Everyone on the timeline has unanimously agreed that 2018 was the most trash year ever. This has been the longest 365 days of our lives and instead of leading up to something so climactic that all of the stress would be worth it, we got a government shutdown and Beyoncé is sticking to her guns about not showing us the twins. But it wasn’t all petty political fights and rappers exposing each other’s secret babies. 2018 had some gems too. 

Blavity compiled a list of 15 stories that’ll remind you of the good buried in all the garbage. 

1. A Houston father took his son’s bully for a ride

When Aubrey Fontenot discovered his son was being bullied, the Houston father confronted the boy and wanted to know the motive. He soon discovered that the bully, Tamarion, was bullied himself for not having clean clothes or shoes. Tamarion’s family was homeless, and Fontenot couldn’t just stand around and watch the young boy lash out. Instead, he took Tamarion for a ride, bought him new clothes and shoes, and brought the young man and his son together for a talk that lead to the two becoming friends. 

2. LeBron James opened a STEM-based school for at-risk students in his hometown

Not only did LeBron James open a school for low-come, at-risk students and make a statement by investing in the future of our youth, he pushed forward by offering support post-graduation. The elementary school students are ensured a full-tuition scholarship to the University of Akron upon completing their time at James’s I Promise school.

3. A 17-year-old applied to 20 colleges and received a full-ride to every single one


Mirabeau B. Lamar High School senior Michael Brown won all of our hearts when he applied to 20 schools and earned scholarships to all of them, including from Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania. 

A Fox News anchor tried to discredit Brown’s accomplishment, saying its ‘obnoxious’ to apply to 20 schools, and Twitter appropriately dragged her.

4. Waffle House hero James Shaw Jr. raises $241,731 for victims of a shooting

After being dubbed the Waffle House Hero for disarming an active shooter, James Shaw Jr. started a GoFundMe for the four victim’s families, and the public flocked to donate almost $250,000 instead. 

Despite repeatedly claiming he is "not a hero," Shaw has been nationally recognized for his bravery. Dwyane Wade awarded Shaw with a $20,000 donation to a cause of his choice, Chadwick Boseman gave his MTV Movie ‘Best Hero’ award to him and Shaw will be leading the Nashville Christmas Parade.


5. The 2018 midterms dripped with firsts 

A blue wave, indeed. The House undeniably became more colorful and inclusive on November 6. The results certainly weren't ideal all-around but they did prove to be a night of many firsts with the elections of Congresswoman-elects Ilhan Omar, Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez, Sharice Davids and Attorney General Letitia James to name a few.

6. A Twitter ‘search party’ helped a college student reunite with her long-lost bestie 

After meeting and befriending one another on a dinner cruise in 2006, two young girls went on to be long-lost best friends. That all changed when one, Brianna Cry, took to social media to find her former bestie. The internet banded together and within a couple of hours, Brianna’s long-lost friend Heidi responded with a cute little one-liner and the two were reunited. 

7. A 10-year-old girl learned she was going to be adopted

Ivey Zezulka went viral in a video where she opens a birthday present from her now-adopted parents Paige and Daniel, who surprised her with the news. According to Madame Noire, Ivey and her siblings Kai and Lita were all taken in by the couple and the little girl’s reaction had us all in absolute TEARS. 


8. Adorable babies delivered a CNN parody just in time for Black History Month


The most adorable round-up of kids you’ve ever seen made a parody CNN segment covering Black excellence in news. Dressed as April Ryan, Angela Rye, Bakari Sellers and Symone Sanders, the babies delivered a fiery segment on trailblazers like Serena Williams and Oprah.

9. The 2-year-old who intrinsically knew Michelle Obama was a queen dressed as her for Halloween 

The precious Parker Curry went to see a portrait of Michelle Obama in the National Portrait Gallery and, according to her mom Jessica Curry, Parker “believes Michelle Obama is a queen and wants to be a queen as well.” 

The little girl proved she wasn’t done with us yet when she embodied the portrait and dressed as Mrs. Obama for Halloween. 

After seeing the photo, Obama even invited Parker over for a dance session. 

10. Serena Williams served superhero realness while returning to her first Grand Slam as a mother

After giving birth to her beautiful baby girl, Serena Williams returned to tennis and looked damn good. Williams showed up and showed out in an all-black Nike catsuit at the French Open — and she won. Queen moves.  

11. Mamoudou Gassama, the immigrant who saved a child by climbing a building, became a French citizen

Mamoudou Gassama was an illegal immigrant from Mali, living in Paris when he saw a child hanging from a balcony. Gassama leapt into action, scaling the balconies of the building and earning the nickname Spider-man for his efforts to save the child. 

This man did not hesitate a second, risked his life and saved the kid! #truehero #spiderman #paris ???? pic.twitter.com/u1fvid3i1j— Fred (@FredBC77) May 27, 2018

After his successful heroic feat, Gassama was awarded with French citizenry. As Lin Manuel Miranda would say, “Immigrants – we get the job done.”

12. Colin Kaepernick was announced as the face Of Nike’s 30th Anniversary ‘Just Do It’ campaign

"Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything." This slogan encapsulated Kaepernick’s journey as a professional football player who risked and lost his job after protesting police brutality against Black people. While we were all "with Kaep," we couldn’t get his job back for him.

Nike surprised us all by making Kaepernick the face of their latest campaign, becoming a sportswear brand who backed the activist when his own team wouldn’t. 

13. Aaron Philip became the first Black, trans, disabled model to sign with Elite Model Management

Closed mouths don’t get fed, and Aaron Philip is eating, honey! After posting a headshot and posed photo on Twitter, she let the world know that she’s signed to a modeling agency and that it would thus be “OVER for ya’ll." Philips was approached by Elite Model Management and the Black, trans, disabled model has been making art ever since. 

14. A Florida senior receives a $100,000 scholarship from Beyoncé and Jay-Z during an 'On The Run II’ concert

While dancing to Jay and Bey, Florida teen Keshawn Morgan was surprised with a $100,000 scholarship from the famous couple. 


The best part? Morgan’s scholarship was one of 11 that the Carters awarded during their tour. Bey and Jay decided to lend a helping hand while on the run to a senior who demonstrated great academic achievement in several cities visited on their tour stops. You get to go to college, you get to go to college – everybody gets to go to college and everything is love. 

15. A 14-year-old aspiring astronaut helped raise $20,000 so that little girls could see ‘A Wrinkle In Time’

Taylor Richardson partnered with Color of Change, an organization focusing on racial justice, to fundraise $20,000 for 1,000 young girls to see Ava DuVernay’s “A Wrinkle in Time" last February.

“I wanted all girls, especially girls of color, to know that they can be whatever they wanna be when they grow up,” Richardson told ABC’s Good Morning America. “That they can struggle and have flaws, but still be successful in life.”

Thank you all for restoring our faith in a little thing called humanity. 

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