OMNI
THANKSGIVING DAY NEWSLETTER #5, NOVEMBER 27, 2014, NATIONAL DAY OF GRATITUDE, MOURNING, AND ATONEMENT. And BLACK FRIDAY/BUY NOTHING DAY NOV. 28.
Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology.
Tonight Wednesday Nov. 26, 7p.m. AETN is showing the splendid film “My Life As a Turkey” again.
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OMNI’S NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL DAYSPROJECT
Contents #5, Thanksgiving Day Nov. 27, 2014, National Day of Gratitude, Mourning, and Atonement; Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day, Nov. 28.
President Obama’s Proclamation
Chuck Norris’s Criticism: Too Little Christian
Faith or Pilgrims
Coates, Obama’s Proclamation and Ferguson Police
and Mob Violence
and Mob Violence
De Hernandez, Day of Atonement
Day of Mourning and Atonement: Google Search
Turkey’s Point of View
AETN Knows: “My Life As a Turkey”
Tonight Wednesday Nov. 26, 7p.m. AETN is showing this splendid film again. Did you know wild turkeys can speak a dozen languages? Don’t miss it.(See Newsletter #3) Also tonight following that film: An Original Duckumentary” and “The Private Life of Deer.”
Books:
Silvano, Turkey Trouble
Mayr, Run, Turkey, Run!
Yoon, Five Silly Turkeys
Bateman, A Plump and Perky Turkey
Slater, The Best Turkey Ever!
Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day
Rev. Billy
Gift of Peace
Code Pink: 12 Ways to Occupy Black Friday
Recent OMNI Newsletters
Previous Mourning and Atonement Day Newsletters
PRESIDENT OBAMA’s 2014 PROCLAMATION
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
November 26, 2014
Presidential Proclamation -- Thanksgiving Day, 2014
THANKSGIVING DAY, 2014
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Thanksgiving Day invites us to reflect on the blessings we enjoy and the freedoms we cherish. As we gather with family and friends to take part in this uniquely American celebration, we give thanks for the extraordinary opportunities we have in a Nation of limitless possibilities, and we pay tribute to all those who defend our Union as members of our Armed Forces. This holiday reminds us to show compassion and concern for people we have never met and deep gratitude toward those who have sacrificed to help build the most prosperous Nation on earth. These traditions honor the rich history of our country and hold us together as one American family, no matter who we are or where we come from.
Nearly 400 years ago, a group of Pilgrims left their homeland and sailed across an ocean in pursuit of liberty and prosperity. With the friendship and kindness of the Wampanoag people, they learned to harvest the rich bounty of a new world.
Nearly 400 years ago, a group of Pilgrims left their homeland and sailed across an ocean in pursuit of liberty and prosperity. With the friendship and kindness of the Wampanoag people, they learned to harvest the rich bounty of a new world.
Together, they shared a successful crop, celebrating bonds of community during a time of great hardship. Through times of war and of peace, the example of a Native tribe who extended a hand to a new people has endured. During the American Revolution and the Civil War, days of thanksgiving drew Americans together in prayer and in the spirit that guides us to better days, and in each year since, our Nation has paused to show our gratitude for our families, communities, and country.
With God's grace, this holiday season we carry forward the legacy of our forebears. In the company of our loved ones, we give thanks for the people we care about and the joy we share, and we remember those who are less fortunate. At shelters and soup kitchens, Americans give meaning to the simple truth that binds us together: we are our brother's and our sister's keepers. We remember how a determined people set out for a better world -- how through faith and the charity of others, they forged a new life built on freedom and opportunity.
The spirit of Thanksgiving is universal. It is found in small moments between strangers, reunions shared with friends and loved ones, and in quiet prayers for others. Within the heart of America's promise burns the inextinguishable belief that together we can advance our common prosperity -- that we can build a more hopeful, more just, and more unified Nation. This Thanksgiving, let us recall the values that unite our diverse country, and let us resolve to strengthen these lasting ties.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 27, 2014, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage the people of the United States to join together -- whether in our homes, places of worship, community centers, or any place of fellowship for friends and neighbors -- and give thanks for all we have received in the past year, express appreciation to those whose lives enrich our own, and share our bounty with others.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth.
With God's grace, this holiday season we carry forward the legacy of our forebears. In the company of our loved ones, we give thanks for the people we care about and the joy we share, and we remember those who are less fortunate. At shelters and soup kitchens, Americans give meaning to the simple truth that binds us together: we are our brother's and our sister's keepers. We remember how a determined people set out for a better world -- how through faith and the charity of others, they forged a new life built on freedom and opportunity.
The spirit of Thanksgiving is universal. It is found in small moments between strangers, reunions shared with friends and loved ones, and in quiet prayers for others. Within the heart of America's promise burns the inextinguishable belief that together we can advance our common prosperity -- that we can build a more hopeful, more just, and more unified Nation. This Thanksgiving, let us recall the values that unite our diverse country, and let us resolve to strengthen these lasting ties.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 27, 2014, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage the people of the United States to join together -- whether in our homes, places of worship, community centers, or any place of fellowship for friends and neighbors -- and give thanks for all we have received in the past year, express appreciation to those whose lives enrich our own, and share our bounty with others.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth.
