During the holiday season, folks are supposed to be “merry and bright,” right? For many of us, that isn’t very easy.

Let’s talk about the US holiday Thanksgiving, a celebration of colonial oppression and overconsumption. For me, Thanksgiving is a mixed bag.

When I was 13, my parents announced on the Sunday after Thanksgiving that they were getting divorced. My mother had made strides to create a huge family tree for my grandmother. She had traced photos of five generations of my stepfathers’ relatives onto fabric that she then made into a quilt for my grandmother. It had taken her over a year to complete the project. It was my parents’ turn to host the family reunion, and they had chosen Thanksgiving as a way to have a one-day celebration, rather than the week-long camping trip that was a family tradition. After all of my mother’s hard work, it was very traumatizing to hear that we were being kicked to the curb. It’s hard to be thankful for a stark reminder of family trauma. [Read more…]