how to reckon with the truth at thanksgiving
There is something really sweet about those days leading up to Thanksgiving when all we can think about is food and connection. I love heading to the grocery store before the crowds flood in, playing an age-old game of creating beautiful meals on a bargain. I love filling my home with music and the savory smells of Black healing food. It's a vibe that holds me warm and close every year.
As is the balance of things, with joy there is also grief. It is often hard for me to reckon with the reality of American holidays and the re-writing of history that sanitizes the violent truths underneath our shared traditions. As a person who chooses to study race, place, and belonging I am pretty consistently in a cycle of reckoning, grief, and the grounding authenticity that grows from that work.
One of the ways I find peace with that at this time of year is to be honest about the hard bits and find ways to honor my needs.
The Not-So-Obvious Truths
This country was built on the attempted genocide and systematic, calculated cultural desecration of a continent of people deserving safety and freedom.
The land we compete for in an unsustainable housing market is not ours.
The food we cultivate is grown in agricultural traditions that continue to perpetuate the violence inflicted on those early peoples.
Our shared global power is still dependent on the continued separation of Indigenous people from the land and ancestral practices carefully built into their collective identity.
The truth hurts. It does.
And despite what we have learned through years of social conditioning, we CAN hold hard truths and still find joy.
The Joy
I intend to find joy as I gather with those who love me and are safe for me to spend time with.
I find sweet joy in the scent of November in the air as I take long walks over crackling leaves.
My joy is in my daughter who even at 17years old will still melt into a puddle of giggles over the right Christmas movie.
I find deep satiating joy in my partner who is the kind of person who cultivates truth love, and magic with every breath.
I find ever-illuminating joy in thoughts of my mother, my grandmothers, and the generations of ancestors who live within and beyond my memory.
For EVERY hard truth and place of grief, there is a need that can be honored and met. This holiday season let’s hold our collective power to meet our collective need for love, safety, and belonging.
Top 3 Ways To Meet Our Needs Right Now
Now, I'm about to go find the love in my grandmother's mac n cheese recipe real quick! Follow me on IG to get in the mix, and subscribe to The Retreat Newsletter for collective healing in your inbox. You don’t want to miss what’s coming in hot for my community in December!
Happy Thanksgiving loves.
Yours in bliss,
V💚