My concern about celebrating Thanksgiving led me to a search for ways to contribute toward addressing the inequities faced by Indigenous communities. Here’s what I’ve found so far:
NAYA coordinates a multitude of services that, according to their mission “enhance the diverse strengths of our youth and families in partnership with the community through cultural identity and education.” Here is a list of their requested donation items.
Friends of Trees is not overtly tied to balancing inequities, but economic disparities related to cost of living and structural racism mean that historically marginalized populations are disproportionately impacted by pollution and environmental contaminants.
Friends of Trees also has an equity and inclusion mission, and partners with Wisdom of the Elders, Verde and other organizations that are connecting environmental sustainability with social and economic justice.
Several of these organizations are also members of a Coalition for Communities of Color, which works on research, leadership development, and policy analysis and advocacy.
Learn more about kid-friendly volunteer opportunities here.
This morning, after encountering an acronym I didn’t recognize (BIPOC), I ended up at this article, [CONTENT WARNING-violence] illuminating some ways that police brutality disproportionately impacts specific racial populations (primarily black and indigenous people).
Reading it reminded me of the importance of engaging with these topics despite my discomfort, which I realize stems partly from my own struggle with not wanting to sound ignorant. But the solution to that problem is to continue educating myself, not to avoid the discussion completely. If everyone waited until they had a university degree in a subject before participating, then those conversations would remain purely academic exercises.
Instead, I am choosing to contribute my perspective, even as I worry that it is incomplete, and imperfect. I believe it is still important.
The link to the book reviews above includes the author’s description of their own discomfort in coming to terms with how much to share with their children about the history of violence in our country. I share that internal conflict, and I keep coming back to the awareness that the option to share that reality or not is a privilege many families don’t have, because continued violence impacts them directly. (With gratitude to Aisha Ray for introducing me to that concept in this post.)
Q had his first encounter with economic injustice recently as we witnessed a person taking diapers from our local Walgreens and walking out without paying. Like many 4-year-olds in our culture, he often plays thief and police officer. And we’ve talked before about why someone might be stealing something. I’ve also attempted to model restorative justice rather than the criminal justice system.
Honesty is kind
In my own mind I grapple with the idea that in a land where anyone goes hungry, every well-fed person is a thief. And the books above are reminders that some of our ancestors stole from some others, and that the descendants of those who were stolen from have continued to suffer throughout the recent history of this continent and remain vulnerable to economic and social injustices today.
It has been asserted that there’s not much we can do about that now. I disagree, and I think the least we can do – a decent start – is to tell the children the truth, even when it feels uncomfortable. I have gone back and forth between boycotting Thanksgiving and trying to focus on the spirit of gratitude and togetherness without the myths behind it. My current goal is to find an act of service that directly benefits individuals who have been harmed by those lies. Even that feels a bit token, but we have to start somewhere, and I’m hoping that by using the “holiday” as an opportunity to connect with organizations that are working every day to balance the inequities that remain, we can begin to make that effort more a part of our daily lives.
