Happy Thanksgiving
At least to those in America who celebrate. I hope you’re with your families and loved ones.
Generic well-wishing to everyone not in America and those who do not celebrate.
Michelle points out the history of Thanksgiving.
This post brought to you by the NaBloPoMo daily quota. :)
November 23, 2007 at 12:22 am
Horaay, to all the things brought to us by the NaBloPoMo quota - A full bag of goodies and a great way to know each other! Good on you for a thanksgiving blog!
November 23, 2007 at 3:02 am
I figure I can get away with a day with nothing but a single fluff post. :)
November 23, 2007 at 1:16 pm
I figure I can get away with a day with nothing but a single fluff post. :)
NOT SO FAST!
Because the other day I looked up this article right here on Thanksgiving for my white co-worker following a discussion in which I bitched for a moment about the happy thoughtless half-sheet “Thanksgiving Fun Facts” in my inbox at work, from the also-white manager. And my co-worker and I had a little conversation in which she advised me to understand that the manager is a sweet person and means well (which she is and I’m sure she does) — but still to me, well, the way this holiday feels is like blood-drenched violence and a sort of ritual in which white people implicitly but truly affirm our loyalty to the beast so to speak
so — fluff post? I myself personally? feel no fluff here :)
(the fact that I am being this direct is a mark of my respect for you, as I hope you know)
November 23, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Fluff as in lack of content. I really wasn’t in any shape to write anything useful. I did have this stuff on my mind, thanks to Nezua’s post on the subject. That wasn’t the foremost thing on my mind - just having a November 22nd post was.
Anyway, yeah, there’s a lot of stuff people should know about Thanksgiving, and what really happened during those typically romanticized feasts.
November 23, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Thank you, Lisa!
(and BTW, I can’t actually read Nezua’s blog very often as I am on dial-up with accelerator and his site is so … I don’t know, graphics-heavy? or something like that … that loading it is really hard. I keep having these points where I’m like “nah, it can’t be that bad! I must be remembering it wrong!” when people mention him, and then I try again and it’s like ARGH!!! )
so anyway, I’m glad to hear about what he’s doing :)
November 23, 2007 at 1:56 pm
He has a lot of graphics. There’s a way to trim some of that down with the little red patterns.
If you go to one of his posts, like this one and look right above the comments, and click on the sixth red symbol from the left, you should get a low-bandwidth version, and that setting will stick, so you can go to the main page or whatever.
November 24, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Well, the Canadians keep thanksgiving just for no apparent reason except maybe to give rejoicing to the queen or some such thing - just on a different month because we are like lame younger siblings (even though Canada has been co-settled by English, French, Russian and Natives together for 500 years - and by Vikings as a sort of penal colony for 500 years before that) in that we imitate the states but not EXACTLY - like our football, it isn’t american football but I don’t care about either.
What is missing from thanksgiving feasts - well since they were puritians, I am guessing sex. I think if there had been a LOT of sex at those first thanksgiving, things would have gone a lot better and the US would be a whole different place. That’s what the governor of BC did and it chilled him out.
November 24, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Oh I did read the article in case you think I have unwanton levity and, well, everyone KNEW the puritans were nutcases - which is why they had to leave England; which they were happy to do, even knowing that three (indeed ALL) previous colonies had died just so they could have a lovely repressed society that they couldn’t have in England.
But that was only ONE section of what became the united states. While Virgina was busy importing black slaves, Georgia was busy importing white ones (it was a penal colony after all). And Pennsylvania was founded on religious freedom because the Quakers had to leave England because they were accused of (I love this) TOO MUCH SEX. Yup, their idea that all people should love all others where made into bawdy tunes (I have several from the period) which told how Quaker preachers would practice their “free love” by having sex with multiple people on their way to market (pretty racy stuff for 1600).
I am certainly not excusing the US whose entire history seems to be made from exploiting one group after another and then trying different forms of genocide (and then usually electing the person best at that Genocide as President).
My memories of thanksgiving involved being forced to eat Yams. Which I really don’t see enough people protesting against. AND brussel sprouts! Another evil, evil act which actually still makes me throw up in my mouth around the smell of brussel sprouts - our house was an “Eat your plate….or else!” - so sort of a day off from school but also…Yams, and Brussel Spouts.
November 24, 2007 at 2:50 pm
oops I stand corrected, I see now that there was “rampant sodomy” so if they hadn’t gone all postal killing everyone it could have been the first pride event. Darn it!
November 24, 2007 at 3:32 pm
All true. The main reason that criticisms of Thanksgiving focus on the pilgrims is that the US also focuses on the pilgrims.
And we’re educated in America that the puritans came to America seeking religious freedom, without any real discussion of - say - who the puritans were, what was up with the Cavaliers and Roundheads, who Cromwell was, or what Calvinism was.