Posts
The Lakota knew :
to the seeing eye, magic was everywhere.
Each person is Legion : made of many people, all struggling for dominance. We writers even more so than most.
Can you see the hero, Don Quixote, or Cervantes in that legendary tale? It all depends how you look.
Life. Death. We can see both, depending if we squint or not.
Do we swallow camels, while choking on gnats?
Is the obvious truly that? Or is life more complex than we believe?
I think Angelina is beautiful, you all know that. Her humanitarian efforts on behalf of the world's children touches my Lakota spirit.
Then, I discovered Angelina Jolie hates Thanksgiving
and wants no part in rewriting history like so many other Americans.
A friend of hers says, “To celebrate what the white settlers did to the native Indians, the domination of one culture over another, just isn’t her style.
She definitely doesn’t want to teach her multi-cultural family how to celebrate a story of murder.”
According to some sources, Angelina Jolie is so disgusted by "Thanksgiving", she takes her kids out of the country so they are not around the madness that is embodied in the holiday.
Does Angelina Jolie have a point, or has she completely missed the point of having a holiday just to remind us to be grateful for the blessings in our lives? What do you think?
***
to the seeing eye, magic was everywhere.
Each person is Legion : made of many people, all struggling for dominance. We writers even more so than most.
Can you see the hero, Don Quixote, or Cervantes in that legendary tale? It all depends how you look.
Life. Death. We can see both, depending if we squint or not.
Do we swallow camels, while choking on gnats?
Is the obvious truly that? Or is life more complex than we believe?
I think Angelina is beautiful, you all know that. Her humanitarian efforts on behalf of the world's children touches my Lakota spirit.
Then, I discovered Angelina Jolie hates Thanksgiving
and wants no part in rewriting history like so many other Americans.
A friend of hers says, “To celebrate what the white settlers did to the native Indians, the domination of one culture over another, just isn’t her style.
She definitely doesn’t want to teach her multi-cultural family how to celebrate a story of murder.”
According to some sources, Angelina Jolie is so disgusted by "Thanksgiving", she takes her kids out of the country so they are not around the madness that is embodied in the holiday.
Does Angelina Jolie have a point, or has she completely missed the point of having a holiday just to remind us to be grateful for the blessings in our lives? What do you think?
***
I'm back! We must stop meeting like this...
ReplyDeleteWe do not celebrate Thanksgiving in NZ, but I understand and appreciate the significance. However, I think 'thanks giving' per se, should be something we carry in our hearts every waking moment. Not designated for one day.
In my humble opinion I think Angelina Jolie deserves the right to do, say and think whatever she likes. The world is crying out for more people like her.
Carpe diem
I think she's straining at the proverbial gnat, but I respect her right to do so.
ReplyDeleteMy father's first wife was Native American. My half bro and sister, their mother and their brother and sisters and extended family all celebrate Thanksgiving as a time to get together and do what all families do; fellowship, reunite, talk, fight...etc.
There are few holidays whose origins are not in some way sinister. I am a Christian, yet this Halloween I "celebrated" by taking my daughter trick or treating. The origins don't bother me as much as the belief I hold in my heart now.
Similarly, Christmas itself has tragic historic symbolism; thousands of children aged 2 and under were slaughtered because of Herod's hearing of Christ's birth. That is conveniently forgotten in the mad holiday rush. But this does not prevent me from celebrating the joy of the other meanings of Christmas.
OK...I'll get off my soapbox now. :)
She's got a serious point. People don't think about the real history of this country's beginning enough.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, if people use Thanksgiving to remember the blessings in their life and be grateful for what they have then that's not a bad thing. At the same time, I agree with Wendy that thanksgiving should be something we carry in our hearts every day of the year. I guess it's all in our individual perspectives to do what we think right.
I've respected Angelina Jolie's humaniatarian efforts for a long time. I think she's amazing.
Jai
Wendy : I, like you and Voltaire, defend her right to express her thoughts freely. And like you, I believe that carrying the spirit of thanksgiving should be done each day. But I like that gratitude has at least one day per year here in the states where it is honored. And I like each of your visits!
