As today is the last day of 2020, we’d be remiss to not reminisce on all of the events of this year. From the global pandemic to racial pandemic, as a collective, we’ve encountered challenge after challenge. Through it all, one thing that held us down for sure was our families. Whether related or chosen, our families truly were the bedrock of support during these unprecedented times.
This week on the Dear Culture Podcast, our sweet-and-spicy duo, theGrio’s Managing Editor, Gerren Keith Gaynor and Social Media Director, Shana Pinnock look back at some of best moments of our inaugural year, to bring us a very special holiday episode. To ask this week, “Dear Culture, Did this year teach us that nothing is more important than health and family?”
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“I don’t think there’s any parents are not smoking and drinking. Cut them some slack a little bit. I don’t think it’s a crime, we’re adjusting,” says Entertainment Director, Cortney Wills on Dear Culture’s “The Kids are Not Alright” episode.
This year has shown us that Black mothers always rise to the occasion. From Wills converting her entire garage to a beautiful makeshift classroom to mothers like Ayanna Pressley taking PTO to take care of their kids; despite it all, Black mothers have done their best with ingenuity and grace this year.
“There’s so many moments as a father, I just want to turn away from the news and give my son a hug, and tell him sorry that the world is the way that it is, [because] he didn’t do anything to be in the climate he’s in,” says Chief Content Officer, Todd Johnson on Dear Culture’s Black Fatherhood featuring Rickey Smiley.
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With all the things Black men tackled this year, fathers especially deserve kudos. It’s not easy being an overwhelming target of state violence, and yet Black fathers still adapt and teach their kids how to live with the best outlook for themselves.
As Johnson aptly puts it, “getting through this mode” has been on autopilot, “as you live your life and shield [your child] from what they have to face” in the world. At the end of the day, it’s remembrance that truly counts. As every day and every holiday is a moment to remember all the memories one has shared with family and friends.
From Chadwick Boseman to the many Black lives lost this year due to COVID-19, police brutality, and other complications. Day after day and year after year, it’s no doubt Black people craft beautiful lives on this earth. Walking into 2021, grace and resilience is always what we bring to the fore.
Cheers to us, and a toast to us and all the things we do.
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