The time on the upper right corner of my computer screen reads 11:59. I sit in bed, staring at a device that I have been more reliant on than anything this year. The seconds tick, carrying me farther and farther away from the wreckage of 2020. I hear the faint tune of “New York, New York” streaming from my sister’s earbuds as 12:00 flashes on our screens. As Sinatra utters, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere”, I discover the line’s significance to this year. 2020 was a year of horrors for so many of us. Many lost family members, their jobs and some even their lives. It is important that we never gloss over 2020 or forget the immense suffering this year caused. Hopefully this highlight reel acts as a glint of hope, a foreshadowing of the joys to come in the next couple of years sans pandemic and of the triumphs we experienced this past year.
“Parasite” Won Four Oscars and Made Oscar History
“Parasite”, a comedy/thriller film detailing the greed and class discrimination threatening the relationship between an upper and lower class family, made history at the Oscars. The film won four Oscars including Best Picture, Directing, International Feature Film, and Writing (Original Screenplay), according to the Oscars website. Its biggest achievement of the night was winning Best Picture, as it became the first non-English language film to win the award for best picture in Oscars history. Additionally, Parasite was the first South Korean film to be nominated for International Feature Film. Hopefully Parasite’s big win is a sign of the increased diversity and inclusion in major motion pictures and awards for more movies to come.
Black Lives Matter Protests
After the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, millions of people gathered in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. According to a poll released by Civis Analytics, between 15 and 26 million people in the United States have participated in protests over the death of George Floyd and others. The protests stem from the brutal murders of innocent Black people by the police and forced many Americans to finally see the systemic racism deeply rooted in our country.
“It looks, for all the world, like these protests are achieving what very few do: setting in motion a period of significant, sustained, and widespread social, political change,” Douglas McAdam, an emeritus professor at Stanford University who studies social movements, said to the New York Times. “We appear to be experiencing a social change tipping point — that is as rare in society as it is politically consequential.”
The Dodgers and Lakers won National Championships
After losing the 2017 and 2018 World Series, the Dodgers finally came through and won the 2020 World Series against the Rays in six games. For many Angelenos, it is the first Dodgers world series win of their lifetimes, seeing as it is the Dodgers’ first title since 1988. In early October, the Lakers won the NBA finals, beating the Heat in a (4-2) series. It is the Lakers first championship title win in ten years. The win comes as bittersweet, but significant for many Lakers fans because of the recent passing of one of the Lakers all time greats, Kobe Bryant.
Biden Became President-Elect
After an election that felt decades long, Joe Biden took home the win for the democratic party. With 306 electoral votes on his side, the winner of the election is clear to most. The election is a one for the books, as Biden is the first presidential candidate to win more than 80 million popular votes. Kamala Harris, America’s soon to be vice president, is a candidate who has spent so much of her political career breaking new ground. She was the first female district attorney of San Francisco and in 2017 became the second African-American woman and first South Asian-American senator in history. Harris recently became the first woman, first African-American and first Asian-American vice president in the history of the United States.
COVID Vaccine
In early December, the FDA approved two COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. It serves as a glint of hope in the otherwise pitch black darkness of quarantine. The vaccine distribution effort has faced many delays. 12.4 million doses have been sent out across the country to states while only 2.8 million people have received their first dose according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Biden has vowed to get 100 million vaccine shots into the arms of Americans in his first 100 days in office according to the New York Times. He has begun announcing members of his COVID-19 response team.
