The "Giving" of Thanksgiving

Hey all,

I present to you..my first article featured in the New Orleans Catholic Worker newsletter! I hope it offers good food for thought as you (and I) approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Also, check out the rest of the newsletter at our website: http://nolacatholicworker.org

The "Giving" of Thanksgiving

This year, I approach the Thanksgiving table with not
only thanks, but also with a special invitation for others
and myself. I’ve learned that in order to give, we must
unlearn how we take. And in so doing, we must unlearn
what we’ve been taught about Thanksgiving.

In classrooms, we learn a storybook version of
Thanksgiving, one that embraces patriotism, generosity,
and mutuality. Like other children, I believed that the
goodness of the Plymouth Pilgrims and the Native
peoples was a perfect example to us all.

It was only later in my teen years that I
discovered my history textbooks had sorely misguided
me. The Thanksgiving story was just a story, one full of
charming fabrications and an appeal to American
idealism. Our popular story not only gives an overly
simplified version of the exchanges between the Pilgrims
and Native peoples, but also permits an unpardonable
omission of facts.

It most often goes unmentioned, for instance,
how the Pilgrims took over land that was already home
to others, literally building over fields that Natives had
cleared to plant corn and other food sources. Our story
omits the details about the house robberies that took
place, the forced conversions to Christianity, the
epidemic of plague that wiped out thousands of Native
peoples; all events that fall into a larger continuum of
cultural and ethnic cleansing.

After learning this truth, I knew that my days of
celebrating Thanksgiving
with joyful naiveté were
over. I can’t disregard
actual reality, even if it’s
uncomfortable, even if it
disturbs my ability to
celebrate something in
feel-good fashion. I am
accountable to what I
learn, and holidays are no
exception.

If we want to
truly focus on the
“giving” aspect of
Thanksgiving, we could
begin by recognizing how
our dominant culture rewards acts of taking. This reality
supports why we have history books that depict the
Pilgrims’ colonialism as something destined and
democratic. No doubt we see similar characterizations of
contemporary figures and corporations who legitimize
such acts as the displacement of marginalized peoples
from their communities, to follow a self-serving agenda.
Thanksgiving is not an isolated incident in history. It is
sustained, like it originally was, through ongoing forms
of racism, ethnocentrism, and xenophobia.

Once we recognize this degree of taking we can
actively resist it with our giving. I do this by maintaining a type of gratitude that does justice. I do this
by showing awareness of how I too embody
a colonizer’s legacy through my white racial
identity, my middle class status, and so on.

I have a lot to be thankful for; my
strong network of family and friends, access
to education, and financial support. When I
utilize these resources with a will to give, an
occasion like Thanksgiving becomes an
invitation into dialogue. It becomes a call to
action.

So, with moving gratitude, I
approach this Thanksgiving with a sense of
responsibility. I too can undo how I take in
order to give. Ω

"some people just don't have a choice"

Despite the tourist appeal of the famous Bourbon street, I'm not much for it. I've ridden my bike through the French quarter a few times and try to dodge the street altogether, avoiding ingesting its garbage-grease-stale beer aroma.

On Halloween night, however, I decided to face the swarms (and the stench) in the Quarter and went out in my homemade scarecrow attire. And a strange thing happened. Even in the midst of all the chaos, a feeling arose in me, like a switch inside turned on and suddenly I began to feel a little bit at home.

"Some people just don't have a choice." My housemate, Dan, said this a few nights ago, in reference to the allure of New Orleans. We had watched New Orleans' musician Kermit Ruffins perform, and energy was high.

I've heard people mention this allure frequently, this irrepressible draw of the city. I've heard it and thought, "Yeah, I could see that..." but hadn't really understood it, not until recently. And I still couldn't understand it like the folks who have lived here all their lives can, or like the ones who lived here and haven't been able to return. But I think I'm getting an idea.

In the past week it's begun to feel like the fall season. Blue skies, dried colored leaves on the ground (I was afraid these would never come), and cold that urges sweaters and hats. It's beautiful.

I continue babysitting (got the job!), busying myself with community events, and participating in the life at the Catholic Worker. On Wednesday mornings we bring a light breakfast and chat with folks looking for day work at a Home Depot. We've kept this weekly tradition for over a year. We have hosted a couple guests these past few weeks, and continue to explore ways to offer support and allyship to our neighbors and greater New Orleans.