ReplyDeleteCalfkeeper : Like you, I think Angelina is looking at this from the wrong end of the telescope. But like you, I admire her efforts for hurting people everywhere.
Jai : The origins of each nation is soaked in blood and injustice. No country can look back at their history without wincing if it appreciates mercy and kindness. Angelina's humanitarian efforts make me proud of her as does her anger at what she perceives to be an honoring of genocide and land theft on a horrendous scale.
Words From Little Lakota :
Being part Lakota Sioux, I know that my mother's People live condemned in the largest concentrations yet operated by a reigning government.
No fences of barbed wire hold them. Miles of parched desert does that for the White Man. Long generations of hopelessness and neglect by White laws help there.
I choose to think of the Native American Squanto, a Patuxet Native American who resided with the Wampanoag tribe,
who taught the Pilgrims how to catch eel and grow corn and served as an interpreter for them.
(Squanto had learned English while enslaved in Europe {so Angelina taking her children to Europe is somewhat ironic) and during travels in England).
Additionally the Wampanoag leader Massasoit had caused food stores to be donated to the fledgling colony during the first winter when supplies brought from England were insufficient.
The Pilgrims set apart a day to celebrate at Plymouth immediately after their first harvest, in 1621.
During the bloody year of 1863, European countires eyed America with greedy eyes, thinking of invasion of this distracted country.
In the bloody year 1863, wails of grief and bereavement echoed from millions of homes. The Union seemed on the verge of losing. Darkness threatened to engulf this country that Lincoln loved.
And so, prompted by the editorials of Sarah Josepha Hale, he proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.
He hoped to direct the thoughts of Americans both Northern and Southern to focus on what blessings remained to them, not those they no longer possessed.
He knew we became possessed by what we dwell upon. He wanted love and gratefulness to possess us in that dark time.
I wish Angelina knew Thanksgiving as this Little Lakota knows it.
I meant concentration camps. And wasn't Squanto a true giant of wisdom and compassion? Enslaved by the white man in Europe, he had no cause to love those with white skins. Yet, seeing them starving and in need, he helped them. Thanksgiving is a blessed holiday because Squanto chose to reject hate and practice courage and love.
ReplyDeleteThat the White Man later proved unworthy of that heroism and compassion should serve as a lesson for our lives not to practise such ingratitude.
Every time I visit your blog, I see a new glistening facet on your heart. I never realized you are part American Indian. Now I know why you have an old soul.
ReplyDeleteAs for Angelina, yes, she has her point, but I believe she is concentrating too much on the historical on not on the present. One should give thanks. Look around you. There is so much sadness, anger, and uncertainty. If one has a home, family, friends, and an income, you feel very grateful and give thanks. In the dead of a Chicago winter, seeing frozen people huddled in storefronts with only newspaper and cardboard boxes for protection from the razor sharp winds, give the viewer quite the reality check. And as you said, Roland, we should have one day to honor that. Also gathering with loved ones to share this with is an important bonding experience.
Thanks for stopping by my blog.... So many have expressed strong views of how huge crowds make you uncomfortable. I feel the same way, but although they are overwhelming having the love for HP overcomes your discomfort.
It's really quite exhilarating to be others who share your excitement.
Michael
Michael : I guess that is why we bloggers have so much enjoyment communicating with each other. We each share common dreams and goals. My mother used to call me an old soul in the body of a child.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I believe it is important for us to have one day set aside to have a grateful heart. While all are not Christians in this country, I also believe it is important for us to have another day set aside for "Peace On Earth and GoodWill To Man."
But then, I am a romantic. Have a great Sunday. Me, I'm off to polish the last chapter of THE LEGEND OF VICTOR STANDISH. Then, I go back to buff from the start. Whew! All these edits are a chore!
While I certainly don't support how Thanksgiving began, I celebrate it for the spirit it embodies. The same thing can be said of many holidays.
ReplyDelete