Happy Thanksgiving: Let's be thankful but vigilant & proactive.
As we had Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends today, I detected a feeling of thanks but an angst, an ever-present fear during the conversations.
This morning, I woke up later than usual. I would get an extra two hours of sleep since I prerecorded my Thursday and Friday KPFT 90.1 FM Houston “Politics Done Right” 6:00 AM Central program since the studio would be closed for Thanksgiving.
Instead of waking up at 5:00 AM, I woke up at 7:00 AM. I did a few tasks around the house and immediately went to my home studio to process some videos. But before the work, I wanted to wish many of my family, friends, acquaintances, and supporters a Happy Thanksgiving.
I sent out way over a hundred texts and WhatsApp DMs. Everyone replied. Some were simple messages. Some displayed an angst I will speak about in a minute. A dear friend reminded me that this was the time to use our platform to remind us that with all our problems, we all have something to be thankful for.
So, I will start. I am thankful that I still have a daughter who, after having two strokes at a young age, the 2nd that would have left most dead, is still with us, with a fully functional mind, even if with a compromised left side, but on the road to a slow recovery. I am thankful that during those difficult days when I moved to Washington DC to be with her at the hospital and rehab, my village, family, friends, and the PDR Posse (Politics Done Right Posse) were there to prop me up. I will never forget the calls of support, emails, and texts, often at just the right time, when her health prognosis deteriorated, and when miraculous improvements occurred. We are back in Houston, and her therapy continues. She has had several setbacks, but my hero continues to move forward. I am thankful for much more, but you get the picture.
One of my friends responded to my Thanksgiving text with a prescient message.
“Thanks,” she replied. “I always love time with friends & family, yet I have mixed feelings about the origin of this holiday filled with historical lies.”
I immediately got her context.
“Agreed,” I said. “We redefine it.”
From her message, it is clear that is what she did. Most of us do that with almost every aspect of our lives. It is a survival mechanism. But it allows us the ability, if we choose to, to move forward.
Dinner was great. They say one should not talk about politics or religion at dinner. We spoke about politics! Our group is decidedly progressive. Reading between the lines of every single person was a fear of regress not only with the potential election of Trump but deeper. The question breaks down: will we lose our democracy, voting rights, women's rights, and free speech without persecution? Many wanted to know my thoughts. And the answer is simple. Trump can win. We can lose our democracy along with women’s rights, voter rights, and much more. And it is not just the election of Trump that would cause that. After all, Trump does not exist in a vacuum. It is the election of people who share the same anti-democratic vision; an election is only fair if they win.
But I am still thankful. Why?
After genuinely going over the many things you can be thankful for and articulating them, I ask you to be thankful for one other thing that you can be thankful for today but not necessarily in the not-too-distant future if you don’t use it effectively now. Be thankful that we still have a democracy where you singularly, have a voice that can collectively make change for good or evil. Thank yourself prematurely that you will use that voice incessantly to help lead others to maintain our democracy by voting in the correct people from municipal to city to state to federal elections.
So, as this Thanksgiving celebration ends, let’s do our part to guarantee we will have future things to be thankful for. It is in our hands.
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I hope you daughter is doing much better.