Photos: SC Year in Review - 2020 (Pt. 1/2)
COLUMBIA, SC - JANUARY 20: Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders march during the King Day at the Dome event on January 20, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina. The event, first held in 2000 in opposition to the display of the Confederate battle flag at the statehouse has become a magnet for Democratic presidential candidates in the early primary state. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
NPR: Biden And Sanders Amp Up Criticism As Polls Show Them Separating From Field - NPR
COLUMBIA, SC - FEBRUARY 2: South Carolina players wear t-shirts commemorating Kobe Bryant before an NCAA college basketball game against Tennessee Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020, in Columbia, S.C. South Carolina defeated Tennessee 69-48. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
SPARTANBURG, SC - FEBRUARY 6: A man talks on the phone next to a damaged postal truck at an apartment complex where a reported tornado passed through Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020, in Spartanburg, S.C. A powerful winter storm brought severe weather across the Deep South early Thursday, with high winds causing damage that killed one person, injured several others and littered at least four states. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
COLUMBIA, SC - FEBRUARY 11: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden addresses a crowd during a South Carolina campaign launch party on February 11, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina. Biden skipped a primary night event in New Hampshire after the count there showed a distant finish to front runner Sen. Bernie Sanders. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
CHARLESTON, SC - FEBRUARY 14 : Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), right, talks with Charleston musician Benny Starr during a campaign stop at Bertha’s Kitchen Friday, February 14, 2020 in North Charleston, South Carolina. South Carolina voters will participate in the presidential primary on February 29. (Sean Rayford / The New York Times)
COLUMBIA, SC - FEBRUARY 27: Joe Biden supporter, Al Hightower, stands in line for early voting for the Democratic presidential primary at the Richland County Election Commission February 27, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina. Originally favoring Biden, and then Tom Steyer, Hightower came back around to Biden after his performance in the previous night's town hall event on CNN. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - FEBRUARY 27: Bernie Sanders campaign volunteers Dylan Hemmings, center, and Billy Bevevino, right, talk with William Matchin at the Democratic presidential candidate’s campaign office on February 27, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
SPARTANBURG, SC - FEBRUARY 27: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) greets supporters at a campaign rally at Wofford college Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, in Spartanburg, South Carolina. (Photo by Sean Rayford / Soda Citizen)
COLUMBIA, SC - FEBRUARY 29: A voter participates in the Democratic presidential primary February 29, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina. Joe Biden lead the field with 262,000+ votes, more than doubling his closest competition, Bernie Sanders. The win marked an enormous turnaround for the campaign. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - FEBRUARY 29: Television news reporters wait for election results during a primary election night party for Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer at 701 February 29, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina. Tom Steyer ended his campaign after a third place finish behind Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - MARCH 1: South Carolina guard Zia Cooke falls after being fouled by Texas A&M forward N'dea Jones (31) March 1, 2020, in Columbia, S.C. South Carolina defeated Texas A&M, winning the SEC regular season title. The Gamecocks added the SEC tournament championship a week later, March Madness was shelved due to the pandemic and the team finished ranked at the top spot in the polls. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
HOPKINS, SC - MARCH 7: U.S. Rep. James Clyburn decided to endorse Joe Biden after speaking with Janie Jones at a funeral in Hopkins, SC on Feb. 21. “I’m still sitting here and having a hard time believing it,” Ms. Jones recalled in the living room of her tidy home a couple of miles from the church. She added, “Joe was nearly dead, and now he’s come back to life.”
NEW YORK TIMES: Before the Clyburn Endorsement, an Elderly Church Usher With a Question
As pandemic safety measures upended life in South Carolina in the spring, I talked with 24 folks living in the midlands about how it upended theirs.
