Thanksgiving, is historically known as one of the biggest events of the American calendar, and depending on who you ask, it’s either a time to feast or a time to mourn. If you ask most Americans, it’s a time where we give thanks for what we have in our lives and come together and stuff our bellies until we can’t eat anymore. If you ask any Native American (or Indians), you will get a different answer. They do not appreciate how the story of Thanksgiving is presented to the American public, and especially to schoolchildren, and in many ways you can’t blame them. I mean, they ARE Native Americans and native does mean, according to Dictionary.com, “being the place or environment in which a person was born or a thing came into being” as well as “belonging to a person by birth or to a thing by nature”. In their view, the traditional narrative of European settlers and Indians having a three-day celebration of food, hunting, and entertainment only shows one side of the story and not the complete side of the Indians. When you truly think about it, it’s not much different from much of history. The entire history of events is never revealed to the world for many reasons. Since 1970, protesters have gathered on the day designated as Thanksgiving at the top of Cole’s Hill, which overlooks Plymouth Rock, to commemorate a “National Day of Mourning.” Cole’s Hill isn’t the only place where these protests happen as similar events are also held in other parts of the country.

I gave a minor history on Thanksgiving because for the past few years Thanksgiving has been somewhat put on the backburner for the Christmas holiday due to the Holiday Blitz shopping craze. It used to be known as Black Friday, and it was like that for a good bit until recently when many stores decided to have their stores opened on THANKSGIVING DAY during the festivities. Wal-Mart will begin their blitz at 6 p.m. on Thursday night and others will do that same. Yes, on the day that we’re supposed to give thanks for what we have, there will be many people that will literally KILL other people to stand in line to get things they want. It never fails. Someone will go out and beat the ever living crap out of someone for toys, computers, even a set of bath towels. Seriously…BATH TOWELS!!!! Don’t believe me?! Do me a favor and go to YouTube and search for Black Friday Fights. It’s utter chaos and destruction…and for what?! To save a few measly dollars?! Is going to these sales really worth your life? If you really want to save money, do Cyber Monday (or for some companies) Cyber Week. It’s a lot safer and you won’t have to worry about stuff going away as fast. BTW, the shout-out to the stores that will NOT be opened on Thanksgiving so they can spend with their families and will be opened on 5 a.m. as Black Friday was intended to be in the first place.

So let’s recap…this Thursday we celebrate a holiday where we give thanks for what we have or mourn its existence due to people taking over the land (depending on who you ask), and on that same day people will drive to the stores and become the next WWE World Heavyweight Champion just to get toys, electronics, and bath towels (BATH TOWELS!!!) at a slightly cheaper price. Did I miss anything?

With that being said…Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!!