This Friday evening we are hosting a potluck and dialogue about the School of Americas protest, happening next weekend Nov. 19-21. I hope to be able to go with my housemate Joe and a few friends. An update will come about that later!

I hope you are well wherever you're at.

Blessings,
Steph

travelin, travelin through

These past couple weeks have been full of hellos, but last week I said my first farewell to my housemate Jarred, who spent a few weeks trying to locate any friends or folks who knew him or his family in New Orleans before Katrina. As it is, the case remains pretty open. Jarred was a great addition to our house and we were sad to see him go, but wish him well here and back at his home in Utah.

My first week in New Orleans I bought a bike and have been traveling everywhere on it. In Seattle I felt pretty content getting here and there by bus or foot, but having this bike has made me realize just how special it is. I'm learning my way around the city a lot faster than I would if I were riding a car around and letting my mind wander. A few days ago I rode a good ways from my house to a community networking breakfast, to a food market across town, and then through downtown back to my house, tired and sweating from the city heat. But I love it (and wonder how long it will last!).

So far, I've been able to connect with specific places and people too. My housemates introduced me to The Rebuild Center, a day center that provides a safe setting for homeless and/or displaced folks to have meals, shower, rest, and receive mail and other resources. This place has connected us to residents in our CW community. I've begun to recognize some individuals around town, in the randomest of places, which shows just how small the city can feel.

On the job front, it seems like I may have a nannying opportunity available to me. I am looking for something part-time that I would enjoy, but would not take away from my focus on the Catholic Worker community, etc. Nannying appeals to me because it could allow me to build a sustainable relationship with a family here. I learn a lot from interacting with kids and it's (hopefully) an expected fun time.

On that note, I hope you're all doin' well in your separate places and partaking in activities that grant you a lot of light and love. You're in my thoughts!

Peace,
Steph

part one: seattle to atlanta to new orleans

Hello friends,

It's been over a week since I said my see-you-laters, and I've already delayed doing what I assured folks I would, which is to keep in touch through writing! My irregular absence online is both a result of a very active week and an effort to live in alliance with the simple lifestyle that the Catholic Worker encourages, which is to say, my new home does not pay for the internet.

I arrived in New Orleans last Saturday by way of car with friends Colleen and Katie. Prior to that, the three of us spent a lovely 4 days in Atlanta, Colleen's hometown, visiting her family and home and exploring the places she loves most, including Greendale Farm, a family-owned livestock farm where she has worked all summer. We drove from Atlanta through Alabama, where we took an unexpectedly long detour to deliver frozen chickens to a couple who make cheese on a small farm; through the bottom of Mississippi and into Louisiana to seek our beloved New Orleans. For the first few days we stayed with a friend of Colleen's who lives in the University District, where we wandered about through Audobon Park and other parts of the area.

Tuesday my friends moved me in the Catholic Worker house, which is located in the Lower Garden District. The house is two units which were converted to one; a good size to support a small community. I have a room upstairs to myself, which won't necessarily be the case all year as we welcome more residents into the house. Right now there are 8 of us sharing a home, some of us from New Orleans and from other parts of the country. So far I've had the opportunities to visit with each of my housemates a bit, who are in various places in their life journeys, and this house community is very much about supporting people wherever they're at. Decisions are consensus based, and we share in the house upkeep and cooking, and all are encouraged to join together for evening meals, weekly prayer/meditation, events at the house, and more.

This week the Catholic Worker house hosted a potluck and conversation with anti-war activist Kathy Kelly, whose work has an international focus on conflict resolution. I saw her speak the next day at a home for women and children seeking stable housing and living, and will go tonight to a peace liturgy at St. Joseph's church where she will speak again. I've found her message and spirit quite inspiring and suggest you research her.

In other events, our house is committed to growing our own vegetables, and yesterday a housemate and I spent a few hours working in our gardens, planting seedlings and "organizing" our plots. Over the next few months we shall watch our brocollis, lettuce, tomatoes, herbs and the like flourish (hopefully), and becoming a successful gardener is something I'd like to devote more learning toward.

For now, I'm really focusing on familiarizing myself with the city, meeting folks and developing those relationships with my housemates and neighbors. Soon I'd like to find a part-time job and get involved in some of the justice work that groups here are doing, but one thing at a time. I realize this was a very long post, and will likely cut these down in the future, but for now I thought I'd describe a lot of my initial transition.

Looking forward to hearing from y'all, and I'm always open to questions or comments about anything you see or don't see me write about on this blog!

Peace and thanks to your listening (reading),
Steph