COLUMBIA, SC - APRIL 15: Laurel St. sits empty during lockdown measures on Sunday morning, April 5, 2020 in downtown Columbia, SC. Governor Henry McMaster ordered non-essential businesses to close on April 1, but would begin lifting measures three weeks later. (Photo by Sean Rayford / Soda Citizen)
SODA CITIZEN: In Photos: Columbia, SC - Sunday, April 5, 2020
NIXVILLE, SC - APRIL 13: Two men talk in front of a home destroyed by a tornado on April 13, 2020 near Nixville, South Carolina. A string of deadly storms produced multiple tornadoes in South Carolina with severe damage in Hampton County. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - APRIL 23: Shoppers walk inside Sid and Nancy thrift and consignment store as others have coffee on the sidewalk on April 23, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina. Beaches and some businesses deemed non-essential were allowed to reopen two days prior. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - APRIL 24: A man holds a Confederate flag while participating in a protest against government closures of non-essential businesses due to the coronavirus on April 24, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina. Although the state has allowed some non-essential businesses to re-open, restaurants, barber shops, massage therapists, entertainment venues and others remained closed by state order. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
NEWSWEEK: U.S. Marine Corps Orders Confederate Flag Ban Including on Bumper Stickers, Mugs And T-Shirts
COLUMBIA, SC - MAY 1: “God already provided us medication through plants. So we just need to start recognizing it and trusting what God can do for us, rather than what the doctors can do or what the governments can do,” says Sandra Brossious, who drove from Greenville, SC to attend a Reopen SC protest in Columbia, SC May 1, 2020. Photo by Sean Rayford / Soda Citizen
BRUNSWICK, GA - MAY 08: Demonstrators protest the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and subsequent cover-up at the Glynn County Courthouse on May 8, 2020 in Brunswick, Georgia. Gregory McMichael, a retired law enforcement officer, and his son Travis McMichael were arrested the previous night and charged with murder after a video leak of the Feb. 23 shooting. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Ahmaud Arbery Shooting: A Timeline of the Case
BRUNSWICK, GA - MAY 09: Members of the Black Panther Party, I Fight For My People, and My Vote is Hip Hop demonstrate in the Satilla Shores neighborhood on May 9, 2020 where Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed just outside of Brunswick, Georgia. Arbery, a black man and avid runner living in a nearby neighborhood, was killed by white men who chassed him down using pickup trucks on February 23. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - MAY 11: Abbie Scott, a server at Saluda’s in Five Points, interacts with her first dine-in table since March pandemic closures in Columbia, South Carolina May 11, 2020. (Sean Rayford for the Wall Street Journal)
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: ‘I Am Torn, I Really Am’: A South Carolina Restaurant Tries to Survive Reopening
MYRTLE BEACH, SC - MAY 23: People walk towards the beach at Ninth Ave. on May 23, 2020 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Businesses, including amusements, have reopened for the Memorial Day holiday weekend after forced pandemic closures. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
CHARLESTON, SC - MAY 24: A man chugs a beer during a Make America Great Again boat parade May 24, 2020 in Charleston, South Carolina. Trump boat parades became a strange phenomenon in 2020. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - MAY 30: Protestors demonstrate in response to the killing of George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement May 30, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina. Sparked by the killing of George Floyd, hundreds of demonstrators marched from city hall to the statehouse — and eventually to police headquarters. Photo by Sean Rayford The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Black Americans Have a Message for Democrats: Not Being Trump Is Not Enough
COLUMBIA, SC - MAY 30: Police officers stand against a vehicle near police headquarters on Washington St. during a riot May 30, 2020 in Columbia, SC. (Photo by Sean Rayford / Soda Citizen)
COLUMBIA, SC - MAY 30: Police officers clear Lincoln street while a squad car burns during a riot May 30, 2020 in Columbia, SC. (Photo by Sean Rayford / Soda Citizen)
COLUMBIA, SC - MAY 31: An officer with S.L.E.D. confronts a protester using her phone to document an arrest near police headquarters May 31, 2020 in Columbia, SC. Law enforcement suspected a rear assault on the police headquarters and instigated an altercation with peaceful protestors. (Photo by Sean Rayford / Soda Citizen)
SODA CITIZEN: You started this shit!
