It is the end of 2023 which means it is time to retire some burdens from the year. Here is my list of things to say bye to things to say it is ok to let you go, and some to recall, and some to mourn or grieve about.

RIP Queen Elizabeth. Bye to colonizer legacies. Hello King Charles, but bye to your racism asking about skin color of your grandchild.

We said goodbye to Affirmative Action thanks to a very conservative Supreme Court.

We also said goodbye to the right to abortion in many states. Again, thanks to the legacy of former President Trump and his conservative appointees.

Lahaina, Maui burned. Many of us grieved for the town, its people, and a lost community and sense of paradise. Lahaina will rebuild, but it is forever changed.

We said goodbye to the bluebird in the bubble and exchanged it for an X. Why does this matter to racial equity? It does and doesn’t. But maybe the question is how does one white guy have so much media power? Musk owns X, Starlink, and probably other communication companies we don’t even realize he controls.

Disney turned 100. As a cultural institution that has diversified some, will it continue to evolve to meet the changing demographics of its audiences?

Kevin McCarthy was forced out Speaker of the House — the first and only Speaker to be voted out. What does this mean for democracy? Did the system work or did it fail? I can’t figure out how POCs faired any better or worse through the process.

Way back in January many were transfixed as NFL Bills player Damar Hamlin had a heart attack on the football field. After the heart attack the players refused to play – one of the first times I can remember an NFL game acknowledging a collective worry and attending to the needs of the players first. We need more humanization of these spaces.

In October we watched as Hamas attacked Israel and the aftermath of that. In the US we’re now watching as people grapple with the intersection of identity, tolerance, free speech, activism, and othering and belonging. This is especially hitting high education institutions and educators hard.

Ukraine is still fighting for its independence from Russia.

RIP Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first women on the Supreme Court. We are still waiting for the first Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native American to be appointed to the highest court.

In 2023 there continued to be too many people dying by gun violence.

What I hope for in 2024  

A fair and free US election. Free from rhetoric, a fair election where people of color can vote with ease, and an election that is trusted by its residents and citizens.

I hope we come up with collective spaces for democracy to thrive. I hope we come up with spaces for POCs to determine what democracy can mean for ourselves and have this influence and reshape our communities.

There is much more to hope for and to grow into that space. What are you saying goodbye to in 2023 and what are you hoping for in 2024?

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