Curated topics for a disillusioned church
Pastor, author and Native American activist. Follow Charles on Twitter @wirelesshogan. | WirelesShogan.com
From rejecting Thanksgiving to holding multiple narratives at the same time to embracing myths this wide ranging panel on Thanksgiving is worth the hour as each person on the panel has a different perspective on Thanksgiving day.
Navajo and author Mark Charles uses Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation as a backdrop for detailing the indigenous ethnic cleansing that was happening under the sixteenth president's watch while declaring a day for "thanksgiving and praise." Charles previously celebrated Thanksgiving (see The Myth of Thanksgiving and Racial Conciliation), but starting in 2018 he stopped after continuing to learn about the history of the holiday. This is a good article to understand why some people choose not to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Navajo author Mark Charles says that Thanksgiving is built on a "mythological potluck celebrated by Native Americans and Pilgrims back in the 'Good ole Days.'" That myth is deeply hurtful to indigenous people. Does that mean we need to stop celebrating Thanksgiving? No, but we should recognize the wounds that are still open and not perpetuate the myths associated with Thanksgiving.
Exceptionalism. Triumphalism. White Supremacy. Mythology. These are just a few of the words that are the bedrock of the United States of America and the white American church. The blending of Christianity with conquest dating back to the 1400's to the Doctrine of Discovery influencing the racist and sexist wording of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution to boarding schools and internment camps justifying white supremacy what people of color and white people have experienced living in the United State is vastly different.
A sobering, challenging speech where Mark Charles argues that America does not know about race, gender and America's history.
Sunday to Saturday 