We spent so much of 2020 apart from one another. We stayed in our homes, wary and uncertain, as days stretched to weeks and weeks to months. We waited in silence for something, anything to change.
And then everything changed.
Stadiums became hospitals and polling stations. Voices rose up in unison, often from unexpected venues, to demand equality and justice for all. Sports weren’t just sports anymore — they were a desperately needed release, a platform for social messaging, a chance to recapture some bit of pre-pandemic normalcy.
The games returned, but the stands remained mostly empty.