While for most Americans, Thanksgiving Day is for feasting, football and giving thanks, for Native Americans, it is a reminder of dead ancestors, racial slurs still being worn on football jerseys and families around the nation feasting on food from colonized agricultural land.
Native Americans say the day is not a holiday but rather a celebration built on a lie, one they would rather spend indulging in some self-care instead of turkey and yams. Some even refer to the day as Day of Mourning or Unthanksgiving Day.
As a holiday, Thanksgiving began in 1637 when it was proclaimed by governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony to celebrate the safe return of the men who had gone to fight against the Pequot in Mystic, Conn. The fighting led to the enslavement and massacre of over 700 men, women, and children from the New England-based tribe, a bloody precursor to what would be centuries of strife for native peoples in the U.S.
While families across the country indulge on their Thanskgiving Day feasts, hundreds will gather at Cole’s Hill in Plymouth today to commemorate a different tradition: the National Day of Mourning.
The event, held annually on Thanksgiving, is meant to honor Native American ancestors who died due to the European invasion, and to expose the bloody history behind the November holiday.
On this day, I continue to join many who have broken tradition and spend this day bringing more awareness to the real, horrific story behind "Thanksgiving", remembering the over 194 black people who have been unjustly murdered by the hands of the U S. police and shine a light on modern issues facing African-Americans today.
I leave you with this question, what day have we chosen as a national day of mourning of our fallen and bring awareness to the issues facing us?
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I invite you to join me on Friday ("Black Friday"), November 24, 2017 at a FREE event at The Gallery 2017, Stand Against Gun Violence, Art, Hip Hop, Fashion, from 5:00pm-11:00pm and hosted by Hot 97's own, @shanikulture and DJ Drewski in the practice of supporting a B.O.B. and post live about it!
*Come shop with Black owned and local businesses @ 59 Wright St, Staten Island, N.Y.
