The Renaissance was the impassioned rebirth of European societies after the Middle Ages. It is considered to be one the most, if not the most exciting periods of European history. Many philosophers, authors, scientist and thinkers who we hold with high regards today thrived during this era. The Renaissance opened up a new way of thinking, new cultural identities alongside feelings of boldness and curiosity. This, of course, was influenced heavily due to the 14th-century pandemic. This pandemic originated from Asia and made its way to Europe through merchant ships. The disease was first carried by fleas on black rats but was then transmitted to human fleas which in return caused a pneumonic plague (which was airborne). The “Black Death” as it’s known reduced the world’s population from 450 million to 350 million.

I shared that little insight on the Black Death because I wanted you to understand the negative impact and dark era the world was in during that time. In a time when technological advances were practically nonexistent and the society was theological-metaphysical in “rationality”—there was still The Renaissance. There light after the darkness. That era metamorphosed like Phoenix and was the beginning of the end for the Middle Ages and the birth of modern-day civilization. Can we overcome the ongoing pandemic the same way the Europeans did in the 14th century? Will there be a Renaissance after the COVID-19 pandemic? I can’t say for sure because I am merely a writer, not a fortune-teller. What I do know for sure is that if we take heed to the history of plagues, diseases, pandemics and even war; we can see the parallels for ourselves of what not to and what to do.

Dante, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and William Shakespeare are all famous and noteworthy Europeans from this era. Their work is still alive and relevant in the 21st century. Some scholars believe that without The Renaissance, the world and the very root of how our society functions would have been completely different. We would have probably been a theocracy, with many of our “rationality” equating to religious thoughts and work instead of science. I’d like to think that after the COVID-19 pandemic, we become motivated to live boldly and impassioned with positivity like never before. Many tasted death during the Black Death and they were eager to live after the 14th-century pandemic, not just survive.

I wrote this piece with the hope of allowing my fellow Guyanese to still be motivated during these difficult days. We can overcome this and I am hopeful that we can create a new era of rebirth of new thinkers, philosophers, artists, writers, scientist and innovators. We can turn the negatives of this era into something phenomenal for the next. As I researched and read about the Black Death, “isolation” or as we call it; quarantine is what saved the world back then. That alongside sanitization, mask-wearing and other COVID-19 safety guidelines will be able to help us stop the spread of this virus until vaccination is accessible to everyone worldwide. As we welcome the New Year; 2021, keep The Renaissance in mind. The year 2020 might have one of the darkest periods of our era but there’s always light after darkness.