As the Ball dropped and the clock struck midnight, crowds
cheered, fireworks exploded, couples kissed, balloons fell, and a New Year was rung in. It was a huge celebration.
But in many ways 2014 was a difficult and painful year,
especially for minority communities in the United States of America. Ferguson,
Eric Garner, failed Immigration Reform, the US Senate report on torture. We watched hunger strikes on Capitol Hill,
protests in NYC, shut down freeways in Northern California, and thousands of
African Americans crying out in pain, desperately trying to remind our leaders
and our nation that #BlackLivesMatter. Time and time again we were reminded
that racism and dehumanization are integral parts of the fabric of our country.