So much has happened within the half year. 2020 has been very eventful for many reasons. CoVid -19, BLM movement, resurgence of "Me Too" within the entertainment industry, and more.
Fear, concerns, unsureness. Those were a majority of the thoughts swirling thru my mind back in late November, early December. They still are.
The start of this pandemic (before it was officially called a pandemic), was concerning for me. I have relatives in Taiwan, including my Grandpa, and Taiwan's proximity to China, the epicenter of the virus, was scary. Taiwan already was getting the smog from China's air pollution, and with unknowns of how CoVid-19 spread, the concerns grew. Then anger set in, towards the Chinese government due to lack of global news and public knowledge, and the gross management of quarantine in the initial weeks of the outbreak.
Then the virus spread around the world. And the US was not immune. Lack of face masks, panic buying, increasing cases, community spread. Who wasn't immune from the fears? (I won't get into those who believed the virus was a lie. That's just a whole other rant.)
However, there were two bright sides of this virus: a lot of time to ourselves, and better air quality in heavily air polluted countries.
But public outrage over the police brutality and racism towards African Americans, and people of color flared up and gained a large movement both in the form of protests and information across social media and various networks. This movement has been long overdue. Followed by a lot of women (and some men) sharing their horrific stories of sexual abuse through social media by those in power within the entertainment industry. It horrified and angered me, that this wasn't 'old' news, this was current.
So much of the world needs to change still.
- Public Health in many countries, now that the effects of CoVid have shown all the cracks in the wall, so to speak.
- While things have improved since MLK Jr's days, racial discrimination is still prevalent. It's no longer acceptable to turn a blind eye, because people of color can't afford to turn a blind eye.
- Sexual abuse, both physical and verbal needs to be pointed out as well. Too many victims have had to 'just deal with it' for far too long and for the worst of the worst sort of actions too.
But with all this negative, what are some positives? Awareness is definitely one of them. By the public being more aware of these issues, it's a good step in the right direction, even if it's small!
The rest of 2020 is still unknown, as CoVid is still around, protests are still happening. But here's to a sincere hope that all of us can move into the right mindset and improve on all these concerns.
