Joe Biden will take the oath of office as the 46th president of the United States today amidst turmoil that is unprecedented in recent times. The number of challenges that face the country—and the new administration—right now are truly staggering. We continue to be living in the middle of a raging global pandemic that has now killed more than 370,000 Americans. The economy is still struggling to recover after the initial efforts to contain the pandemic precipitated a global recession, with the gains in employment slowing as the pandemic lingers. The country is reeling from the constitutional crisis precipitated by a mob takeover of the US Capitol, incited by President Trump himself, after months of falsely claiming the election was improperly stolen. And all of this is playing out against a backdrop of continuing, and deepening, inequities, with deep social and economic divides compounding centuries-old racism and anti-Blackness, brought vividly to life in civil protests during 2020 that may have involved more than 20 million Americans—making them the largest protests in US history.
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