The past ten years were filled with tragedies, some personal, some bigger than that. Ten years ago it was called the Year of the Tiger because Tiger Woods had won the U.S. Golf Open (2000). The decade ends with it being Tiger's "Year of the Dog" as we find out that he has been cheating on his wife with Lord knows who.

Speaking of dogs, Micheal Vick was arrested in 2007 for his role in dog fighting which gave pitt bulls a bad name. My pitt mastiff, Rusty, is a sweet loving baby. The decade was one for many attacks: Sharks (2001); the ones by Catholic priest exposed (2002); and Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans (2005). Though not by attack, the Columbia Space Shuttle was lost in 2003.  In 2004, my mother died which left me heart broken as did the death of Michael Jackson in 2009. In 2006 the City of Manhattan, California addressed a tragedy when it rededicated a park "Bruce's Beach" in honor of a 1920s incident in which an African American family had its beach front property taken by eminent domain because they were black. Some, though not me, thought John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin in 2008 was a tragedy.

Let's hope that the next decade is filled with triumphs.  For me that would be landing an interview with President Obama about surfing. (I am a photographer for the Black Surfing Association - (blacksurfing.blogspot.com), and I have been working on a series of interviews of black surfers!

All photos by © Paula Lauren Gibson/AfroPix