Twenty twenty - What a year!

 

The 29^th of December is one of those dates. Its neither one thing nor another. It’s not Christmas and it’s not New Year. We’re just about coming down from the Christmas high of alcohol, chocolate, food and family, but it’s not really yet time to be reflective of the past year or look forward to the new one. There is plenty of time to make more mistakes, and next year isn’t close enough to be occupying too many thoughts. Yet 2020 has been a momentous year. It has been a year of Truth and fake news, of uncertainty and fear. It has ended with hope and relief. 

 

I just saw Lizzie off back down to London after spending a few days with us. Being with her has lifted my spirits. It’s so wonderful to see her smiling joyful face. Of course, it was great to be with Rachel and James and Sophia, and Ryan. Also, to be with Jonny and Josie. But they live in Manchester and I see them most weeks. I, we, miss Emily and Lucas so very much though, and of course Zac. A fleeting conversation over zoom does not compensate for being with them in the flesh.

Earlier in the day it had snowed. It snowed enough to go out with Sophia and James on a sledging expedition. This was one of the highs and was great fun, especially for the kids. It was marvellous to be out in the fresh air, anticipating the further restrictions likely to be put in place after Christmas period.

 

This has been the year of Covid. It is thanks to Covid that we cannot be with all of them. So many restrictions, so many lives lost, such a change in our everyday living. Covid has changed everything. Some of the changes have been for good. It has been a catalyst for positive change. In the NHS many of the necessary improvements have been accelerated, such as remote consultations, more efficient follow-up, and greater awareness of the need for hygiene. But many things have got worse. There has been a rise in deaths from long-term conditions not adequately treated, acute illnesses not managed in time, and routine elective procedures delayed. There have been many mistakes too, with delayed responses, inadequate preparation and protection, and neglect of care homes. Still, through it all, we have renewed how we value the NHS and its workers. We have pulled together as a Nation in spite of the confused, ever changing messages from politicians and Government. Scientists from around the world have worked together to produce several vaccines, and a vaccine programme is beginning to be rolled out. 

 

Now we face the prospect of a new strain, which is said to be more virulent, though perhaps not as toxic or dangerous. We have been in high degrees of restricted movement. It seems to me most people have now just become weary and it’s time it went and left us alone. (P.S. the Astra-Zeneca/Oxford vaccine has just been approved 30^th December).

 

This year has also seen the end of Trump, well hopefully by 20^th January. Donald Trump has been the most toxic US President in my memory and seems set to be judged by History as the worst ever. He has deliberately used his rhetoric to divide, agitate and demonise minorities. His brand of shallow populism has polarised and fostered anger and mistrust. That he is an unashamed Narcissist seems indisputable. Perhaps his most pernicious contribution has been to diminish the value of truth, science and objectivity. For him, His truth is The truth. So too, most scarily, his followers believe him rather than objectivity. His version becomes the fact and all else is fake news. He has brought lying to a new form and is a new norm. His press officers have become expert in defending the indefensible with blatant, demonstrable lies. Some of it has gone beyond farcical, even comical if it hadn’t been so serious. Now, at the end of his tenure he is giving pardons to all his ‘loyal’ accomplices who have either admitted felonies or been convicted in the courts. Most bizarrely he is trying to find ways to pardon himself! Presumably, to do this he would have to admit guilt first. That, at least, is beyond doubt.

 

To add to it all he has been actively and blatantly try to reverse the decision of the electorate, invalidate the election and undermine US Democracy and the Constitution. His various sidekicks and attorneys have made outrageous claims of voter fraud such as counting machines influenced by the late Venezuela’s president.  The once honourable attorney, Rudi Giuliani, has turned out to be a laughable idiot. The video of his giving a news conference between a brothel and a gardening centre is priceless, topped only by the sight of his hair dye running down his face.   

 

This year has also been the year of ‘Black Lives Matter’. The movement exists to promote and fight for justice for Black people in America, particularly against the injustices perpetrated by the police. The murder of George Floyd by four police officers in Minnesota was filmed on video by by-standers, for all the world to see. It sparked worldwide protests and brought the subject into everyday conversation. His funeral, as well as that of the Great Civil Rights Congressman John Lewis were grand occasions filmed continuously on CNN. They brought home the great pain felt by African Americans, and brought the Rev. Al. Sharpton to prominence, inspiring the world with his forthright rhetoric. “We couldn’t breath because they had their knee on our necks”. Aretha Franklyn also died. Her funeral was a daylong celebration of Gospel music and ‘Black’ culture. It reminded us of the time President Obama sang ‘Amazing Grace during the funeral of Clementa Pinckney in June 2015. Pickney was the Pastor of the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston SC, and was one of 9 people killed in a massacre at the church. 

 

I’ve spent much time talking to friends and others. I have been rather surprised by how many have been oblivious to the plight and history of African Americans. Indeed, I’ve been surprised by my own ignorance of Black History in America. To find out more I’ve read ‘Uncle Toms Cabin’, ‘The colour purple’ and ‘I know why the Caged Bird Sings’. I now know, which I didn’t before, that July 30^th, 1619 has special meaning. The first English-speaking representative assembly in the Americas, the House of Burgesses, convened for the first time. In August the first African slaves are brought to an English colony onboard an English privateer ship, arriving at Point Comfort, in the colony of Virginia. 

 

‘Juneteenth’ also has special meaning. It is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the civil war had ended and that the enslaved were now free.

 

Still more, much more to understand and to do. The BLM movement hasn’t helped itself sometimes, but by and large carries the sympathy of most. For those unsympathetic to BLM they site left -wing policies and agitators in the leadership. Typical Establishment propaganda. For me BLM is a movement rather than an organisation. I am very proud that all of us have actively protested the treatment of black people in America. Steve Raw printed the BLM sign outside Chorlton Central Church, a visible sign of solidarity at a prominent crossroads in Chorlton.

 

It is strange how sometimes fate, or whatever you’d like to call it, draws you to a passage or turn of phrase that so exactly fits the moment. This very afternoon while waiting, I happened to turn the TV on to rest from writing this piece. The movie, ‘The Shadowlands’ starring Anthony Hopkins was on. He was playing the part of C S Lewis, the author of the Narnia stories amongst many other things. It’s a story of his life. By the way, it’s a lovely film too.

In it there is a scene where he is sitting in the library at Oxford talking to one of his fellow professors. The light is slanting weakly into the room, he is slumped over the table and he speaks in his Welsh brogue, full of weariness and dejection: 

 

“I’ve always found this a trying time of the year.  The leaves not yet out, mud everywhere you go.  Frosty mornings gone.  Sunny mornings not yet come.  Give me blizzards and frozen pipes, but not this nothing time, not this waiting room of the world.”

 

Well, Spring Will soon be here. The sun Will shine, and the buds Will burst out. Covid Will be gone, and Trump Will find his place in history. Whether justice and peace will prevail I don’t know, but I hope so.