Our list of the top 10 things that happened this year besides the obvious COVID.
by Jeff Thomas
10. LSU’s Championship run
Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson, Clyde Edwards Elaire, Patrick Queen led one of the greatest football teams in college history. The championship game victory made this the best played football season of any college team ever.
9. Kobe Bryant killed
Taking a helicopter ride with his daughter and others, Kobe Bryant died after the copter crashed into a mountain on a foggy morning. One of the greatest basketball players ever, Bryant had just embarked upon a life outside of sports.
8 Murder of Ahmad Arbery coming to light
White supremacists decided a black man should not e allowed to jog in their neighborhood. They chased him down and executed him in cold blood on the street. Their crimes went uninvestigated for months. This sparked even greater outrage.
7 Death of George Floyd
We all saw George Floyd’s murder. Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck and suffocated him without mercy. Floyd’s death spared worldwide protests against racism and police brutality.
6. Death of Breonna Taylor
Louisville police shot Taylor while executing a no knock warrant. These warrants are almost solely used in Black neighborhoods. They provide the police cover when they shoot occupants of the homes they invade.
5. Trump ignoring evidence of the COVID risks
President Donald Trump knew of the risks of the oncoming pandemic. Trump ignored these dire warnings and put Americans’ lives at risk. Since then millions of people have been infected. Hundreds of thousands have died.
4. Democratic primary challengers
The most diverse group of real contenders battled to become the Democratic Party nominee for president. The group proffered a chorus of new ideas to improve the country. The diversity of thought helped eventual nominee Joe Biden develop a comprehensive plan to defeat Trump.
3. Kamala Harris named VP nominee – then winning
A woman who identifies as African American and has served as a state Attorney General and US Senator not only became the VP on a major ticket in American politics, but actually helped push the ticket to victory. The US now has its’ first woman VP who also happens to be African American.
2. The challenges of virtual learning and work
During the latest pandemic in history, Americans have shifted to online distance learning and work. The challenges to educational systems is unparalleled and completely unknown. Many children simply do not have the bandwidth (literally and figuratively) to successfully navigate the new world. Businesses also face the challenges going virtual. Some are able to adapt while others are forced to close permanently.
1. Cedric Richmond named a senior advisor to the President
Louisiana has a native son in one of the most powerful positions in the country. In Congress Republicans blocked the Democrat Richmond. Now he can parlay his influence into meaningful legislation that benefits all Americans and New Orleanians.
Publisher — Black Source Media
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
