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Happy Thanksgiving, #ChangeMakers!
As we all prepare to set aside work and stress to spend time with friends and family reflecting on all we have to be grateful for, I want to invite your focus elsewhere for a moment. Because tomorrow is much more than the day we carve a turkey. It’s a recognition of the collaboration, acceptance and inclusion reflected by the first Thanksgiving. Nearly 400 years ago, pilgrims and natives dined together at a time when, though from dramatically different cultures, each group recognized that to show kindness to the other was to everyone’s benefit.
That mutual respect and kindness was, unfortunately, short-lived, given that those same colonists went on to subjugate the populations they broke bread with. As a community who fights for the rights of women, we recognize that the remnants of that legacy is at the root of oppressing many communities, regardless of gender. And we also recognize that we must be intersectional in pushing against oppression in all forms in order to best serve any subjugated group. Still, we can draw an important lesson from that early meal, where diverse interests came together to break bread. The respect shown to individuals and groups who may be different from us is no less important today than it was on the day of that first meal in Plymouth.
To that end, and as we celebrate this holiday so tied to our American identity, let's keep in mind that November is also the time when we observe the Transgender Day of Remembrance. It is a time for us to remember trans #ChangeMakers who lost their lives in the struggle simply to be who they are. While this may not be a challenge that you personally face, recognizing and owning the struggles of our trans brothers and sisters as though they were our own is an action that strengthens all of us. This intersectionality of identity (as Americans) and purpose (in fighting for equality) lifts us all up, in the end.
For our trans friends, everyday tasks that we often take for granted -- opening banks accounts, applying for a new job, enrolling in school or booking travel -- are uniquely challenging. Progress has been made in that regard but there is tremendous fear about what 2017 may hold and the possible hostility to that progress.
In recognition of that threat, you’ll find our “Deed of the Week” in the “Learn” section of this week’s Digest. There, we’ve included information for you to share across your social platforms that can help our trans friends find out how to safeguard their identity prior to changes that 2017 might bring.
Let’s face it, we need each other. That lesson was on full display when colonists and natives first came together to break bread. Let’s stick up for one another and band together in the fight for true freedom -- freedom to self express, freedom from oppression, freedom for full equality. Because only when all forms of oppression are overcome -- racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia -- will our vision of equality be fully achieved.
So, share that link, #Changemakers. And then go stuff yourselves. You deserve it!
xo,
- Wendy
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