The New Year Offers America New Hope
by Mildred Robertson
01/01/2022
Article by Mildred Robertson
Today we sit on the precipice of a new year. America has struggled through 2021 and looks with great anticipation toward a new year that holds the potential for outstanding accomplishments or dismal failure. It is a cliché, but nonetheless accurate to say “it is the best of times, it is the worst of times.”
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” –Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
The dichotomy of America’s existence is stark. In November of 2020, we exited perhaps the darkest time in our nation’s modern history. We survived the unhinged reign of a narcissistic sociopath who fed our worst inclinations toward selfishness and hatred. We endured the onslaught of a pandemic that stole hundreds of thousands of our friends and loved ones. We experienced a reckoning with police brutality and its roots in slavery. We saw the demise of a once-mighty Republican party that now indulges and promotes hate-filled radicals bent on destroying our democracy.
While the November 2020 elections marked the beginning of an end to this dark phase in our history, the challenges did not cease. On January 6, 2021, we experienced an uprising that challenged the very foundation of our democracy and threatened to topple our nation; an uprising led by a defeated former president and members of congress.
As Dickens said, “it was the worst of times.”
We are witnessing an unprecedented attack on voting rights, with Republican legislatures across the country rushing to pass legislation that will limit access to the ballot box, and limit women’s rights to control their own bodies. Countless individuals across the nation continue to refuse to take a life-saving COVID vaccination that could help bring an end to an epic worldwide pandemic. People are dying because hospitals are foregoing or postponing life-saving treatment for non-pandemic illnesses because COVID patients have overrun the system. As Dickens said, “it was the worst of times.”
But there have been victories as well. Democrats were able to piece together support for a massive infrastructure bill that is touted to be transformative for America’s crumbling highways, bridges, rails, and other public works. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will expand access to high-speed internet, address climate change and advance environmental justice. It will create good-paying union jobs and will ensure that every American has access to clean drinking water.
President Joe Biden has been successful in appointing a record number of judges to federal courts across the country to counter the onslaught of conservative judges appointed during the Trump administration. While COVID has been a formidable opponent, the administration continues to promote vaccination and testing and to work with pharmaceutical companies as they develop a treatment for the prevention and/or mitigation of the COVID virus and its various manifestations.
A bipartisan committee is making slow but steady headway into the investigation of the January 6, 2021 attack on the nation’s Capitol, and the Justice Department has charged more than 700 people from more than 45 states with participating in the U.S. Capitol riot. CNN reported on December 11, 2021, that only 50 have been sentenced, with most, however, receiving lesser sentences.
So as we examine 2021, it is almost as though Charles Dickens was speaking directly about us when he wrote those storied words. But 2022 is a new chapter. There are opportunities…it is our spring of hope.
We must pass voting rights legislation to ensure that those who serve in our state and federal legislatures are a true reflection of the people’s will. Every vote counts; and every vote must be counted. This must be a top priority for President Biden and his administration. He must pull out all the stops to ensure that he keeps his promise to the black women and men who turned out in record numbers to send him to the White House. There is nothing on his agenda that is more important than voting rights. If we don’t safeguard the vote his agenda will be the last in the foreseeable future to address the needs of American citizens, particularly minority citizens.
As we head into the primaries in preparation for the 2022 mid-terms, we must motivate the base to turn out and make their voices heard. We must persuade them to vote despite the herculean attempt by the far-right to block them from the polls. Meanwhile, we must monitor the actions of states across the nation who are bent on predetermining the outcome of elections and minimizing the voice of the people.
While we may tire of the seemingly endless battle against COVID, the rabid radicalization of the far right, racial injustice, voter suppression, misogyny, and copious other injustices over which we fought during the past 5 years, 2022 holds hope for progress…redemption…rebirth.
It may not yet be the best of times, but the best of times is within our reach. We must, however, reach out and wrench it from those who would have us fail.
Happy New Year!
