Phoenix from the flames: the positives arising from 2020's upheaval
As systemic racism and climate chaos come to a head amid a pandemic, it is inspiring people to lift their sights
A person protesting during a Black Lives Matter rally in Harlem, New York City. Photograph: Jeenah Moon/Getty ImagesChris Michael
@chrismichaelgdn
Email“The US is in flames as you know.”
That’s how a good friend recently began a letter to me. She’s not wrong, in a sense. Around the world, structural racism, an accelerating pandemic and the even greater danger posed by the climate emergency have generated some justifiable hand-wringing.
As my colleague Mark Rice-Oxley (for whom I’m filling in on the Upside this week) knows well, the news often darkens our point of view. We’re clearly headed for a dystopian hellscape in which two decades of urban renewal are wiped out, political disinformation undermines democracy and we all flee the zombie apocalypse.
Or are we? Instead (or, at least, additionally), could another way of looking at the shocks of 2020 be as an incredible opportunity – a window to reinvent cities, to meaningfully address racial justice, to rethink our economy and, perhaps, even finally grapple with the big one: the climate crisis?
Greta Thunberg thinks the latter. The coronavirus pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement have given the young activist hope by demonstrating that, if the emergency is great enough, those in power are, indeed, able to act.
“The main message that underlines everything we [as climate activists] do is, ‘Listen to the science, listen to the experts’, and all of a sudden you hear everyone everywhere is saying that,” she said this week. “It shows that in a crisis, you act, and you act with necessary force.
Greta Thunberg: ‘People are starting to find their voice.’ Photograph: Johanna Geron/Reuters“People are starting to find their voice – to sort of understand that they can actually have an impact.”
Evidence of those voices was everywhere this week:
• The teenage K-pop fans who expertly trolled Donald Trump by buying tickets to his widely criticised Tulsa rally, embarrassing the president with empty seats. Two-minute radio edit
• The New Zealand supermarket chain that will display the word “period” on its menstrual products, rather than euphemistic language such as “sanitary”. One-minute read
• The hermits who are finding their pursuit of solitude is suddenly a source of inspiration to the world. Three-minute read (but take your time, nobody’s watching)
• The Paris jazz club hosting concerts for audiences of one. One-minute sax solo
• The formerly homeless candidate now running for elected office. Three-minute read
• The free phones being distributed to Lagos pupils to bridge the digital divide. Two-minute text chat
Lucky numbers
27 – the number of border crossings over which scientists tracked the stunning migration of a cuckoo, from Mongolia to Africa.
Lyndon Kearsley with Onon the cuckoo, moments before he was released just over a year ago. Photograph: Mongolia Cuckoo project/Birding Beijing50 – the number of unforgettable moments from Glastonbury festival over the years, as collected by the Guardian’s Culture team to mark what would have been the event’s 50-year anniversary this week.
What we liked
In the Upside spirit, Maximus Powers and Selorm Bruce, of Clarkson University in upstate New York, have started All Good Things, a site that aims to combat the flow of bad news and to “prioritize their emotions”. They kicked off on a lovely note with this story about the “Dad Gang”, a group that celebrates black fatherhood and fights stereotypes about deadbeat dads. (Thanks to reader Richie Meneses for flagging this one.)
We also enjoyed this take from the consistently excellent Citylab on how retail spaces are being “recycled” for different purposes, and this intriguing piece from Forbes on a new internet advertising platform, Good-Loop, that allows readers to give 50% of the ad revenue for stories they click on to charity.
What we heard
John A G Kime wanted to hear more about how the lockdowns have encouraged us to repair items rather than throw them away:
Delighted to read the repair shop article today. May I suggest an exploration of this genre, with expositions of great artisan crafts repairers, focusing upon their specific skills, which revitalise items, and the quality way in which they do it? This could be a rich seam for photo journalism.
And in the Netherlands, Nina Meilof alerted us to one of the innovative ways performers and artists are trying to engage with audiences:
Tim Knol starts walks in nature and on the way stops to sing to [his audience]. Are there more inspiring performances? People talk of hiring a plane to host a bigger audience ...
Where was the Upside?
In botched repairs of art – which, although a travesty for the original work and a loss for society more widely, are nevertheless almost impossible not to giggle at.
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s original work (left) and two attempts at restoring a copy of it. Photograph: Cedida por Collecionista/Europa Press 2020Thanks for reading. Get in touch to let us know where you see the Upside in the world.
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