YELL’N SHOUT
11/23/2022
Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday. It is supposedly to commemorate the Pilgrims sharing in the fall harvest and other blessings with the Wampanoag people. But soon the “new” Americans were at war with the Indigenous People. So, should cancel culture strike again? Some think it’s time to rethink the meaning of Thanksgiving, while others think we should keep the positives of the tradition.
As with so many ideas, history has a way of cleansing itself of the impurities we don’t like. But what if we took both ideas and melded them together. Why can’t we take the lessons we should have learned and bring those forth on Thanksgiving? And why should the U.S. have a patent on being thankful?
There is no excuse that can be used to justify the injustices suffered by Indigenous People. And yet at the same time it’s more than just okay to be thankful and grateful for all the bounties bestowed on us by Mother Nature. So, what’s the solution?
Gratitude for each day that passes is so very important for many reasons. It sets the tone for our whole day. It creates a positive vibe. It makes us think of more than just ourselves. Is that so bad?
Well, if you are an Indigenous Person, and your land were stolen, many of your people raped and murdered, and someone were trying to erase the evidence, would you be so willing to just carve up the turkey and forget the facts?
Extremes are never the answer. They only serve to alienate both sides. Why not use the holiday as an opportunity to learn the truth AND to be grateful for what we have today? And not just in America but worldwide. We still have a long way to go for peoples of the world to learn from mistakes that were made. That does not mean we can’t celebrate what we have learned.
C’mon, people. Let’s put our heads together and come up with something really special to be celebrated all over the world.
On this Thanksgiving and every one after it, let’s all be grateful for what we do have but never forget how it came to be.
This is not meant to marginalize Thanksgiving but rather to expand it.
Now, please pass the turkey, stuffing and gravy.
Happy Thanksgiving.
P.S. And by the way, how is it that we go from being grateful one day to trampling others the next day for Black Friday? Whose brilliant idea was that?
Tikkun Olam- heal the world. Leave it a better place when you leave.
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