Thanksgiving is this week in the United States. As we’ve been doing for the past few years, we’re approaching this holiday as our annual opportunity to rethink what, how, and why we choose to celebrate this holiday season. To read a collection of our thoughts on this holiday from the past few years, you can do so here:
- Rethinking Thanksgiving 2018
- Thanksgiving 2020
- Thanksgiving 2021
- Thanksgiving 2022
- Thanksgiving 2023
For many folks this year, Thanksgiving may be a time of trepidation. The results of the U.S. election are fresh in our minds, and this may represent the first time that you will have to engage with friends and family members who voted the opposite way from you. For others, Thanksgiving will be a welcome respite and a chance to celebrate food and connections.
No matter how you feel heading into this week, this holiday represents a chance to acknowledge the complicated and violent history this gathering is built upon. It also presents an opportunity to engage with others to discuss our values, feelings, and viewpoints. Here are a few resources we’ve gathered that may be helpful for you:
- The 5Ds of Bystander Intervention. Right To Be
- 5 ways to survive Thanksgiving in politically divided families. Los Angeles Daily News.
- How to Survive Politics-Talk at Thanksgiving (Without Losing Your Mind). Vogue.
- A Racial Justice Guide to Thanksgiving. Center for Racial Justice in Education
- Should America Keep Celebrating Thanksgiving? The Nation
- Special Issue: Thanksgiving in a Divided America: The Story of “Franksgiving.” Matthew Isbell- MCIMAPS
- The True, Dark History of Thanksgiving. Citizen Potawatomi Nation.
As you interact with loved ones, acquaintances, or that distant cousin you only see once a year, challenge yourself to share your values, speak up against injustice, and push back against harmful rhetoric. Finally, if all else fails, there’s (still) always Adele. However you choose to celebrate Thanksgiving this year (or not), our hope is that this can be a time of rest, reflection, and connection.