By Rev. Robert (Bob) Murphy
Winter is coming, bringing the harvest season in North America.
The need for food justice during this harvest season is especially important this year. In the United States, politicians boast about national prosperity and say that their goal is to “make America healthy again.” In reality, consumer prices are rising. Government-supported programs for food assistance are being reduced or eliminated.
Side with love: Welcome all people, including migrants, to justice-making events that are multicultural, protected and easy to enjoy.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day Sparks Resistance
How can congregations be helpful? There is a need to combine community education with advocacy, mutual aid and direct service. Even the smallest fellowship with limited resources can do some good.
In Florida, there are religious and community groups that start their harvest season celebrations by observing Indigenous Peoples’ Day, on the second Monday in October. The holiday is especially important for mutual aid advocates.
This year, there was a potluck dinner in Saint Petersburg and several topics were discussed. We started our community dinner by acknowledging the long history of resistance movements in Florida and on the Caribbean islands.
We’ve seen a lot of environmental destruction and social injustice in the American South. Resistance to oppression continues, and it continues, in large part, because of the inspiration and the leadership provided by indigenous people.
For example, Florida has a history of concentration camps. A new concentration camp is being expanded in the Everglades. During the 1800s, the camps were built to imprison American Indians. Nowadays, places like Alligator Alcatraz imprison undocumented migrants. Members of the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes are organizing in opposition to Alligator Alcatraz. Their courageous work is supported by Unitarian Universalists and by other people of faith.
The Truth About Thanksgiving
First, tell the truth about the harvest holidays. You’ll find harvest holidays in India, Japan, African nations and Polynesia. In the Americas, maize was domesticated almost 9,000 years ago. Harvest celebrations and traditions of giving thanks were celebrated long before the missionaries and conquistadores arrived from Europe. There are very different perspectives about Thanksgiving Day celebrations in the United States. Major corporations often focus their Thanksgiving Day attention on the Pilgrims and Plymouth Rock.
People in Pilgrim costumes are prominent in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Christian nationalists use Thanksgiving Day to celebrate what they call “the triumph of Christianity.” The President of the United States has used the harvest holiday to pardon turkeys to serve his political agenda. For indigenous people, Thanksgiving is a day of mourning, not of celebration.
Still, if you read the Congressional declaration for the holiday, people in the United States are asked to give thanks for blessings recently received. Congregations can educate the public.
Key Points
In all of North America, autumn months are a time for cold weather preparations. All people, in all places, need access to safe and affordable housing, warm clothing, healthcare services and other basics.
Keep the following points in mind during the harvest season.
First: There is a need for multicultural and multifaith holidays that bring communities together. People in different nations, with different abilities and experiences, can care for each other and their shared environment.
Second: Ask people to pause for a time of gratitude and humility. For five hundred years and more, people have confronted systemic racism, economic exploitation and other forms of oppression. Honor the healers, the teachers, the artist activists and others who overcome hardship and who inspire moral behavior.
Remember the past and keep moving forward. Include a call to action in your congregation’s fall activities. Acknowledge historic injustices and the need for reparations and restorative justice. Ask people to work together for a new and better way of living. There are many possibilities.