Monday, January 20, 2025

MY Choices for TIME Magazine's 2024 Person of the Year


In December, TIME Magazine announced its choice for its annual Person of the Year recognition. Since today is Inauguration Day of the new American President, I thought it would be an appropriate day for me to share MY choices for TIME's Person of the Year.

SNOOP DOGG

Rapper, actor, record producer, and entrepreneur Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., better known by his stage name of Snoop Dogg, re-imagined his personal brand during 2024 by becoming a judge on the NBC TV show, "The Voice;" appearing in a myriad of television ads for T-Mobile; and serving as a commentator at the Paris Summer Olympics - with special dressage clothing with his friend Martha Stewart.

Snoop has said, "As a kid born in the 1970's, my mom used to put on a TV show called Charlie Brown. And there was a character on there named Snoopy. And I used to love him to death. And my mama said I started to look like him so much 'cause I watched him all the time, and that's what they used to name me."

Snoop spoke with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo in 2019, about how social networking has become an important means to further his brand. "I realize that that's the key nowadays. You have to be in the media as far as with the Internet and the social activity that's goin' down with the computers nowadays. So, I try to have my hands in everything that's movin', you know, from YouTube to MySpace to Twitter to, you know, whatever is popping, I'm tryin' to get involved with it and make sure that my name and my brand is on it. And I make it personal so it's not somebody doin' it for me. It's me doin' it in actuality."

SIMONE BILES

Simone Biles added more medals to her count during the Paris Summer Olympics to become the greatest athlete of all time in gymnastics. Following her withdrawal from the 2021 Summer Olympics citing mental health concerns, she competed in Paris in 2024 to earn four medals (the silver medal in floor exercise and three golds in the vault final, team, and all-around). Her 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals make her the most decorated gymnast in history.

ARIANA GRANDE AND CYNTHIA ERIVO

These two actresses and singers star in the film version of the musical Wicked, which takes place before the story of The Wizard of Oz. Fans eagerly awaited the film's arrival in theaters on November 22nd. 

According to Variety, "Universal's adaptation of Act One of the popular Broadway musical was number one in North America with $114 million from 3,888 theaters over its first weekend...Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu and starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, landed in theaters after more than a decade in development and a promotional push (including 400 brand partnerships) that rivaled the ubiquity of Barbie. Universal needed the song-and-dance film to strike a chord with moviegoers because Wicked: Part Two, which chronicles the musical's second act, arrives on the big screen in November 2025. The two films cost a combined $300 million to produce, not including the mega marketing budget."

Ariana Grande-Butera is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon, she is an influential figure in popular music and is known for her four-octave vocal range which extends into the whistle register. She began her career as a child actress by appearing in the Broadway musical "13" in 2008. She signed with Republic Records and released her retro-pop and R&B-influenced debut studio album, Yours Truly in 2013, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.

Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanasu Erivo is a British actress and singer. She has received several accolades, including a Daytime Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. She is one of the few artists to receive nominations for the EGOT. She made her West End (London theater) debut in the stage musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg in 2011.

KAMALA HARRIS

When Kamala Harris made history (or HERstory) when chosen by Joe Biden and eventually becoming the first female Vice President of the United States (and also the first Black woman and the first woman of Indian heritage in that role), she said on November 7th, 2020, "While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last — because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities."

When President Joe Biden decided to end his candidacy for re-election after a poor June 2024 debate performance, he endorsed Kamala Harris to run as the Democratic nominee. Harris stepped in and ran an inspiring campaign. Not every politician could have done that. She earned the support of Biden's backers, and in a short time, she raised millions of dollars.

While the election winner was not what half the country wanted, Harris said in her concession speech, "I will never give up the fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions, and aspirations. Where the women of America have the freedom to make decisions about their own body and not have their government telling them what to do. We will never give up the fight to protect our schools and our streets from gun violence. And America we will never give up the fight for our democracy, for the rule of law, for equal justice, and for the sacred idea that every one of us, no matter who we are or where we start out, has certain fundamental rights and freedoms that must be respected and upheld.

And we will continue to wage this fight in the voting booth, in the courts and in the public square. And we will also wage it in quieter ways: in how we live our lives by treating one another with kindness and respect, by looking in the face of a stranger and seeing a neighbor, by always using our strength to lift people up, to fight for the dignity that all people deserve. The fight for our freedom will take hard work. But, like I always say, we like hard work. Hard work is good work. Hard work can be joyful work. And the fight for our country is always worth it. It is always worth it. To the young people who are watching, it is okay to feel sad and disappointed. But please know it's going to be okay. 

...And I'll close with this. There's an adage a historian once called a law of history, true of every society across the ages. The adage is, only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time, but for the benefit of us all, I hope that is not the case. But here's the thing, America, if it is, let us fill the sky with the light of a brilliant, brilliant billion of stars. The light, the light of optimism, of faith, of truth and service."


Who would you have chosen if you were the Editor of TIME Magazine?


Image Credits: Kapwing.com (TIME template), REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (Kamala Harris), Variety via Getty Images (Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande of WICKED, PA Images via Getty Images (Snoop Dogg), and Mike Blake/REUTERS via CNN Newsource (Simone Biles).


Read the full transcript of Kamala Harris' speech:

https://time.com/7173617/kamala-harris-concession-speech-full-transcript/


Listen to "Defying Gravity" from Wicked's soundtrack:

https://youtu.be/qeqj5GnoFUY?si=P0DfRafBl10-Ky0M


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