BRUNSWICK, GA - JUNE 04: Kevin Smith speaks to demonstrators outside the Glynn County courthouse after a court appearance by Gregory and Travis McMichael, and William “Roddie” Bryan, involved in the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, on June 4, 2020 just outside of Brunswick, Georgia. The hearing revealed graphic details about the shooting and a prosecutor argued that the three white suspects "chased, hunted down and ultimately executed" Arbery. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - JUNE 05: University of South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp joins demonstrators protesting outside of the governors mansion on June 5, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina. Friday marked the seventh day of protests in the state capital, set off by the killing of George Floyd while in police custody. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
USA TODAY: Will Muschamp, Lane Kiffin join protesters; that's often a recipe for blowback among college coaches
COLUMBIA, SC - JUNE 05: Gabby Fallin shouts during a protest march along Main St. near the statehouse June 5, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina. Friday marked the seventh day of protests in the state capital, set off by the killing of George Floyd. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - JUNE 09: A man casts a vote on June 9, 2020 in West Columbia, United States. South Carolina was one of five states holding primary elections on Tuesday. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - JUNE 14: Sterling Jackson, left, Asia Davis, Lyles Doughty, Eddie Eads, Leo Jones, and Tyrieck Davis-Newton, right, pose for a photo before the Million Man March of SC on June 14, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina. Thousands marched from the Five Points district to the statehouse in the wake of national unrest following the death of George Floyd.
NORTH AUGUSTA, SC - JUNE 20: “This monument right here is a rallying point because it’s a slap in the face to the Black residents of North Augusta,” says 25 year-old Que McQueen, about the Meriwether monument “It's glorying the murder of our people and we have so much left that we have to do to get equality. You're gonna be a second class citizen until objects glorifying your murder are gone.”
NORTH AUGUSTA, SC - JUNE 20: Police encourage a counter protestor to leave John C. Calhoun Park during a demonstration against the Meriwether monument in North Augusta, SC on June 20, 2020. Thomas Meriwether was the only white casualty during the Hamburg massacre, where Pitchfork Ben Tillman and the Red Shirts carried out the Edgefield Campaign. “Throughout the summer and autumn of 1876, the Red Shirts harassed and assaulted black voters and murdered African-American politicians. Tillman’s prominent role in the Hamburg and Ellenton massacres that year secured his prominence among Edgefield District’s political elite.” -Clemson University Tillman bio
The Meriwether monument reads: In memory of Thomas McKie Meriwether, who on 8th, of July 1876 gave life that the civilization built by his fathers might be preserved for their childrens children unimpaired. In youths glad morning the unfinished years of manhood stretching before him, with clear knowledge and courageous willingness, he accepted death and found forever the grateful remembrance of all who know high and generous service in the maintaining of those civic and social institutions which the men and women of his race had struggled through the centuries to establish in South Carolina. What more can a man do than to lay down his life. In life he exemplified the ideal of Anglo-Saxon civilization. By his death he assured to the children of his beloved land the supremacy of that ideal. ‘As his flame of life was quenched it lit the blaze of victory.’ This memorial is erected to the young hero of the Hamburg riot, by the state under an act of the general assembly, with aid of admiring friends.”
CHARLESTON, SC - JUNE 24: A statue of John C. Calhoun is removed from the monument in his honor in Marion Square on June 24, 2020 in Charleston, South Carolina. Work crews began dismantling the monument on Tuesday evening. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - JUNE 28: Protestors call for call for accountability in the shooting death of Joshua Ruffin across from Eau Claire High School, where he was shot by a Columbia police officer on June 28, 2020.
COLUMBIA, SC - JULY 10: Harrison Ayer joins a Black Lives Matter protest with a box of Krispy Kreme donuts at the statehouse in Columbia, SC July 10, 2020. Demonstrators gathered to oppose a group honoring the Confederate battle flag.
LEXINGTON, SC - JULY 15: Lexington County Blowfish catcher Greg Izzo stands during the national Anthem before a game against the Lake Murray Purple Martins on July 15, 2020 in Lexington, South Carolina. The Blowfish and Purple Martins play in the summer collegiate Coastal Plain League and competed in a game in front of fans in Lexington for the first time on Wednesday. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
Part 2/2 of the year in review here at Soda Citizen will be published in the coming days. Thanks for making it this far.