Outside of the meal, and a few days off from work, I’m not really much into celebrating Thanksgiving. I am not the one to want to be thankful for killing of the Indians and bringing Africans over to work as slaves, nor am I interested in the economic avarice associated with the seasonal sales and specials. I am just thankful each and everyday.What am I thankful for? Too much to really mention. Sure my children and family, having shelter and being able to provide as best I can goes unsaid. But there are many intangibles, most of which related to character and integrity and being proud to say I live my life as a man as opposed to just a male. I am thankful that I can be there for my son and daughter to see and experiences what men as fathers do. I am proud and thankful that my character was spawned under the examples of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Although I may have the ability to conquer through violence, I am thankful that I can withstand the harshest treatment, even allowing someone to spit in my face and not retaliate. I figure if Jesus and Martin King can do such, so can I and I am less man than them both. I am thankful that I have a kind heart and that I use my words instead of my fist to reflect and represent who I am in elation and anger. I am thankful for being a free thinker and not a follower.
Being thanking means knowing that what ever I have, no matter how little or how much, that it is a blessing. Just as I am blessed to see the respect I get from my family as being the last man, other than my son and my Uncle’s son’s, in my family. I am thankful that I can live up to those responsibilities and maintain a smile on my face and a generous heart at the same time.
Like I said, I’m not much for celebrating bringing Africans over as slaves, or passing out blankets infected with small pox to the Indians As General Amherst did, but I am thankful and giving none the less.
