[tps_header]With weeks away from 2017, we wanted to look back on the year of 2016. For many African Americans, there were several monumental events in 2016 that have influenced our world. We’ve had some highs (an introduction to the Simones) and some lows (the deaths of our legends). So here’s our tribute to 2016. Let us know what moment in history touched you the most.
13 Pivotal Moments in Black Culture in 2016
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The Great One and the GOAT
The year 2016 was a tragic one for some of our icons. On April 21, we lost Prince, a legendary artist and a one-of-a-kind talent. Then on June 3, the world lost activist and boxing great Muhammad Ali. Other tragic deaths include: Natalie Cole, Maurice White, Vanity, Phife Dawg, Afeni Shakur, Kimbo Slice, P.M. Dawn’s Prince Be, Ruby Wilson, Shawty Lo and Gwen Ifill.
BMWK, what was your fondest Prince memory?
Olympic Black Magic
It was a pleasure to watch the American athletes compete to bring home medals in the 2016 Rio Games. But it was such a highlight to see so much diversity across all sports during this Olympics. Led by Simone Biles, this year’s gold-medaling U.S. gymnastics team represented the most diverse U.S. gymnastics team ever—with two black girls, a Latina, a Jewish girl (and even an alternate from Native American heritage). But lots of black athletes came up big in the games this year, including gold medalist-swimmer Simone Manuel, silver medalist fencer Daryl Homer and gold medalist sprinter Allyson Felix, who became the most decorated American female athlete in Olympic track history this year.
BMWK, what was your favorite moment of the 2016 Olympics?
The Year of the Blended Family
It seemed everyone was talking about the blended family this year. Russell Wilson and Ciara became the unofficial poster children of the blended family unit. Alicia Keys released the unofficial blended family anthem. And we released our much-anticipated film Blended: The Unspoken Truth About Stepfamilies. In the film, experts and real couples weigh in on the struggles that confront many blended families.
BWMK, was there a celebrity family or family in your life, who served as your own blended family role model?
Blackbuster Films and TV
It seems like 2016 was the year for black cinema. From Southside with You to The Birth of a Nation, our stories were featured heavily on the big screen this year. Plus, great new sitcoms and television dramas hit the small screen, including FX’s Atlanta, HBO’s Insecure, OWN’s Queen Sugar and Greenleaf, WGN’s Underground—and we even had our own black super hero in Luke Cage.
Whereas the early part of 2016 led with a critique on the lack of Hollywood diversity (remember #OscarsSoWhite?), the rest of the year has already spotlighted some worthy African American award show contenders in Issa Rae, Donald Glover, Naomie Harris, Mahershala Ali, Sterling k. Brown and more.
BMWK, what was your favorite black film or series of 2016?
Believe Land
This year’s basketball season played out like something out of a script from a Hollywood drama. LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers came back from a 1-3 deficient for a historic win of the franchise’s first national NBA title. Not only had no team ever come back from a 1-3 deficit in the Finals, they also beat Golden State, the most winningest team in history. Interesting to note: the city’s baseball team nearly took home a championship title (which would have ended their 60-year drought), but they lost the World Series to the Chicago Cubs.
BMWK, what was your favorite sports memory of 2016?
According to a Washington Post story, 2016 has seen nearly 900 incidents of fatal force by police officers. This year, names such as Keith Lamont Scott, Terence Crutcher, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were among the names added to hashtags this year.
Deadly attacks on officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge also heightened the country’s division on BlackLivesMatter and these social injustices.
BMWK, do you think we’ll see a change in how officers employ brutal force in 2017?
Black Love
Several couples decided to tie the knot this year. Congratulations to all those married this year, including Kevin Hart and Eniko Parrish; Ciara and Russell Wilson; Adrienne Bailon and Israel Houghton; Trai Byers and Grace Gealey (the couple from Empire); Ne-Yo and Crystal Renay and Misty Copeland and Olu Evans.
BMWK, did you or someone you know get married in 2016? Shot yourselves out in the comments!
The BEST of BMWK
We had some great stories this year. But there were a couple that seemed to fill our message boards with debates from our readers.
Everyone was still sipping on Beyoncé’s Lemonade after the much-talked about release of her visual album. But this husband gave his take on why a man would ever cheat on his woman, let alone the Queen B herself. And let’s just say the readers were all over it.
Another, reader’s choice item was a two-part series about why Christian men refuse to date and marry traditional church girls.
BMWK, what was your favorite read on the website this year?
The 2016 Election
There’s no telling what the Trump presidency years will produce, but the year 2016 will live in infamy. It started messy (with DNC email leaks and hacks, an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails, Trump’s unreleased tax documents, a vulgar audio leak where Trump bragged about sexually assaulting women, the rise of hate crimes). And it’s ending messy (an investigation into Russia’s involvement into tampering with the U.S. election). American politics as we know it may be changed forever. But if there’s one thing we could take from the election, then it’s how much we’ll miss the Obamas.
BMWK, what will you miss most about the Obamas?
Global Tragedies
In June, the tragic shooting at an Orlando nightclub left 50 people dead. In Nice, France more than 85 people where killed in a July terrorist act. In March, a terrorist attack in Brussels, Belgium claimed the lives of 31 people. Wars and terroristic violence raged on in African and the Middle East (The death toll in Syria, is nearly up to half a million).
In August, an earthquake struck central Italy, killing 241. In October, Haiti was hit with another natural disaster when Hurricane Matthew tore through the island, taking the lives of more than 1,000 people.
BMWK, what were your go-to prayers and mantras in 2016 that helped you see the light in dark times?
BMWK Cruise
We had a fantastic time in July for our annual Marriage Cruise. We had a happening scavenger hunt, a Harlem Nights Costume party, several great marriage workshops and a pre-cruise social mixer with recording artist Eric Roberson.
Here’s a snap of all the fun we had. And guess what? We’ve announced the itinerary for our 2017 Marriage Cruise—and trust us, you don’t want to miss it. Click here to find out more.
BMWK, what was your favorite part of the cruise last year?
Meme Mania
The Internet always wins. No matter what happened or who did what or why, the Internet always went in with their jokes, memes, parodies, clapbacks and challenges. Perhaps, we’ll look back and 2016 and credit it for creating the Birdman “Respeck” and “Or You Finished or Are You Done” memes. Somehow the late ’90s children’s cartoon Arthur was spun into an endless catalogue of adult humor jokes. And the circumstances around the death of a zoo gorilla forever cemented the name Harambe in our history books. Don’t forget about the challenges—from the mannequin challenge, Unameit challenge and more. And God bless, Joe Biden. He was comedy in real life, but the Biden as envisioned by the Internet was a G.
BMWK, what’s your favorite meme of the year?
BWMK Standard Awards
This year, we were pleased to honor several great couples for our 2nd Annual BMWK Standard Awards. Each year, we acknowledge the couples in the African American community who set a positive example of black love and marriage. And this year’s honorees included Erica and Warryn Campbell, Holly Robinson and Rodney Peete, Drs. Heavenly and Damon Kimes and more.
BMWK, who would you nominate for the Standard Awards for 2017?