It was recently suggested that the dominant theme for the year 2022 can be summarized with the subtitle of Todd Gitlin‘s book The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage “without the ‘years of hope’ part.”
That’s clever, and halfway true, Mr. Adam Sternbergh of The New York Times—but it is not helpful.
We are no doubt living in difficult times, and the year just passed did find us awash in anger. But in times like this the world needs us to take action—and it’s hard to rally the passion required to work hard for change if we surrender to easy cynicism. And if we’re truly living our lives with both eyes open, it’s impossible not to see reasons to believe that the better angels still have a chance to win this thing.
Here at California Local, we’re heading into 2023 with the hope that we will be able to continue to make it easier for you to be a fulfilled member of your community. Happy New Year.
Looking Back at 2022
Our man Jon Vankin, a master of explanatory journalism, spent much of the past year tackling complex issues and making sense of them. In coming weeks we will be releasing a book, tenatively titled How California Works, and you can preview several chapters in the collection of highly readable Explainers packaged here.
A Note from Mike—California Local's Publisher
Our man Mike Gelbman has been in the newspaper industry for a long time, mostly serving in exectutive positions on the business side. As someone who has mostly worked on the editorial side, I can tell you something you might not know—publishers are journalists, too. The best of them are as commited to community betterment as any investigative reporter. Here, Mike invites us to conjure some holiday spirit and practice some generosity.
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Big Brother Big Sisters provides children facing adversity with strong, enduring, professionally supported mentorship. The organization believes that all children can achieve success when given the proper tools and resources—and volunteer mentors are among the most important of those resources.
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