A THANKSGIVING PSA (Public Sacred Announcement)

5 min readNov 26, 2019

Thanksgiving: A gathering in which a group of people who wouldn’t normally all be together, but are in relation to each other by strands of DNA or shared experience, come together for a shared meal. Maybe they say grace. Maybe they don’t. Maybe they have a big ol’ modern family Thanksgiving dinner and call it a day.

What would it look like to reimagine this moment?

While we are joined together with whomever we are in relation with, perhaps we show our gratitude for their presence while also reclaiming some accountability for the white-washed holiday of Thanksgiving.

Do we ever take a moment to be aware of the original inhabitants of the land we’ve considered to be “ours?” Here’s some food for thought… between 1776 and 1887, the United States seized over 1.5 billion acres from America’s indigenous people by treaty and executive order. That is over a century of historical trauma to the original inhabitants and their land. And yet, we roast a turkey, mash potatoes, watch some football, and consider it a day well earned.

This Thanksgiving, I propose my white family add a little more intention to our holiday by delivering a PSA — a Public Sacred Announcement. The PSA is part grace — part land acknowledgment. Part gratitude — part introspection. Part family — part humanity.

The intention of the PSA is twofold:

1) Gratitude

Create a space of awareness to give thanks and create connection with the people in our presence.
Honor the ancestors who came before us.
Connect to the earth.

AND…

2) Accountability

Broaden our level of awareness and accountability to the depraving and destructive acts of many of our colonizing ancestors.
Recognize and respect Indigenous Peoples as the traditional stewards of this land.
Pause with the notion that some of those tribes are still in existence and in relationship with their traditional territories.

An acknowledgment is a small first step. It does not take the place of action, but can perhaps widen our sphere of awareness to deeper possibilities for decolonizing relationships with people and places. Perhaps all it does is let us appreciate our relatives for an extra moment before dozing off into a tryptophan haze in front of the fire.

But like anything, it’s in the how we execute this Public Sacred Announcement. While holding sacred the intentions of gratitude and accountability, The Opt-In podcast created our own PSA — Pause, State Acknowledgements, Allow Loving Kindness — that you are welcome to use or edit as you wish. There may be a religious prayer or special reading or song you may want to include as well. Artist liberty is welcomed and encouraged.

PSA (Public Sacred Announcement)

3–5 min running time

PAUSE:

Before eating dinner, when everyone is seated together, take a pause. Someone (facilitator) is dedicated to lead the group through the brief guided meditation/prayer.

FACILITATOR (speak aloud and slowly to group):

Thank you all for coming. Let’s close our eyes. Please take three of the deepest breaths you’ve taken yet today. (long pause)

We honor and thank the people in our presence here with us today. (pause)
We honor and thank the people who are not here with us today. (pause)
We honor and thank all the ancestors who came before us. (pause)
We honor and thank the land we are on right now. (pause)

STATE LAND AND FOOD ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS*:

FACILITATOR (spoken aloud and slowly to group):

You may open your eyes.

I want to state that we acknowledge that we are on the traditional land of the Lenape** People.

We recognize and respect Indigenous Peoples as the traditional stewards of this land.
We expand our awareness and accountability to the depraving and destructive acts of many of our colonizing ancestors.
We hold space that some of those tribes are still in existence today and in relationship with their traditional territories.

(Facilitator takes momentary pause)

We also acknowledge the sources of our food today both in gratitude and compassion for all people, animals and plants.

Let us bring to mind the farmers, migrant workers, meatpacking and slaughterhouse laborers, cooks, supermarket employees, truck drivers, factory workers and all the other visible and invisible but important people who sacrificed their time and energy for this meal.
Thank you to all the farm animals who gave their lives for our food.
Thank you for all the beautiful vegetables and fruits giving us life today.

ALLOW LOVING KINDNESS (metta meditation)

FACILITATOR (spoken aloud to group):

Please hold hands with the people next to you and close your eyes. Silently say to yourself:

May I be full of loving-kindness.

May I be happy.

May I be peaceful and at ease.

May I be well.

Bring into mind the people closest to you whom you love and silently say to them:

May you be full of loving-kindness.

May you be happy.