2016: A year that marked a striking repudiation of the status-quo...
There were a number of unpredictable celebrity deaths—Fidel Castro, David Bowie, Mohammed Ali, Prince, George Michael, Carrie Fisher & her mom, Debbie Reynolds, among others. History was also made—The Chicago Cubs won the World Series after a 108-year drought, Donald Trump defied polls, party establishments, and the mainstream media to become the 45th president of the United States, Britain voted to leave the European Union, a young African American gymnast and first-time Olympian, Simone Biles, won
Ieshia Evans protesting in Baton Rouge
four gold medals after a spectacular performance in Rio. There were some iconic happenings too—from the soaring of Vienna waltzes at the New York City Ballet to “Hamilton,” a Broadway hit about the American Revolution. Female empowerment was dealt a mighty blow—the defeat of Hillary Clinton (the first ever female
In Remembrance Celebrity Deaths in 2016
presidential candidate of any major political party in the US) at the presidential polls, the shocking impeachment and removal from office of two female presidents, Dilma Rousseff of Brazil & Park Geun-hye of South Korea. And, of course, the familiar tragedies—the barefaced killing of unarmed African American men by white policemen in many American cities and getting away with it, multiple terrorist attacks in continental Europe, and massive earthquakes in Italy.
President Obama
January: A mosquito-borne Zika virus introduced itself to the world as Brazil saw a surge in birth defects related to the virus. In Washington D.C., President Obama had tears in his eyes while speaking at the White House in condemnation of gun violence. On the 10th day of the month, David Bowie died at age 69.
Beyoncé channeled the Black Panther
February: During the Super Bowl halftime show, singer Beyoncé introduced a controversial element into her performance when she and her dancers appeared on stage with outfits reminiscent of the Black Panther movement. On the 13th of that month, Justice Antonin Scalia died and his seat was draped in black at the Supreme Court.
March: A bomb blast at the Brussels Airport killed 15 people and two suicide bombers. Islamic State extremists claimed responsibility for the
Aftermath of Brussels bomb attack
disaster. An agreement signed between the European Union and Turkey was broadly successful in reducing the refugee and migrant flow into Europe. And, with the closing of the main route to Germany, more than 40,000 migrants were stranded near Indomeni in Greece.
Prom queen Zarifeh Shalabi
April: Music legend, Prince, died from an accidental overdose of the painkiller fentanyl. In California, a 17-year-old Muslim girl, Zarifeh Shalabi, was elected prom queen at her high school (a few miles from the site of the terrorist attack in San Bernardino in December 2015). Her non-Muslim friends campaigned for her by wearing hijabs in solidarity.
May: The warming effects of Climate Change shocked many
Bolivia's second largest lake dried up
when a picture was published of Felix Condori, mayor of Llapallapani and a former fisherman, standing in the dry bed that was once Bolivia’s second-largest lake, Poopò. With the vanishing of Lake Poopò, the Uru-Murato people (the oldest indigenous group in the area) lost their livelihoods.
June: Boxing legend, Mohammed Ali, died. Nine days later, violence struck in Orlando, Florida when a
Demonstration in the UK for Brexit
29-year-old security guard, Omar Mateen, killed 49 people and wounded 53 others inside Pulse, a gay nightclub that was hosting Latin night festivities. Shot and killed by the Orlando police after a three-hour standoff, Omar’s act was the deadliest mass shooting by a single shooter and the worst incident of violence against LGBT people in US history. That same month, contrary to every hope and prayer, Brexit happened, and with it, British Prime Minister, David Cameron, resigned.
Philando Castile shot by police
July: Images from a Facebook live video showed the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Philando Castile during a traffic stop by a police officer. Later, during an organized protest over police injustice against African American men, five officers were killed.
In Turkey, a military coup was staged against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which failed spectacularly.
Aftermath of Turkey's failed coup
On the 14th day of the month, Mohammed Lahouaje-Bouhlel, a Tunisian man (residing in France) deliberately drove a 19-tonne cargo truck into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. The terrorist was shot and killed by the French police following an exchange of gunfire. As if that wasn’t painful enough, about two weeks later, two terrorists attacked the Saint-Ėtienne-du-Rouvray church in the French region of Normandy during a mass, killing an 86-year-old priest. ISIS claimed responsibility.
Omran Daqneesh
Dilma Rousseff
August: A 5-year-old Syrian boy, Omran Daqneesh, was rescued after a devastating airstrike in Aleppo, and the image of his dust and blood-covered face not only captured the imagination of the world, it also became a symbol of the havoc caused by the Aleppo airstrikes. In Brazil, just before the Rio Olympics began, President Dilma Rousseff was impeached and removed from office after a bitter fight following accusations of corruption.
Simon Biles at the Rio Olympics
Luckily, it didn’t derail the Games, where Simone Biles, an American gymnast, and first-time Olympian, delighted her country with graceful performances on the uneven bars at the gymnastics arena, winning four gold medals. As the month edged slowly to an end, a 6.2 m earthquake hit the Lazio, Umbria and Marche regions of Italy, killing nearly 300 people.
September: For the umpteenth time, a rather scandalous event—a recurring nightmare in the African American community—played out when protests in
Presidential debate: Clinton/Trump
Charlotte, North Carolina, set off by the police killing of a black man, Keith L. Scott, spiraled into violence, with gunfire leaving a 26-year-old man, Justin Carr, fatally wounded.
Later that month, the first of three presidential debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump took place at the Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, with millions of people glued to the television for 95 minutes.
San Francisco 49ers players protested police injustice
October: People noticed when San Francisco 49ers players, Eli Harold, Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, protesting racial injustice, knelt during the national anthem. The second & third presidential debates between Hillary Clinton & Donald Trump took place on the 9th and the 19th. Clinton was believed to have won all three debates.
Effect of Duterte’s war on drugs
In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte’s ruthless antidrug-campaign led to overcrowded prisons. In one city jail, inmates took turns sleeping in any available space, including a basketball court.
And in Italy, earthquakes ranging from 5.5m to 6.6m hit the regions of Umbria and Marche between the 26th and 30th of the month.
Chicago Cubs won the World Series
Trump & Obama at the oval
November: Donald Trump won more than the 270 electoral college votes needed to clinch the presidency. Hillary Clinton said in her concession speech, “This loss hurts. But please never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it.” Two days after the election, President Obama met the President-elect at the Oval office. In Havana, the Cuban revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro, died at 90. Chicago Cubs made history by winning the World Series for the first time in 108 years.
Gunman killed Russian envoy
December: Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigned after losing a major referendum on constitutional reform on which he had staked his premiership. In South Korea, President Park Geun-hye was impeached after a political scandal involving the level of access to the presidency by an aide. And in Ankara, a gunman (who was identified as a police officer) shot and killed Andrey G. Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, at an art exhibition in the full glare of television cameras, shouting, “Don’t forget Aleppo! Don’t forget Syria!”
Park Geun-hye of South Korea
Just days before Christmas, a 24-year-old Tunisian, Anis Amri, who had earlier pledged allegiance to ISIS, hijacked a truck and drove into crowds at the Breitscheidplatz Christmas market in Berlin, killing twelve people. He then fled Germany and was later shot and killed by the Italian police in Milan. On Christmas Day, sadly, George Michael died. Two days later, Carrie Fisher died, and the next day, her mother, Debbie Reynolds, joined her.
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