lifecycles 21st century

2001—present

In the earlier lifecycles series, I wanted to address events that were current but also cyclical over the generations. These events, particularly the happy times, are typically documented in family photographs. But what about the kind of events that totally disrupt us and are not adequately represented in family photographs? These and other life altering events became the focus of the lifecycles 21st century series.

Our nation has been steadily plagued by greedy, self-serving individuals in powerful positions. Stock market crashes include the complexities within and between an unregulated banking industry and human behavior.

World Wars I and II and the Korean, Vietnam and Gulf Wars affected generations of families. Similarly, the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001 also began a long-term global response. An escalation of xenophobia, anti-Muslim profiling, racism, and white nationalism was ignited in this country.

Within my family archives, I could not find any photograph or reference to the early twentieth century pandemic that killed about 675,000 people in the U. S. over two years. Scientists and world leaders predicted a future global pandemic similar to that of the 1918 influenza virus. One hundred years later, we are again dealing with a global pandemic. Over nineteen months, 40 million people have been infected and over 650,000 have died in the U.S. between 2020 and 2021.

At the same time millions are combating healthcare, economic, shelter, food, education, childcare, and employment insecurities. Racial, gender, civil, and humanitarian inequities are also encountered. The pandemic has exacerbated the shortcomings and disparities of our systems. In 2020, the heinous murders of George Floyd and dozens of other Black and Indigenous people forced segments of the American population to confront centuries of racial injustice. The groundswell of energy demonstrated by citizens, young people and leaders engaged in peaceful protests and dialogues are inspiring. There is hope this movement will leave our world a better place for future generations.