The sudden death of a beloved NBA legend, followed by the firsts of a global pandemic that would eventually ravage everyday life as we knew it. A reckoning over racial injustice after the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others, prompting protesters to rail against the system. Wildfires in the American West. A tumultuous election year between rivals President Donald Trump and now-President-elect Joe Biden.
The year 2020 was one of anger, loss, conflict and, quite simply, distress.
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Photographs from the Associated Press captured the harrowing scenes of what Americans and people all over the world witnessed this year. The images in the gallery above are just a sample of the AP’s “2020-The Year in Pictures” special.
And perhaps the most appropriate image of 2020? It was captured during the waves of protests and riots in the aftermath of Floyd’s death. A protester strides past a burning building in Minneapolis; in his hands, he holds the American flag.
The flag is upside down -- the international signal of distress.
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