For those who strive for equality and justice in the United States, 2016 proved to be a terrible year.

With the elected president and appointed cabinet as the most uninformed and most inexperienced cabinet America has ever seen, with beliefs that will set us back hundreds of years, America has found itself in a situation that will give authors of history books something to write about.

With so many cases of police brutality and injustice against people of color, 2016 highlighted how scary it is to not be white, heterosexual, a man, or religious.

I could continue to talk about how 2016 was bloody and gruesome, but you lived through it. You know.

May 2017 be better.

May a miracle happen and may we not be set back hundreds of years.

May people of color feel welcome in their own home.

May our LGBTQ brothers and sisters love who they want and be who they are.

May the poor attain the resources they need.

May women be viewed as equal and be treated with respect.

May closed-minded citizens open up and pour respect on those they've attacked.

May 2017 be better than the hellish year we endured.

May the families of gun violence victims get the peace they need.

May "immigrant" cease to be a bad word.

May your family not talk about politics at the table this year.

I'm a very realistic person.

I know that the world will not magically change from a hateful, spiteful monster to a flowery fairy princess in a few days time. However, maybe there can be progress. This will have to start from the bottom-up, considering our "leader."

It has to start with us.

No excuses.