BARACK OBAMA
WorldNetDaily (WND), Chuck Norris’s criticism of President Obama for little attention to God or faith.
Sunday, November 23, 2014 ... In 2013, President Obama's Thanksgiving Address didn't give a single mention of the pilgrims, their Christian ...
[A google search 11-26-14 for President Obama’s Thanksgiving 2014 Proclamation showed a majority of entries on Obama’s lack of reference to faith or God and contrasts to George Washington’s proclamation. –Dick]
Barack Obama, Ferguson, and the Evidence of Things Unsaid. Violence works. Nonviolence does too.
TA-NEHISI COATES, tHE aTLANTIC, NOV 26 2014,
Noah Berger/AP
In a recent dispatch from Ferguson, Missouri, Jelani Cobb noted that President Obama's responses to "unpunished racial injustices" constitute "a genre unto themselves." Monday night, when Barack Obama stood before the nation to interpret the non-indictment of Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown, he offered a particularly tame specimen. The elements of "the genre" were all on display—an unmitigated optimism, an urge for calm, a fantastic faith in American institutions, an even-handedness exercised to a fault. But if all the limbs of the construct were accounted for, the soul of the thing was not. CONTINUE
DAY OF ATONEMENT
November 24, 2011, By CommonDreams.org
Thanksgiving as a Day of Atonement
The founding myth of Thanksgiving is the fateful meal shared by the indigenous peoples of Massachusetts with the starving English Pilgrims. The Pilgrims “gave thanks” at that meal for the generosity of their hosts, and thus was born the tradition of a November Thanksgiving feast.
To my way of thinking, Thanksgiving should actually be a day of atonement marked by fasting, in the spirit of Yom Kippur, Lent or Ramadan.
We Euramericans should be reflecting and repenting on this day for the way our ancestors turned on their Native hosts, once the time of starvation was past.
We repaid their kind welcome with a shameful record of stealing, swindling, enslavement, displacement and deliberate infection.
We waged vicious war that slaughtered children and old people along with warriors both male and female.
We occupied their lands without a second thought, and proceeded to cut the primeval forests to make room for our livestock, roads and cities.
This pattern started with the Puritan Pilgrims in Massachusetts, and spread inexorably West, all the way to California and Texas, where indeed the brutal work had already been begun by the Spanish.
I don’t really expect Americans to give up the tradition of the jolly Thanksgiving feast.
But we do need to be mindful of the real historical background behind the custom of gathering to celebrate with family and friends.
American Thanksgiving is a holiday that honors the spirit of sharing the bounty. When we dig into that heaped plate today, we should be giving thanks to the rich Earth that has nourished human beings for millennia, and for the Native peoples of this continent, who learned how to live in harmony with the flora and fauna of this place, cultivating the first corn, beans and squash, and craftily culling the abundant indigenous turkeys.
And we should pause in our feast to reflect on the ignoble history that unfolded after that original Thanksgiving in Plymouth MA, where America repaid her hosts not with honor, but with persecution, scorn and hate.
In the act of repentance springs redemption. The indigenous people of this continent are not gone–they are alive and well and living among us. Let us raise a glass to them today and give them the honor and thanks they deserve.
Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez teaches comparative literature and gender studies with an activist bent at Bard College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington, MA and blogs at Transition Times.
THANKSGIVING AS DAY OF MOURNING (INDIANS) AND ATONEMENT (EUROPEANS), Google Search, Nov. 23, 2014.
nmai.si.edu/.../thanksgiving_po...
National Museum of the American Indian
Thanksgiving, particularly of the event's Native American participants. ... that are central to understanding both American Indians and the deeper meaning.
blog.nmai.si.edu/.../do-indians-...
National Museum of the American Indian
Nov 26, 2013 - This year, we're including additional readers' thoughts on Thanksgiving, the first lesson about American Indian history most non-Native children ...
en.wikipedia.org/.../National_Day_of_Mourning_(United_Stat...
Wikipedia
The organizers consider the national holiday of Thanksgiving Day as a ... The protest is organized by the United American Indians of New England (UAINE).
americanindiansource.com/mourningday.html
THANKSGIVING: A Day of Mourning By Roy Cook. Most school children are taught thatNative Americans helped the Pilgrims and were invited to the first ...
www.indians.org/articles/thanksgiving.html
Discover the meaning of Thanksgiving from the Native American Indian side.
www.uaine.org/
UAINE and the history of National Day of Mourning: In 1970, United American Indiansof New England declared US Thanksgiving Day a National Day of ...
www.uaine.org/dom.htm
Thanksgiving: A National Day of Mourning for Indians. by Moonanum James and Mahtowin Munro. Every year since 1970, United American Indians of New ...
www.tolerance.org/lesson/thanksgiving-mourning
Teaching Tolerance
For some Native Americans, Thanksgiving is no cause for celebration, but rather serves as a reminder of colonization's devastating impact on indigenous ...
racerelations.about.com › ... › Race Relations › History of Race Relations
For many Americans, Thanksgiving means family, food and football. For others, particularly Native Americans, the day is one of mourning. So, should ...
