Have A Happy MyBrownBaby Thanksgiving!

I have kind of a Radio Raheem Love/Hate relationship with Thanksgiving. Intellectually, I know that the holiday has a dark history; the “pilgrims” feigned friendship with the Native Americans and, after sharing a meal, spread diseases, murdered and raped and pillaged a nation of people whose only fault was inviting Europeans to their tables.

In my heart, though, I recognize it as one of the few days in the year when my entire family gets together and shares a huge, southern meal lovingly prepared for the occasion. This year, my Daddy, my heart, will be at my table, along with my beloved uncle and my favorite cousins, and of course Nick and my babies. I’m cooking. There will be turkey and lamb, macaroni and cheese and candied yams, collards and string beans, rice and home made stuffing and home made cranberry sauce, sweet potato pie and a peach cobbler topped with butter pecan ice cream. We will bow our heads and give thanks for another year and another occasion to witness the gathering of our family—happy, healthy and in the land of the living.

For these things, I am grateful.

For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, remember to tell your babies the true story of the original feast, so that they know it’s past and appreciate from where we’ve come. And then demonstrate to them the art of grace and show them how to be grateful, because really, if we have breath, we do have a lot to be grateful for.

Enjoy…

Oh—and don’t hurt yourselves at the table!