“HaPpY New Year!”: 2020 Has Been Especially Unkind To The Black Community

Like many people this year, I feel the heaviness of all that has happened and continues to be happening in 2020 and I have said so. But perhaps  my assertion to, “Throw 2020 in the trash!”, resounded harsh or reckless to a few people... that said I will address, yet I make no apologies...

I asserted (posted) upon news of Chadwick Boseman’s death, “Throwing 2020 in the trash!!” And not quite sure I regret it just yet. Understanding that at the beginning of every “new year” celebration we are all excited because a new year brings with it, admittedly some degree of fantasy, but definitely hope for newer, brighter and prosperous days... that hasn’t been the reality thus far this year for the larger community.

Nevertheless, I respect your right to your opinion. I understand the reality that we have lost great people that have blazed trails creating a blueprint for little people like me to dare try to follow. Hence, (despite the pandemic), 2020 has been a year in which I brought my gifts out to the front and fuller. So for that I too am grateful. And reckless with words, I absolutely am not, especially since words are my lifeline. And I hold words to a high standard! That said, I have seen highlights in this otherwise dark place, space/season that we are all experiencing as a community of people. So, the duplicity or dissonance of bitter-sweet this year has been undeniable. So, having said that, I also understand the weight and burden of feeling that your best year, for your best accomplishments of becoming your best self pales in comparison to the tumult, trauma and stressors of a reality that we all face collectively. I feel the dissonance of celebrating oneself seeming and feeling a tad narcissistic, insensitive and counterintuitive in what feels more bitter than sweet of realities that “we” are facing. So when I say “Throw 2020 in the trash!”, it is out of a contrite spirit. Out of the deep abiding pain that I emphatically feel for all others, e.g., mothers losing their children senselessly, children losing their fathers, streets on fire, our democracy experiment at risk, suicide on the rise because people have lost their livelihoods, family members, material possessions — even their housing to an invisible enemy that we as a country can’t seem to combat. When I say, “Throw 2020 in the trash”, it’s a denouncing of the exasperated pain, trauma, social upheaval, and evil that was ushered in starting with the loss of Kobe Bryant in January of 2020, and continuing up to and through Black men being lynched on sidewalks, cities being on fire, and losing the dynamic talent and source of pride in Chadwick Boseman and not to mention all of the lives lost and those that left in-between. A couple being my family/friends  to Covid. So, 2020 despite my own self-perceived talents, gifts, and pronouncements has been a hellish filled year despite my own isolated experiences. And for that I would opt to scrap the year to start over anew, a fresh if it were an option. So throwing it away is figurative for wanting to start the year over hoping for better outcomes. And certainly not an assertion of reckless rhetoric because I don’t do reckless rhetoric.🌹