This "Thanksgiving Day" ... Standing Rock, Black Lives Lost...THANKSGIVING AKA MISGIVING UPDATE...WHAT I KNOW FOR SURE

Greetings To All:

Today we are gathering with Families, Friends and Strangers to give thanks as we enjoy the delicious meals prepared with love and laughter or custom designed by our favorite gourmet delivery service

:), but as we share stories and reflect on Family behaviors of Thanksgivings past let us understand more about this day. Not just from its historical premise, which is extremely important to know but also in light of current events: Standing Rock, Black Lives Lost and the collateral damage of an emotionally violent and disruptive election.

I, personally, have chosen to fast today. I shall pray, do good deeds and hope for more opportunities to be a Warrior Healer Builder. My Family while supporting me and keeping in mind all they understand of this day, will move about conscious of the work that awaits them. I give thanks for such offspring, their Father, my Grand Designs, my beautiful friends, my Faith and Good Life. I also give thanks for the trials and tribulations for they, too, have given me courage and the ability to see a little clearer, love a little deeper and believe in something greater than myself.

I am also going to re-read a brief but well stated history of what actually occurred on this resultant day we call Thanksgiving. It is a history written as part of a curriculum developed by scholars from the Indigenous people who originally occupied the land we call America. It is not an easy read, but a necessary one if we are to be true to ourselves and take a just but compassionate stand against oppression regardless of the geography or the perpetrators. https://www.manataka.org/page269.html The hope is we can take this historically accurate knowledge and provide inspiration for a more livable and harmonious world. Remember Standing Rock in your prayers and the Black and Brown Lives Lost. Know that you are loved, have the power to do great things and don't forget to Dance.

<3
image: april wilson harris

— with Ayisha Ni'mat, Gwendolyn Karimou, Wendy Fen and 47 others.

Wake Up America...

like to suggest in the coming years (The Last Thursday In November) every American Muslim fast this day and donate at least $10.00 to their favorite charity (one Meal)

Comment by Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص on November 24, 2016 at 10:57am: Listen UP the link is to a standing list for the Camp at Standing Rock. Cold weather setting in and 4000 men women and children will need support.FROM STANDING ROCK:
"Water Is Life. We are water protectors that stand with the Tribal Nations and supporters of all backgrounds that seek to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline from being built on and through indigenous land. Standing Rock is not a protest. It is the protection of water and life. Through, prayer, peaceful demonstration, and community, we will stop the black snake from being built and contaminating Mother Earth. It is our responsibility and duty to protect Mother Earth. This list consists of the needs of members of the Standing Rock community who have been there for months and who plan to be there until DAPL is defeated. Many of the items are unique and are severely needed. Water Protectors have faced extreme force and violence from the local and state law enforcement agencies. Water Protectors will always act in peace, but we must also ensure our Water Protectors are safe from injury. With Gratitude and Prayer.

Comment by Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص on November 25, 2016 at 8:37pm: THANKSGIVING AKA MISGIVING UPDATE...WHAT I KNOW FOR SURE

Chellloooooo

No, this is not about Lady O and her wisdom; it’s my living out loud. What I know for sure is that we need to be in dialogue sharing our thoughts down here on the ground, in the grass-roots, as ordinary people thinking and doing extraordinary things. As I recently shared, I intended to fast in lieu of “thanksgiving” celebrations and I did and extraordinary things happened. As I prepared for the day, I came to realize it wasn’t going to be easy, not as easy as imagined. The fasting wasn’t difficult, it’s very much a part of my lifestyle, but Thanksgiving, the tradition was pardon the expression, baked in. Family and Friends, though supportive of my choice couldn’t quite figure out what to do with themselves: “Could they still eat, talk about turkey, dressing and sweet potato pie?” I had to reassure them that I wasn’t attempting to think for everybody, nor become anti-social. I just needed to increase my own awareness and maybe in that quiet place I could imagine the world differently than I currently experience it.

I had a plan: I‘d pray, do good deeds and keep close to the Water Protectors at Standing Rock.

I sat quietly the whole day; that’s the beauty of fasting, it’s the quiet in the middle of crazy. In the words of my new favorite creative, Brandi Carlile’s “The Eye,” “I wrapped your love around me like a chain/ But I never was afraid that it would die/ You can dance in a hurricane/ But only if you’re standing in the eye.” https://goo.gl/qLVzwc

That’s the challenge finding the “eye” in the grief, pain, suffering, division, hatred, war, broken hearts, dead bodies, Mother Earth wailing and all the while being asked to steady ourselves. Strange as this might sound, I reached for my new best friend, Tom Friedman (Allah uses whatever resonates with His servants to deliver a message). He’s written in his new book, “Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in The Age of Accelerations,” that the world is changing so rapidly it’s becoming unfamiliar… “They’re feeling unmoored. The two things that anchored them in the world — their community and their job — are feeling destabilized.” Without saying it, he’s speaking of “white America”, the people referred to recently as the deplorables and what I call the expendables. Well, welcome to my world. What he confirmed, without knowing, was that oppression affects all humans in a similar way and those who are oppressed overtime suffer and will act out.

From my familiar I see, right is wrong and wrong is acceptable, up is down and inside is out. That reliable hand-hold is just out of reach. Even for Westernized Africans whose ebb and flow is like a mighty ocean, these times are unsettling, so for those who are used to privilege its devastating. For me “dancing in the hurricane, standing in the eye” is belief in something greater than myself, prayer, self-purification and the rebuilding of our healthy Communities, on this Tom and I agree.

They will look different than what we imagine: pluralistic lifelong learners (from the Diaspora), culturally rich, self-reliant and safe, they are a necessary first step to healing, the underpinning of much-needed stability.

Wisdom: We need to be with our own… Does that make me a nationalist or a racist? I don’t believe so. We need familiar; we need to be close to those who understand where we’re comin’ from. We need our food and our music and our speak. It’s not closed or unwelcoming. Lessons learned from the immigrant communities, is that we need a familiar place and our familiar has been assimilated, dissipated, eviscerated.

What I know for sure: It’s time to re-build and reconnect… We are descendants of Africa, every healthy Community is connected to their ethnic origins. You are vested in America, resist anything to the contrary. Last but not least, it’s time to lead… #globalcitizen #blackliveslost #standingrock #quietresistance

image: alice wilson harrison