In mid-September, I was knee-deep in a few readings, one for each class I had taken this fall. The readings ranged from dead white men (think Durkheim, Marx, et. al.) to the history of education, all so compelling that, for a time, I could isolate the words on the page from the specter of death, fascism, and impending doom. A global pandemic laid waste to bodies and souls by the thousands around the world. By that time, we crossed 200,000 persons dead. The United States government, specifically the Trump administration, preferred doing nothing to mitigate these passings while the figurehead teed up white golf balls and white blow horns over and again. Governments across the country doubled down on inequity, leaving the responsibility of basic survival to food banks, philanthropy, and hopeful appearances on daytime news programs. Businesses closed, some temporarily, some forever, all while citizens kept their masks off in disbelief that science – and not social media conspiracy theorists – might get us through this.
Schools opened and closed, too. Fighting ensued in either direction because we didn’t clearly map CONTINUE READING: The Lives That Chose Us (2020 Year-In-Review) | The Jose Vilson
