With the end of 2021 approaching, we’ll close the books on almost two full years of the pandemic — and with that almost two full years of pushback against the oppressive systems that have shaped millions of people’s lives. In many ways, this year was a continuation of the groundswell of movement work and organizing we saw in 2020 that activated millions of people to take part in municipal budgeting processes, establish mutual aid funds, or hold elected officials to account for promises made.
The energy from the George Floyd uprisings, calls to defund the police, and tearing down of Confederate monuments led to sustained climate protests, national investigations into what really happened on Jan. 6, and a wave of support for abortion providers and patients in the wake of anti-abortion legislation that could change reproductive care as we know it. 2021 was also the first year of the Biden presidency, in which we got to see how a Democratic president, and the first one elected since Donald Trump, navigated both the pandemic and the previous year’s calls for change.