TURKEYS SHOULD BE THE NATIONAL BIRD, BUT INSTEAD: THANKSGIVING. Let the Children Think about it. (See Newsletter #3)
See all 2 images
by Wendi Silvano , Lee Harper (Illustrator)
Get the Kindle Edition for just $0.99 when you buy the new print edition of this book. Learn more about ![]()
After many hilarious attempts,
Wendi Silvano's comical story is perfectly matched by Lee Harper's watercolors.
[See Vegetarian newsletters.] cite new book on why we eat some animals and not others
by Diane Mayr , Laura Rader (Illustrator)
Thanksgiving is only a day away. Can Turkey Turkey
Five Silly Turkeys
by Salina Yoon (Author, Illustrator)
Toddlers will love the silly Thanksgiving turkeys in this fun counting book full of silly turkeys doing very silly things! From twirling on a dance floor to being chased by a bee to tanning in the sun, these are no ordinary Thanksgiving turkeys. And at just $5.99, this shiny fabric–tabbed book is a holiday treat that is sure to be gobbled up quickly.
Flip to back
A Plump And Perky Turkey
The Best Thanksgiving Ever!
by Teddy Slater (Author), Ethan Long (Illustrator)
A sweet story about the importance of family, being thankful, and love--as told by a family of turkeys, with a hilarious surprise at the end!
"It's late in November, the blue sky is clear,
and Thanksgiving Day is finally here.
So many hugs and so many kisses.
So many 'Happy Thanksgiving' wishes."
A family gathers to celebrate all that they're grateful for. But wait, there's a twist! This funny, rhyming read-aloud story features turkeys who celebrate Thanksgiving! TheTurkey
"It's late in November, the blue sky is clear,
and Thanksgiving Day is finally here.
So many hugs and so many kisses.
So many 'Happy Thanksgiving' wishes."
A family gathers to celebrate all that they're grateful for. But wait, there's a twist! This funny, rhyming read-aloud story features turkeys who celebrate Thanksgiving! The
BLACK FRIDAY/BUY NOTHING DAY
ADDITIONAL ALTERNATIVES TO BLACK FRIDAY
 Give the gift of peace this Black Friday
advocacy@clw.org
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REV. BILLY AT WAL-MART 2013
From: David Druding <daviddruding@gmail.com> Date: Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 8:50 PM Subject: rev billy performed credit card exorcisms at Walmart world headquarters in Bentonville To: |
 Preachers thundering out messages of damnation and salvation to passionate crowds have a long, storied history. Theirs is a fire-and-brimstone tradition that lives on in modern Accompanied by his Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, the good reverend rails against the evils of corporate greed and consumerism and the damage being caused to the planet as a result. He likes to preach to large crowds on Black Friday in order to deliver them out of the "Shopocalypse" and into a more sustainable "life after shopping." Rev. Billy performs credit card exorcisms, connects consumerism to climate change, and asks, "What unsustainably produced sweat-shop items would Jesus buy?" He's been arrested more than 70 times delivering his message in major shopping centers from Times Square to Walmart's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. But you don't have to be one of Rev. Billy's congregants to think about boycotting Black Friday this year and saying no to rampant overbuying. Check out his website and watch this interview.  Recent OMNI Newsletters Police Violence 11-25 Investigative Journalism 11-21 UN Children’s Day 11-19 Vegetarian Action 11-12 Armistice Day 11-11 |
Contents of Mourning and Atonement/Buy Nothing #1 Nov. 25, 2010
Dick Bennett: Thanksgiving, National Days, Immigrants, Native Americans
Robert Jensen: Thanksgiving should be Day of Mourning
Thanksgiving Dinner Over the Bones of Native Americans
Rabbi Waskow: Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant,” the Chicago 8, Anti-War Activists
Humane Farm Animal Care: Finding a Certified Humane Turkey This Thanksgiving
Contents of Mourning and Atonement/Buy Nothing #2 Nov. 24, 2011
Thanksgiving and Native Americans
Thanksgiving and African Americans
Thanksgiving and Genocide
Turkey Holocaust Day
Food Waste During Thanksgiving/Christmas Holidays
Contents of Mourning and Atonement/Buy Nothing #3 2012
President Obama 2012 and 2011
Misc Commentary
Shopping on Thanksgiving
Celebration of Wild Turkeys
Joe Hutto, Turkey Mother, Interview
Black Friday/Buy Nothing
Contents #4 Mourning and Atonement/Buy Nothing Day Nov. 28 and 29, 2013
THANKSGIVING DAY OF GRATITUDE NOV. 28
BUY NOTHING DAY NOV. 29
END THANKSGIVING DAY NEWSLETTER #5 2014