Honestly, I didn't think it would ever end. But, time can fool you that way. 2016 wasn't a good year for a lot of people. Let's list the things that weren't so good:
- So many significant musicians, entertainers, artists, actors, politicians, and leaders died. For example, we lost Muhammed Ali. He's just one of the people chronicled here. I wonder if people will remember where they were when Prince died.
- The Syrian conflict got much worse. I'm sure that this precipitated a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe. Just take a look at past images of Aleppo using Google. It will let you understand the extent of the destruction that took place there.
- Populist movements became de rigueur in a many supposed democratic countries. The Brexit event led the way. The U.S. election seemed to seal it. Now, there is a very real chance that France, Austria, The Netherlands, and Italy will have some shakeups in their governments. You can read more about it here.
- The U.S. election was a disheartening spectacle. It was a bloody sport. I don't think anyone could have gotten away from it cleanly. There really were no good choices. It opened up a fissure of racism and sexism. It revealed a very ugly side of this country.
- The endless parade of more-than-15-minutes-of-fame people that gave us no value for the time that we spent looking at them. I'm calling them out as life-suckers. Yes, I'm looking at you Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.
The continual chasm of wealth inequality which became acute this year. Here's something from Wikipedia be aware of: "Just prior to President Obama's 2014 State of the Union Address, media reported that the top wealthiest 1% possess 40% of the nation's wealth; the bottom 80% own 7% similarly, but later, the media reported, the richest 1 percent in the United States now own more additional income than the bottom 90 percent."
The shootings where shocking. Whether it was the shooting of people by police (over 950) or fallen police officers (over 60), it didn't matter. It just let us know that we still don't value life enough to stop this.
The most poignant portrait of what gentrification can do to displace people into unsafe areas was demonstrated by the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland. Exactly 36 people lost their lives needlessly.
I'm sure that I've left off other unfortunate events. But, why give 2016 more negative power? We all had moments where things didn't seem right. Reflecting on the negative makes the positive seem even more significant.
What is the positive? The positive is that we all have the power to change something in our little piece of the world. If we take that forward then larger changes can some about. That is truth. A revolution or a movement always starts with one individual. We are all individual that can start revolutions.
For 2017, I pledge to make my piece of the world better. Take the revolution with you everywhere you go.
I love Oakland because I see graffiti like this. I'm starting 2017 with this image.