The News and Random Thoughts

---> 607 mass shootings this year in the US

---> 50 anti LGBTQ bills proposed this year in the US

---> Complete reproductive healthcare and bodily autonomy denied to women this year in the US

---> Anti- public education and pro whitewashing of history in schools at an all time high this year in the US

---> The US Supreme court is working toward abolishing Affirmative Action and is considering reversing the policy of preventing Native American children from being adopted by white American citizens- a policy that has been in place for many years, to protect a vulnerable and endangered population from the still pervasive effects of erasure and colonization.

---> Voter suppression and voter intimidation is as strong as ever this year in the US Gerrymandering has succeeded once again in deafening the voice of the voting people

---> Anti Blackness, misogyny, antisemitism taking no breaks this year in the US

More and more evidence of the fallacy of a strong democracy has come to light this year in the US

---> More and more physicians burnt out, hopeless, fed up, and leaving medicine or leaving the US this year

---> The Justice Department is afraid to charge a man for blatent crimes simply because he once was the president of the United States. All while claiming that no one is above the law

---> The US continues to lecture other countries about "human rights infractions" while going out of their way to impinge on the rights of their own humans.

I have been following US news more lately due to podcasts that I've found. I stay abreast of certain policies because I am still on the board of a grass roots, pro-public education organization in Arizona. Politics is not just something abstract. Politicians make policies and policies intimately affect the lives of my family, friends and colleagues. I pay attention because what happens in a country that is as large and influential as the United States, can happen elsewhere if people are not vigilant.

The list above is overwhelming, and it doesn't even cover it all. If ever I and other immigrants who have moved out of the US needed reasons to add to our Why list, we wouldn't have to look too far.

As a Trinidadian, Thanksgiving day was not a thing. While living in the US, my family had a very eyes wide open view of Thanksgiving day. I took the time each year to discuss Thanksgiving from the perspective of the Native People who use the day as a time of remembrance and mourning for all the atrocities they have and continue to endure at the hands of the United States government. We would talk about gratitude, but also honor the truth by speaking it openly and honestly. We would donate to Native American charities and funds and we tried to show the children that thoughts and prayers mean nothing without some tangible and practical efforts. I am grateful today that I no longer need to be obligated to celebrate this holiday at all in Aotearoa.

Every day is a day to be grateful and say I love you to your family and friends. Every day is an opportunity to encourage your little ones to practice their attitude of gratitude. No day should be off limits for centering the stories of the marginalized. As my family and friends celebrate Thanksgiving Day in the USA, I sit in my gratitude for all of my blessings, including my precious family and priceless newfound peace.