Story by Braden Cantor-Goldner, photograph by Joshua Sukoff

Tuesday night I stayed up late watching the runoff U.S. Senate elections in Georgia same as I did for a few nights after the November election. I only was able to fall asleep after both Raphael Warnock was the projected winner of his race and Jon Ossoff had taken the lead in his. I went to bed that night hopeful for all of the possible changes that could be implemented due to the change of power in the Senate. The next morning, I woke up, turned on the news and watched the end of the Georgia runoff coverage as it gradually shifted to the coverage of congress certifying the November election. Within about 10 minutes, the coverage had completely shifted yet again, but this time to something much worse.

On Wednesday January 6th, 2021, I watched in horror along with many other Americans as the insurrection at the capital played out. The more we learned about this attempt to overthrow the government, the more horrified the nation became. We now know, a few days later, that the insurrectionists were seconds away from reaching and possibly murdering members of congress. Additionally, it was outrageous to watch the stark contrast between how the insurrectionists were treated compared to how Black Lives Matter protesters were treated last summer. Law enforcement treated the insurrectionists like they were peaceful protesters whereas actually peaceful BLM protesters were met with riot gear, tear gas, and rubber bullets. I still can’t stop picturing the disgraceful images of officers taking selfies with one insurrectionist and gently helping another one down the stairs of the Capitol.

While the insurrection was destructive in various ways, it also proved how necessary change is in this country. It drew to light more evidence showcasing why Washington DC should become a state, how deeply ingrained institutionalized racism is within our law enforcement, and how easy it is for people like these insurrectionists to obtain illegal weapons in our country. This event also showed the effects of the president's constant spread of disinformation.

While this day will go down as a dark point in American history, there is hope. A lot of the spread of false information was through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, both of which have taken action to stop the dissemination of such deliberate inaccuracies in the future. They accomplished this by removing the president and others who had incited violence from their platforms. In addition, Apple, Google, and Amazon have all removed Parler, another social media platform mostly used to spread disinformation in an unmoderated setting. While these actions are only a first step, they are necessary to move towards a future in which truth-as derived from factual information rather than politically motivated conspiracy theories - is respected.

Change is constant but change for the better is not always a given. Over the past few years, it seems that we’ve moved backwards, reverting to a worse time; but there’s still a lot of positive change to look forward to. In Georgia, the first black and Jewish senators have just been elected, both the house and the senate will be controlled by the Democrats, and most importantly, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will take office in 9 days. This new administration has the potential to carry out the change that countless people have fought for in the past few years. We might finally see legislation passed to begin solving issues we’ve grappled with for years. We just have to make it through the next 9 days.