Why “I” Can No Longer Celebrate Thanksgiving — the “traditional way.”

When You know Better, You Do Better!

I’ve made the conscious decision to no longer participate in Thanksgiving as I have in the past. My reasons are personal and are not meant to encourage or coax you to do the same.

For me, this is NOT about rejecting gratitude — it’s about honoring truth.

I’m clear that the stories we were taught about Thanksgiving in the colonies — a tale of peaceful fellowship between settlers and Indigenous people — were never the full story nor the complete truth.

Behind the myths lies a documented history of stolen land, broken treaties, forced displacement, enslavement, and massacres, unworthy of celebrations.

The Real Story

In 1637, colonists declared a “Day of Thanksgiving” after they massacred over 700 Pequot men, women, and children in present-day Connecticut.

What was celebrated as “thanksgiving” by settlers was in reality a celebration of conquest, destruction and death.

Pilgrims’ survival came at the cost of Indigenous lives, land, and culture — through disease, violence, and colonization — bottom line.

Over time, Indigenous nations such as the Wampanoag, whose ancestors had first aided the settler in Plymouth were decimated and displaced.

The Thanksgiving myth sanitized these truths, turning deep suffering into a national story of unity that never truly existed. It’s the psychology of denial or “collective dissociation” because it’s unimaginable that colonialists celebrated.

It’s Personal

These are not abstract historical events; they are personal and ancestral. They touch my bloodline — and probably yours.

My lineage carries traces of those intertwined stories: Indigenous, African, and European — a collision and mixture of histories that built this nation through both pain and resilience. I know fragments of their stories, and now that I know, those fragments can’t — and won’t — be forgotten.

For me, no more spending time and a fortune on a smorgasbord of food with way too many calories for one meal —gorging ourselves until we’re comatose, citing it as a day of gratitude.

Then out comes the food storage containers. The “to-go plates” and dishes to wash. The leftovers shuffled around in the refrigerator for days…for what? A lie. No thank you!

To continue celebrating Thanksgiving in its traditional form would be to ignore those truths — to ignore my indigenous ancestors — and I cannot do that anymore.

I have learned too much, and the knowing demands different behavior. When you know better, you do better!

Practice Gratitude Daily

Instead, I will practice gratitude every single day — not as a holiday, but as a way of life. I will gather with family and friends whenever I can, in celebration of love and not of a false narrative.

We will gather in reflection and acknowledgment of those who came before me.

I will honor the resilience of Indigenous, Enslaved, and Indentured people — and all those who were silenced or nearly erased from history. Their lives, their courage, and their resistance made our survival possible.

My choice is an act of respect, not defiance.

It’s an act of remembrance.

And it’s a promise — to live in truth, even when that truth is uncomfortable.

So, this season, I choose not to feast on myths, spending money for a celebration not meant for us— but I will feed my spirit with truth, connection, and gratitude that doesn’t require denial.

Holla if you hear me! I will no longer “acknowledge” Columbus Day or July4th.

Hit the like, subscribe/follow and join me again soon!

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If a DNA test says you’re 1% Indigenous American, you “might” have one Indigenous, great, great-grandparent several times removed (6-8Xs).

This rings true for my paternal family, who were “Free-ish Since 1673.” That 1 percent is not just a number; it’s a story — of how deeply connected we all are to histories of survival, displacement, and persistence.

If you enjoyed this blog, please like, comment, and follow/subscribe. I’d really appreciate your support. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Substack. I’m learning and playing with reels on TikTok with CapCut—sharing what life in my 60s is really like.