Editorial: In a time of COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter

The COVID-19 pandemic and international reactions to the death of George Floyd have added to the edifice of inconvenient truths which tower over our world in the 2020s. The phrase ‘inconvenient truth’ received widespread exposure as the title of a film and presentation made by former US Vice President Al Gore in 2006. The film set out to educate the public (and our representatives in power) about the truths of global climate change. There seem to be three characteristics of inconvenient truths: first, they are largely true; second, they are deeply uncomfortable; and third, they seem to defy solutions, easy or otherwise. And yet, solutions must be found.