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The New Year Offers America New Hope
by Mildred Robertson 01/01/2022Article by Mildred Robertson
Today we sit on the precipice of a new year. America has struggled through 2021 and looks with great anticipation toward a new year that holds the potential for outstanding accomplishments or dismal failure. It is a cliché, but nonetheless accurate to say “it is the best of times, it is the worst of times.”
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” –Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
The dichotomy of America’s existence is stark. In November of 2020, we exited perhaps the darkest time in our nation’s modern history. We survived the unhinged reign of a narcissistic sociopath who fed our worst inclinations toward selfishness and hatred. We endured the onslaught of a pandemic that stole hundreds of thousands of our friends and loved ones. We experienced a reckoning with police brutality and its roots in slavery. We saw the demise of a once-mighty Republican party that now indulges and promotes hate-filled radicals bent on destroying our democracy.
While the November 2020 elections marked the beginning of an end to this dark phase in our history, the challenges did not cease. On January 6, 2021, we experienced an uprising that challenged the very foundation of our democracy and threatened to topple our nation; an uprising led by a defeated former president and members of congress.
As Dickens said, “it was the worst of times.”
We are witnessing an unprecedented attack on voting rights, with Republican legislatures across the country rushing to pass legislation that will limit access to the ballot box, and limit women’s rights to control their own bodies. Countless individuals across the nation continue to refuse to take a life-saving COVID vaccination that could help bring an end to an epic worldwide pandemic. People are dying because hospitals are foregoing or postponing life-saving treatment for non-pandemic illnesses because COVID patients have overrun the system. As Dickens said, “it was the worst of times.”
But there have been victories as well. Democrats were able to piece together support for a massive infrastructure bill that is touted to be transformative for America’s crumbling highways, bridges, rails, and other public works. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will expand access to high-speed internet, address climate change and advance environmental justice. It will create good-paying union jobs and will ensure that every American has access to clean drinking water.
President Joe Biden has been successful in appointing a record number of judges to federal courts across the country to counter the onslaught of conservative judges appointed during the Trump administration. While COVID has been a formidable opponent, the administration continues to promote vaccination and testing and to work with pharmaceutical companies as they develop a treatment for the prevention and/or mitigation of the COVID virus and its various manifestations.
A bipartisan committee is making slow but steady headway into the investigation of the January 6, 2021 attack on the nation’s Capitol, and the Justice Department has charged more than 700 people from more than 45 states with participating in the U.S. Capitol riot. CNN reported on December 11, 2021, that only 50 have been sentenced, with most, however, receiving lesser sentences.
So as we examine 2021, it is almost as though Charles Dickens was speaking directly about us when he wrote those storied words. But 2022 is a new chapter. There are opportunities…it is our spring of hope.
We must pass voting rights legislation to ensure that those who serve in our state and federal legislatures are a true reflection of the people’s will. Every vote counts; and every vote must be counted. This must be a top priority for President Biden and his administration. He must pull out all the stops to ensure that he keeps his promise to the black women and men who turned out in record numbers to send him to the White House. There is nothing on his agenda that is more important than voting rights. If we don’t safeguard the vote his agenda will be the last in the foreseeable future to address the needs of American citizens, particularly minority citizens.
As we head into the primaries in preparation for the 2022 mid-terms, we must motivate the base to turn out and make their voices heard. We must persuade them to vote despite the herculean attempt by the far-right to block them from the polls. Meanwhile, we must monitor the actions of states across the nation who are bent on predetermining the outcome of elections and minimizing the voice of the people.
While we may tire of the seemingly endless battle against COVID, the rabid radicalization of the far right, racial injustice, voter suppression, misogyny, and copious other injustices over which we fought during the past 5 years, 2022 holds hope for progress…redemption…rebirth.
It may not yet be the best of times, but the best of times is within our reach. We must, however, reach out and wrench it from those who would have us fail.
Happy New Year!