemic. But as I watched through social media how the protests around America started one by one, I started noticing how different the energy was this time around. When the protest first started, I saw how everybody was letting their frustrations out through the looting and destruction of Target and some of the high end stores in Phipps Plaza. But then afterwards, the protest started to become more focused and executed with a purpose.
Each protest was bigger than the last and we started gaining more allies. I started seeing more people who weren’t black were finally waking up and understanding what we’ve been trying to tell people for decades now about what we experience. And all it took was a Global Pandemic to shut down work, sports, entertainment, and vacations in order for people to sit down and really see what we were trying to tell them. And to top it off, we were starting to see some progress actually being made through the protests and riots such as the killers of Ahmaud Arbery finally getting arrested and charged for his murder.
Jamie Foxx Speaking At A Protest For George Floyd
Throughout my 29 years here living here I don’t think I’ve even seen anything like what’s been going with all of these events. Even comparing how the protests were this year compared to when Mike Brown died in Ferguson, there'’s been so much that’s been unveiled to us during this time. I don't know if this is just me but with everything that’s been revealed around us, it feels like we’re experiencing a reckoning. Police brutaliy, murder, civil unrest, protest, violence, racists, rapists, mysogynists all being exposed, old systems and beliefs dying out, and the plight of black women and black men is sums up 2020.. And all it took was for a global pandemic to shut life activities down and force those to sit down and watch.
This is the end of the “normal” life that we once used to know and now we’re being forced to re-adjust into this “new normal.” This awakening is not only happening in the world but it is also happening in our own personal lives. By the unveiling of these ugly truths about what’s going on in the world, the universe is really giving us a chance to look deep within ourselves to re-evaluate who we are, where we stand (mentally, spiritually, & morally), our goals, dreams, and decide where we want our lives to be during this decade.
We really have an opportunity to make necessary changes to improve the trajectory of our lives. We have a chance to get our spirits right and move with more purpose and urgency. I don't know about you but I'm seeing more people move more intentionally and with purpose on how to get the poor leadership in america to really pay attention to what we’re telling them.
Everybody has a story. We all have all been placed here in this world for a specific purpose and right now is the appropriate time to self reflect in order to figure out where to start your walk. Now even though there’s change going on around us we also need to keep in mind there's distractions all around us and they can come in many different forms. One form of a distraction can come from media propaganda like how they’ve either portrayed the protestors or how they’ve pushed the topic of COVID-19. Another form of distraction is paying attention to how the government is pushing to prematurely open all of America back up for the sake of the economy and putting out mixed information to deceive the viewer on what the numbers are for COVID 19.
Another source of distractions can be through social media if not used properly. With google around and people telling others to just “google,” there is a mass amount of false information on the internet that one can read and attempt to spread in an attempt to educate and its dangerous how quickly that information gets around. Add that in and mic it with certain trending topics and some may lose our focus and its ok. We’re humans and we’re going to get sidetracked from time to time. But we must stay tapped in before we’re able to become our higher selves.
I don’t know about y’all but I don’t want to go back to how life used to be especially now since we are living in the new revolution. We’re all starting to find our voices and speaking out for the voiceless. We have to constantly remember that this is a marathon and not a sprint. Change doesn't happen overnight and we have long ways to go. Truth be told, we’re probably not going to really see true progress until decades later when our children's grandchildren are in our shoes as young adults. But until then, we have a responsibility to find our roles in this revolution and dedicate ourselves to making the changes that we love to see not only in the world but in ourselves.
We can not only create a social reform in society but we can also get back focused on those life dreams we have and create the dream lives we want. So many of us got back refocused because of this pandemic and have been making progress in our goals, dreams, etc. We truly have the power in our hands to become the change we see in our vision. So make it count.
YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN:
SHARE TO SOCIAL MEDIA
US Surgeon General Jerome Adams Says Black People Need To Lay Off Alcohol, Tobacco And Drugs
US Surgeon General Jerome Adams urged Black people to slow down on “alcohol, tobacco and drugs” as he addressed the nation during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House. We discuss why this pushes a false narrative regarding people of color.
Surgeon General Jerome Adams shows his inhaler during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House where he urged African Americans to stay home
Evan Vucci/AP
By: Omar Cook
"Speaking of mothers, we need you to do this, if not for yourself, then for your abuela. Do it for your granddaddy, do it for your Big Mama, do it for your pop-pop." This was a quote from US Surgeon General Jerome Adams as he addressed the nation during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House. Adams was giving a message to African Americans to stay home due to an increased risk of coronavirus exposure.
Adams stated that Black, Latino and other people of color should “avoid alcohol, tobacco and drugs. We need you to step up.” These statements were not only offensive to people of color by deliberately using cultural slang such as “big mama, granddaddy, pop pop”, but even more so coming from a person of color. Adam’s spoke to BET previously this week where he stated “we’re addressing the social inequities that have occurred and that can cause poor health in our society.” Among the reasons that he stated why Black people were more at risk were the inability to social distance because of the need to work, environments they live in, as well as higher rates of chronic disease such as asthma, diabetes, and lung disease.
PBS’ Yamiche Alcindor asked Adams about his statements and he responded “I use the language that is used in my family,” Adams explained. ”I have a Puerto Rican brother-in-law. I call my granddaddy, granddaddy. I have relatives who call their grandparents big momma. So that is not meant to be offensive.”
US Surgeon General Jerome Adams
It seems as if the tone towards Black people regarding Coronavirus has dramatically switched in the past few weeks as more statements have deliberately been made about African Americans being at risk. It was even suggested that a vaccine be tested in Africa even though African countries have some of the lowest fatality rates in the world regarding the virus.
To address a situation in health regarding African Americans is one thing, but to address it using the language Jerome Adams spoke with in an address to the nation further perpetuates a false narrative that Black people are reliant on alcohol and drugs; as if only Black people used these vices.
Adams also mentioned the fact that there is no scientific proof that shows people of color are "biologically or genetically predisposed to get COVID-19," but that they are "socially predisposed to coronavirus exposure, and have a higher incidence of the very diseases that put you at risk for severe complications of coronavirus.” The statements sound even more ridiculous when you break them down piece by piece. Jerome Adams seems to be a puppet that the White House is using to make statements regarding the Black community and coronavirus but it is imperative for African Americans to read between the lines and not feed into the media’s agenda of making Black communities out to be unhealthy environments.
The White House should be figuring out a solution to help avoid further spread of the virus into Black communities instead of delivering divisive statements at a time that we should all be coming together.
Meet James Teague, contributing writer to 247 Live Culture!