#TBT: Thanksgiving

Today’s ‪#‎tbt‬ (Throwback Thursday) puts us in mind of Kirsten Greenidge’s Season 15 play, SPLENDOR. Amidst the pie and the lighthouses and the waves, we’re also thinking about the complicated history of Thanksgiving. With the verdict from Ferguson and ongoing protests, this week is a contemplative one for the country, and we’re reminded that the arts have a place in the public discourse around challenging social issues.

We’re wishing you each a peaceful and reflective holiday, however you commemorate it.

Here’s some of the reading we’re doing today…

Changing Thanksgiving’s History

“As the greeter at Plimoth Plantation’s Wampanoag Homesite, Bob Charlebois is the first person tourists meet after leaving the visitors’ center and entering the outdoor museum. ‘I’m a spokesman for a whole race of people,’ says the former Mashpee history teacher, an Abenaki Indian from Canada who is in his 10th season as an employee at the popular tourist destination.”

National Day of Mourning Reflects on Thanksgiving’s Horrific, Bloody History

“While families across the country indulge on their Thanskgiving Day feasts, hundreds will gather at Cole’s Hill in Plymouth on Thursday to commemorate a different tradition: the National Day of Mourning. The event, held annually on Thanksgiving, is meant to honor Native American ancestors who died due to the European invasion, and to expose the bloody history behind the November holiday.”

Beneath the Covers: The Real Story Behind The New Yorker’s Thanksgiving/Redskins Cover

“Leave it to a couple of witty immigrants to satirize an NFL team name within the rituals of Thanksgiving in one fell swoop of the brush. On the new cover of The New Yorker magazine (on newsstands today), artist Bruce McCall mashes up the American holiday and the American sport like so much whipped-frenzy potatoes — all made delicious with a sharp, sardonic bite.”