I  was going through old posts to see what I’d written about the gruesome reality of the first Thanksgiving so I didn’t just regurgitate what I’ve already said. That’s when I saw this post I  wrote years ago (2015) about being thankful for being black on Thanksgiving.  I was struck by the recurring themes in that post and others I’d skimmed through.

It’s clear that there has been a lot of repetition in my blog because, plainly, things haven’t changed. It’s so eerie because a lot of the elements I mentioned 5 years ago are resurgent events that are occurring at an even larger scale today. There have been incremental improvements over the last few years, sure, but this slow movement towards progress is leaving lives in its wake. At the very least, there are more people aware of the struggle, which is a significant part of the battle. Facing the painful past in this country is the only way we can move forward. Another sentiment echoed in previous posts, but it’s the truth. 

This brings me to Thanksgiving. A day we’ve been taught in school that commemorated a large feast where pilgrims and Native Americans sat down together and enjoyed a peaceful meal. Not only that, but pilgrims were benevolent seekers of religious freedom and pious people who welcomed Native Americans to teach them “the ways of the land” so they could all survive together. Oh and the way the expansion of the country happened was due to unquenchable explorers wanting to uncover precious new land for the growing population. Those blankets given to Native Americans were accidentally full of small pox. The trail of tears was a crude necessity to ensure the stability of the American future. The very fact they were called Indian**, because of a mistake some European man made. I think it was around high school when I learned the fallacies we were being taught about the history of this country. My mom was not having that. I also learned of my own native heritage (my great-grandmother), which I haven’t been close to but am in the process of discovering.

Indigenous people are mourning all across the country today while lies continue be told in our school system that downplay the vile mistreatment of the original proprietors of this land. There are any different origin stories of how Thanksgiving came into being. One of them is the meal that the pilgrims were indulging in was not in celebration of their newfound kinship, it was in celebration of a strike against the native people resulting in the deaths of 700 people from the Pequot tribe after a man was found dead in his boat. It was in retaliation for his death because the Pilgrims thought that tribe was behind it. So they crept onto their land and burned their houses down while they were asleep. Another story is that when the settlers first arrived they did have a meal and after hearing gunshots the Massasoit people came to check it out. They were invited to eat with them but there wasn’t enough food, so the Massasoit sent out hunters and they returned with 5 deer, but this was in March. While it might be nice to cling onto that latter account to attribute this holiday to something less iniquitous, it’s in this country’s best interest to, how do I put this mildly, pull its head out of its rear. The settlers’ relationship with the Indigenous Americans people was tumultuous at the very least. It was full of violence, intimidation, and thievery. This land is not “our” land, as it is sung in our patriotic songs. At least, not the people who wrote that song. Today Native Americans are mourning the atrocities done to their ancestors and we should be aware of how complicated this day can be. It doesn’t mean we cannot celebrate, it just means there needs to be acknowledgment.

Thanksgiving as a concept is great. Giving thanks is never a bad thing and in this awful time, we absolutely should be counting our blessings. I am grateful for my family, my friends, my partner and being able to take all this time to figure things out. I have a whole lot to be thankful for and oh am I. I just can’t sit idly by and shovel my face with all the food while I know there are fellow humans in this country mourning today. I have to believe we can get to a point where we can celebrate and acknowledge to move forward in a productive way, whether that means recreating this holiday or getting rid of it altogether should be up to the tribes, nations, bands, pueblos, and native villages.

Happy Thanksgiving, but also my heart is with the people who were senselessly taken off this planet to create this nation.

** In an earlier version of this post I used “Indians” to make a point about how carelessly we were taught in grade school but after some further reflection and research I changed that. Native/Indigenous Americans are triggered by those labels and should never have to read that just for me to make a point. Disappointed I didn’t catch it sooner, but did want to make sure I’m holding myself accountable.