Joni Mitchell once sang, “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.” I’m a nostalgic person, so this lyric has always resonated with me deeply. I also happen to be a BuzzFeed addict, and the other day I came across an article titled “26 Songs That Prove How Different The World Was In 2011.” It was a nice trip down memory lane, looking at songs I had forgotten about and seeing how much several artists have changed since my high school days. BuzzFeed is one of the few websites where I don’t mind reading the comments section because the people there tend to be like me: logical, liberal, funny, and lighthearted. One comment read:
“It’s funny how everyone here is now going, “Wow what a good year for music!!!” and, “I wanna go back, the music was so much better!” when back then most people STAYED complaining about Gaga, Mother Nicki, Ke$ha, Pitbull, etc. Not calling anyone out, just saying how much nostalgia goggles can change an opinion.”
This person is absolutely right. Who would’ve thought that one day we’d consider Lady Gaga bursting out of an egg at the Grammys and Nicki Minaj’s cotton candy hair “the good ‘ole days.” Nobody. That’s who.
On a grand scale, the first half of 2016 hasn’t been that great. We’ve witnessed notable celebrity deaths, are in the middle of one of the worst election cycles in history where our future president engages in Twitter beef, and have been struck with tragedies, from toddlers falling into animal cages to the shooting at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub. In all honesty, Ayesha Curry’s “controversial” tweet following Game 6 of the NBA Finals pretty much sums up 2016 for me so far:
But didn’t a lot of us have this same type of attitude about the world and society in 2011? And the years before that? Like how we look back on the 50’s and see nothing but teens hanging at the beach and soda shops, but conveniently ignore the black bodies that occasionally hung from trees. If we can look back on so many years in the past with rose-colored glasses, will we be able to do the same about 2016? Though doubtful, I decided to come up with five things we’ll possibly miss five years from now. It was hard, but in no particular order, here goes.
- President Obama – Political affiliation aside, most people with a brain will agree with me on this one, no matter how bad they don’t want to. Considering the crop of candidates we’ve been left with, the closer we get to electing a new commander-in-chief in November the better this man’s legacy is starting to shape up. He’s caught a lot of flack (mostly from pure ignorance), but he’s been free from scandal thus far and will without a doubt go down in history as one of the most formative presidents of all time. I’m going to miss this entire administration so much and I have a feeling we’ll be wishing for him before it’s over. Joe Biden, why didn’t you run?!
- Kanye West – I already kind of miss Kanye. The Kanye who gave us everything between The College Dropout and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and produced classics like “B R Right” by Trina (don’t judge me). I’ve always said that when an athlete gets involved with a Kardashian it’s equivalent to getting a torn ACL. Look at Lamar Odom and Kris Humphries. I call it the Kardashian Kurse. The kurse may have the same effect on musicians because Kanye hasn’t quite been the same since he got involved with that woman. Sure, he’s always been a little off, but his crazy has elevated in recent years. With bizarre interviews and incoherent Twitter rants, he’s one more stunt away from me officially making Kendrick Lamar my favorite rapper. However, I think we’ll look back and say, “dang, we should have listened to Yeezy.” Or maybe we’ll still be listening to him. He did promise to run for president in 2020. If Trump can, anybody can.
- Vine (Honorable Mention – Facebook) – Vine is already kind of on its last leg, taking into account the invention of Snapchat and videos on Instagram, which are now allowed to be a minute long. It also doesn’t help that Vines are heavily shared on Twitter, granting easy access to them where you don’t even have to open the app. I actually deleted my Vine app to make space for an upgrade once, and I highly doubt I even remember my login information for it. But can’t you imagine us going “Remember that one Vine where…” in the years to come? I just thought of about five. (Facebook might survive because it’s the best tool for creeping. Don’t front. You do it, too.)
- Each Other – I’m probably a strong 6 on a technophobe scale of 10. This is shameful considering the fact that I’m an education major and technology is now a huge presence in classrooms, but I can’t help it. I know I sound like I’m 86, but technology is ruining us. I feel like one of the reasons this generation brags about being “antisocial” and “having a small circle” is because we don’t even know how to interact with each other anymore. All we know is our phone screens used as a cop out to avoid face-to-face human interaction. But as one of my Twitter followers so eloquently put it once, there’s going to be a day when we’ll need each other more than ever. Let’s put the phones down and start practicing that now.
- Nothing – Sadly, I realize this list is pretty unconvincing. So how about this. Since it’ll be the twenties again in 2021, I propose we start over by dressing
like flappers, listening to jazz all day, and throwing The Great Gatsby style parties. Let’s leave out the Jim Crow Laws, though. I’m just trying to be fabulous and have a pet cheetah like Josephine Baker, to be honest.
Upward and onward!
JF
BLACK&GIFTED 