Listen: things are very bad. There are horrible, horrible injustices happening not just around the world but within our very own country. And so much of it is a direct result of our current administration and the bigotry and ignorance masquerading as freedom within the White House. I don't want any of us to become complacent and I don't want any of us to think that this is normal or acceptable. We should be angry and we should be taking action.

But there is a but.

I still believe the world is a beautiful place and people are genuinely good. I believe that good will prevail. And I believe there is still room for hope and happiness.

In case you need some extra light today, here are a handful of positive things that have happened since November 2016. No thanks to Mr. President, of course.

1. For the first time in history, half of all people on the planet with HIV are getting treatment, and AIDS deaths have dropped by half since 2005.

According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), 19.5 million of the estimated 36.7 million people living with the virus now receive lifesaving antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. Thanks to ARVs, AIDS deaths have almost been cut in half since 2005, when only 564,000 HIV-infected people received treatment. In the past 6 years, eastern and southern Africa has seen new infections plummet by one-third.

2. This past week, Canada became the second nation in the world to legalize marijuana.

Canada just became the second country in the world (and the first G7 nation) to legalize and regulate a nationwide market. The bill, known as the Cannabis Act, was introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an effort to keep marijuana away from underage users and reduce related crime.

3. This past November, Danica Roem became the first openly transgender woman in Congress.

What makes this win even sweeter? Roem defeated Robert Marshall, a social conservative who has referred to himself as Virginia's "chief homophobe" and refused to debate Roem, referring to her by her sex assigned at birth in his campaign ads. Marshall also authored the "Physical Privacy Act," a bill requiring people to use the restroom corresponding with the sex on their birth certificates. AKA, he's cancelled. And the state of Virginia apparently agrees. Thank goodness.

4. ​Cancer deaths have dropped by 25 percent in the United States since 1991 and breast cancer deaths have fallen by 39 percent.

Latest figures from the American Cancer Society suggest that efforts to improve screening and access to treatment are working. In some states, death rates from breast cancer among white women and black women are equalizing, signifying that access to screening and treatment are becoming more evenly distributed in parts of the country previously neglected.

5. Rates of violent crime and property crime have dropped by around 50 percent in the United States since 1990.

For once it's a good thing that public opinion doesn't line up with reality. Opinion surveys regularly find that Americans believe crime is up nationally, even when the data clearly show a decrease. In 17 Gallup surveys conducted in the last decade, at least 6 in 10 Americans said there was more crime in the U.S. compared with the year before, despite the generally downward trend during much of that period.

6. In January 2017, Kamala Harris became only the second black female elected to Senate, becoming a prospect for the 2020 presidential race.

California's new Democratic Senator is making headlines for good reason. But don't take my word for it; read up on her stances and decide for yourself that she's exactly what we need in the next election. I'll leave you with this statement she made about this time last year when she visited the largest women's prison in the world: "Isn't it part of who we are in America that we believe in second chances?"

7. The United States' official poverty rate is now 12.7 percent, the lowest since the end of the global financial crisis, and the child-poverty rate has reached an all-time low, dropping to 15.6 percent.

Researchers found that it is mostly due to the expansion of the safety net—in particular food-stamp programs and provisions like the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit—that have been most responsible for the noticeable dent in childhood poverty and moving millions of kids above the line over time. A tighter labor market consisting of a greater number of parents back at work and increasing wages due to competition has also contributed to the new numbers.

8. ​In 2017, a bill was signed in Colorado that guaranteed the surplus tax revenue and fees from legalizing and selling marijuana would finance school health programs, permanent housing for homeless and at-risk citizens, and treating individuals with substance abuse and mental health issues.

According to CNN, the Colorado state government has made over half a billion dollars in tax revenue and fees since retail marijuana stores started opening in January 2014. The creation of this bill mandates that the majority of that income will be used to fund programs benefiting "Colorado's most vulnerable citizens." The bill is expected to reduce incarceration, hospitalization, and homelessness.

9. California just approved the West Coast's first hospice facility specifically for the homeless.

Joining only seven other facilities of its kind, the hospice will provide critical treatment and residential care to homeless individuals suffering from terminal illnesses. Representatives from the Sacramento City Council say "It's just the right thing to do." I couldn't agree more.

10. America’s incarceration rate has fallen to a 20-year low, with the number of incarcerated people in prison declining, as well.

While the United States—a country that makes up 5 percent of the world yet 25 percent of the prison population—is still housing a wildly corrupt prison system with extremely high rates of recidivism, these new numbers might suggest a change in pace. A lot of the decrease is thought to be due to changing legislation related to drug charges as well as decreasing crime rates. If you're interested you can click here for more on the issue of mass incarceration in the United States and my thoughts on how to work towards a better system.