WAAMsgiving

I don’t know what to do with Thanksgiving. In a nation of warring ideologies, we’ve been left with two choices for the holiday, both unappetizing. Half our country leans into the stories they learned in elementary lessons and Sunday school about courageous pilgrims sent by God to carve civilizations out of wilderness. The other half will recite realizations of Indigenous American suffering and our duty to recognize the failings of the past.

I suspect that many of you feel the same. It’s the familiar discomfort of our patriotism. What can we do with a national heritage that contains the best of human ideals alongside our shameful failures to live up to them? Last September, we carried a copy of the Constitution (transcribed by children – don’t forget!) 160 miles from Philadelphia to Washington, DC, in a bid to reclaim our national identity and retell our country’s founding stories. Were we successful? That’s probably up for debate, but through sweat, blisters and sacrifice, we proved that patriotism can’t be defined by the stark ideologies surrounding us in the media, online and even at our Thanksgiving tables. We witnessed a country incredibly diverse yet united in the struggle to achieve the America promised to all of us. We learned that the past is not the place to return to, again and again, to find either our identity or our guilt. Our identity can be as broad as we choose to make it. And our most relevant guilt is rooted here, and now.

The Department of Homeland Security tweeted this year: “This Thanksgiving, there is no room at the table for invaders.” Put aside the trolling, put aside the lack of self-awareness, put aside even the cruelty: It is the fear and weakness that strikes me as being so un-American. What if instead of fixating on that first Thanksgiving table, on who was there and who wasn’t, we find the strength and courage to make the table bigger? I ask you, as the season of giving continues, to take a page from our marchers and reach out to your family, your friends, even passing strangers. Effect change, bring them into your community.

Last weekend, fifty members of the WAAM family came from all over the East Coast to celebrate a Friendsgiving in Philadelphia. We had marchers from New York, a pastor from Delaware, a veteran from Maryland. Everyone brought food, drink and firewood for s’mores. From as far afield as Texas, Kentucky and California, our team members called-in to join the festivities, sharing music playlists and family recipes. We pushed tables aside, moved couches and found chairs to hold our ever-growing community. Together – through songs, food (drink!), embraces, and conversation – we are reclaiming a shared history and identity, building a place from which to launch our nation into a better future.

It’s time to reimagine who we were, who we are, and who we will choose to be.  And, truthfully, I’m excited to see how we’ll rearrange the house next year so that we can all fit. 

👟 Are you interested in marching or volunteering this April 11-25th? Sign up via our new registration platform.

♥️ Looking for somewhere to donate this holiday season? All donations to WAAM are tax-deductible (and very much appreciated)!

WAAMsgiving + surprise birthday candles