Entertainment
Many events occurred in the entertainment and music sector in 2017. Here’s a list to sum it all up: Chance the Rapper won his first grammy ever for Best Rap Performance, Beyoncé slayed us all with her "Love Drought" and "Sandcastles" medley at the grammys. Also, Ed Sheeran confirmed a new music album after a year long break. The album later came out on March 3rd, 2017 and it struck the nation. Songs included: “Shape of You” and “Castle on the Hill”. Harry Styles also dropped an album May12th, 2017. This is of particular importance because this is the first time he’s gone off on his own. The album is called “Harry Styles” and it was very different from his work with One Direction. Also, the annual Met Gala which began on May 4, 2017 gathered various artists, actors, and celebrities to fundraise money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City. Every year the Met Gala introduces a new theme and this year’s theme was Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons. This theme focused on designer Rei Kawakubo who is known to be one of the most influential designer in the fashion industry. This year’s Met Gala was particularly significant because various women of color took such as Rihanna who wore a stunning dress designed by Kawaukbo herself, Priyanka Chopra who wore a bold Ralph Lauren gown, and Zendaya who wore her natural hair in a big afro, took the spotlight with their daring looks. These important moments sparked the continuous discussions about the lack of visible diversity and inclusion of women of color in high fashion which is currently dominated by white women. In summary, 2017 was full of highs and few lows in relations to the large entertainment business.
Politics
The end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017 was a mixture of surprises, disappointments, and celebration. In Shortly after Britain shocked the world by choosing to leave the European Union (EU) in the Brexit Vote in the summer of 2016. Led by Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron, Britain issued a referendum on June 23, 2016 where everyone of voting age could vote whether the UK should leave or remain in the EU. The vote to leave won by 51.9% to 48.1% and the referendum turnout was 71.8%, with more than 30 million people voting. Specifically, England and Wales choose to leave while Scotland and Northern Ireland choose to remain in the EU. A major reason that contributed in the Brexit was nationalism and the ‘fear of outsiders’. The british community who voted to leave believed that by leaving the EU, this would combat their fear of mass immigration and terrorism since members of the EU have the freedom to live in any country that is a part of the EU. However, Cameron who campaigned to stay in the EU argued that this move would hurt Britain financially since the UK accounts for nearly half of their exports. However, with this leave many things are going to change for Britain.
Shortly after the shocking Brexit vote, America surprised the world when they voted in businessman and television personality, Donald J. Trump into presidency on November 8, 2016. There was a mixture of disappointment, people in absolute denial, and even joy in reaction to Trump’s presidential victory after he displayed sexist and discriminatory remarks towards women and various minorities such as Mexicans, Muslims and in general towards immigrants. During his campaign Trump stated how he would build a wall between Mexico and USA, and even questioned whether or not Barack Obama was born in the US. So after stating many questionable remarks when Trump won over Hillary Clinton, America and the rest of the world was in immediate shock, even disbelief.
Fast forward to May 7, 2017, Emmanuel Macron won the French presidential elections with approximately two thirds of the votes against the other candidate Marine Le Pen.
Also, in Uganda where freedom of speech is not valued, a Ugandan academic was detained for calling the president "a pair of buttocks" but was finally freed on bail on Wednesday after spending over a month in jail on April 10, 2017. In summary 2016 and 2017 have been full of political surprises and hopefully 2018 will be full of good surprises.
Shortly after the shocking Brexit vote, America surprised the world when they voted in businessman and television personality, Donald J. Trump into presidency on November 8, 2016. There was a mixture of disappointment, people in absolute denial, and even joy in reaction to Trump’s presidential victory after he displayed sexist and discriminatory remarks towards women and various minorities such as Mexicans, Muslims and in general towards immigrants. During his campaign Trump stated how he would build a wall between Mexico and USA, and even questioned whether or not Barack Obama was born in the US. So after stating many questionable remarks when Trump won over Hillary Clinton, America and the rest of the world was in immediate shock, even disbelief.
Fast forward to May 7, 2017, Emmanuel Macron won the French presidential elections with approximately two thirds of the votes against the other candidate Marine Le Pen.
Also, in Uganda where freedom of speech is not valued, a Ugandan academic was detained for calling the president "a pair of buttocks" but was finally freed on bail on Wednesday after spending over a month in jail on April 10, 2017. In summary 2016 and 2017 have been full of political surprises and hopefully 2018 will be full of good surprises.
Canada
This year, just two days when we arrive back from Germany, Canada will celebrate it’s 150th birthday of independance. However, 150 sparks controversy because technically in 1982, Canada "patriated" the constitution which led to Canadian sovereignty and allowed Canadians to change our Constitution without requiring Britain's approval. That would make Canada actually 35 years young wouldn’t it? In other news, for many years, many Canadian Indigenous women and girls have gone missing and murdered without the police and authorities connecting the incidents. In 2017, National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls released report cards that reflect the progress of the missing native women and girls cases across Canada.