Happy Thanksgiving! Donate to Standing Rock

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, okay technically today is but sleeping at a reasonable hour just isn't something for me to be doing I guess.

The days leading up to this have had my social media feeds filled with stuff trying to make me feel bad about having Thanksgiving dinner while to showdown over the DAPL is ongoing, I find this to be unhelpful in many ways.

Really the idea that because one injustice is happening, no one should do anything nice for themselves is not exactly going to be a big winner, and while yes there is an element of, not irony exactly, but close to it that it is this particular holiday happening, that still doesn't change the fact that trying to make people feel bad about it serves no purpose. I mean, what do you propose as an alternative? Fasting and quiet contemplation? Gladiatorial combat? Stare at the wall and just seethe? Drink heavily?

The memes shared don't really make any effort to say what you should do instead of or in addition to celebrating the holiday, which means their only purpose is just to shout into the void that we should all feel bad.

Want to accomplish something? Donate to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, being the primary entity effected by all this they could use the help to pay for things like survival gear, food, medical, and legal costs for their members, there are a number of other groups involved with the protest you could donate to as well, but I feel like the tribe is probably the best option for your limited funds. You will need to use Paypal or send it via snail mail though, which is sad if you are also trying to boycott companies involved with Donald Trump, my recommendation? Suck it up and send them the funds, the Cheeto man will still be rich even if you didn't use a company linked to him once.

Tomorrow as you enjoy your food and your time with family and friends, spare a thought for the history that brought us here, the sacrifices made by the native peoples of this continent that are responsible for your unique quality of life, it is far too late to undo what has been done to them, but that doesn't mean we ignore that it happened. If you pray before eating, spare a word or two, if you give thanks, then be thankful. If you do none of those things, then remember. That period is perhaps among the most shameful of any country in history, and it should damn well be on people's minds as we go into an era that could lead us down a similar path.