Hello hello,
Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you’re finding exactly what you need this weekend whether that’s connection with or distance from friends and family. I’m having the most non-traditional thanksgiving over here. My day started with a Zumba class at the gym. It was my first workout class since my youngest son was born (ahem over 2 years now), and it is a really odd day to get back into a gym routine. It was made odder by the fact that the instructor had baked organic, mini pumpkin pies for everyone in class… (while strange, it’s a genius tactic to ensure new participants will return…).
We won’t be with any family this year, but the neighbors have graciously invited us to commune with them today. And truthfully, this break from tradition has nudged me to really think about this holiday and what/why we ‘celebrate’. I checked out https://native-land.ca/ to find out what indigenous tribe(s) lived on the land where I currently reside. I found out that I live on the land of the Tamien Nation, one of the 8 linguistic divisions of the Ohlone people . The use of the name Tamien (also spelled Tamyen and Thamien) dates back to 1777. Being the the peninsula, fishing and boat making were key components of the tribe’s culture, and they even made ‘money’ out of clam shells. There’s an active community-based language preservation project where citizens can keep the Tamien language alive.
I understand the hesitancy of so many [white] people to really research, ask about, and embrace the origins of today because humans are extremely loss averse. We don’t want to lose the things about our traditional Thanksgiving that we love. Rituals and traditions that shape our families, that make us feel like we’re part of something, that ground our identity. But, what if we keep all those parts that we love, and we just tweak why we’re engaging in them? We keep the gathering, the delicious food, the football, the post-meal walks, and instead of envisioning the Pilgrims and Native Americans joyfully sharing a meal, we learn about the land we live on. We acknowledge the atrocities for what they really were, and we vow to use our time together to learn and grow (and possibly donate locally if we’re able)? Feels like a win-win, but it’s just a thought…
Aside from the holidays, there’s been a lot going on in the world. I think we saw our judicial system in action with the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict. The James Clear quote really resonates here – “You don’t rise to the levels of your goals, you fall to the levels of your systems.” I have so many thoughts – the first of which is that this boy is a child. He made a horribly bad decision partially because his frontal cortex is a long way from being fully developed. So, despite my hurt for the families of those he killed, I don’t think I really believe Kyle should spend the rest of his life behind bars (?). But, I wish I could say that if Kyle was Black, he’d get the same verdict. And we know objectively that’s not the case. Kyle’s acquittal is the ultimate public display of white privilege, and not just individual privilege but a display of how white people benefit from the design of the system.
And then we see justice for Ahmaud Arbery! I will just sum up my thoughts on this case with the following tweet: “#racism is thinking that a black man jogging has to “follow orders” from a white stranger with a gun.”
#justiceforahmaudarbery #blacklivesmatter #indigenouslivesmatter #courageousconversations #powertoprivilege
-Jessica