Thanksgiving 2019

 Thanksgiving 2019

Thanksgiving is a national United States holiday. On that day, individuals watch football, eat food, and join parades. Tons of human beings consume turkey, sweet potatoes, potato salad, stuffing, green beans, peas, macaroni and cheese, yams, rolls, various cakes, etc. As a child, I didn’t know much of its real history and components. Back in the day, it was taboo for anyone in public to talk about the real history of Thanksgiving. One positive news about this generation is we know the real deal now. I'm grown. I a'int going to believe in any myths now. Now, I’m older. I know of its history for real. First, it is important to note that thanksgiving ceremonies existed in the human family for thousands of years (long before the 1600's). Many religions celebrate the thanksgiving ethos of giving thanks to food or being thankful in general for the processes of existence in the Universe. The Thanksgiving that is commonly mentioned in our time deals with the Mayflower and European interactions with Native Americans long centuries ago. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in America, Canada, some parts of the Caribbean, and Liberia. During harvest time for the span of human history, people did celebrations and rituals to celebrate the blessing of the growth of food production in their vicinity areas. Now, American Thanksgiving can be traced to the Protestant Reformation era. The Protestant Reformation was created by Martin Luther. It was about first, many Catholics trying to reform the Catholic Church. The reason was that back then, the Catholic Church was involved in evils like indulgences, the Inquisition, religious persecution, and other forms of corruption. Erasmus was one man who wanted reforms in the Roman Catholic Church, and Erasmus was an excellent scholar of religious studies. It is quite obvious that I disagree with the Catholic Church on many of its doctrines. It’s not a secret. I don’t agree with calling priests father, I don’t agree with forbidding priests to marry involuntarily, I don’t believe that Mary was a perpetual virgin, and I won’t call the Pope the Vicar of Christ. It is clear that purgatory has no scriptural basis of fact in any circumstance, and I don’t believe in transubstantiation (as the book of Hebrews is clear that Jesus Christ offered up one sacrifice forever being on the right hand of God the Father).

By the early 16th century, the Vatican refused to reform, and Protestants developed their own religious institutions. Wars existed among Protestants and Catholics until the 1600’s. In England, there were the Puritans and the Pilgrims. These two religious groups would relate to the American Thanksgiving story. Now, the divine rights of kings heresy is very similar to the Pope falsely claiming divine authority. Back then, King James I ruled the United Kingdom. King James I was right to disagree with many doctrines of Roman Catholics. His problem was that he made it his business to persecute Baptists and other separatists who didn’t want to submit to the state church. Many people who disagreed with the state church were imprisoned and killed during the early 1600’s. The Anglican Church was nearly identical to the Catholic Church in their ecclesiology. That is why many Baptists, Puritans, and other Protestant separatists left the UK and came into America. They wanted religious liberty. They realized that a king in the UK (and in other places in Europe) having authoritarian power is antithetical to democratic rights. Now, some of them did the wrong thing in murdering Native Americans and enslaving innocent black Africans. I want to make that perfectly clear. Also, William Schaw worked with King James VI of Scotland. William Schaw (who was accused of being a suspected Jesuit and holding anti-English views during the 1590’s. We know about the pro-Jesuits zealots involved in the evil Gunpowder terrorist plot in England) helped to build castles and palaces. Some claim that he was an important figure in the development of Freemasonry in Scotland (as he was involved in the First and Second Schaw statues). Early Thanksgiving ceremonies were in Virginia by 1607, in Charles City County, Virginia in 1637, and were created by the French plus the Spanish during the 16th century.

First, it is important to make a distinction between Puritans and Pilgrims. Pilgrims came into America first while the Puritans came into America later on. The Pilgrims were overt Separatists. They wanted to leave the Church of England completely. They formed the Mayflower Compact in establishing their religious and political views. They wanted a more democratic model of governance for their adherents. The Church of England oppressed the Pilgrims so much that they migrated to the Netherlands first. The Dutch welcomed them. Later, they traveled from Holland (or the Netherlands) into North America. They settled on Plymouth. The Puritans were completely different. They wanted reform in the Church of England without breaking away from it. They wanted to purify the Anglican Church by removing Roman Catholic doctrines from it. They created the Massachusetts Bay Colony which was a strict theocratic society. It has so much strict theocratic laws that some separated from that colony. The Pilgrims were working class, poor people with folks like William Brewster. The Puritans were upper middle class, some were educated, and some of their members were John Endicott, John Winthrop, etc. The Quakers came into America too. Quakers believe that each human being has the ability to have the access of the light within or that God is in every one. The Quakers rejected swearing oaths, believed in the priesthood of all believers, they believed in religious toleration, many of them had cordial relations with Native Americans, and they became ardent opponents of slavery. The Pilgrims’ journey to North America was a dangerous one (they came to Plymouth on December 21, 1620). Many people were sick and the climate was cold.

The Pilgrims came into a land where a plague killed most of Native Americans except for the Patuxent. A harsh winter killed many Pilgrims. Later, Squanto (or a Native American Patuxent member who learned English and was once a slave in Europe) taught the Pilgrims to catch eel and grow corn. He was sent by Samoset or the first Native American to see the Pilgrims. The Wampanoag leader Massasoit gave food to the colonists during the first winter. They or the Pilgrims had their Thanksgiving in 1621. 50 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans were there. Four adult Pilgrim women cooked the food. Their names are Eleanor Billington, Elizabeth Hopkins, Mary Brewster, and Susanna White.


On March 16th, 1621, a Native American from the Saco Tribe of the Abenaki people named Samoset met the Englishmen for the first time. Samoset spoke excellent English, as did Squanto, a bilingual Patuxet, both having been taken back to Europe earlier as slaves. It was these two who served as interpreters between the colonists and the Wampanoag Native Americans, who, lead by Chief Massasoit, outnumbered the settlers. Decades before 1621, the Wampanoag fought European oppression of their lands. There are only two contemporary accounts of the 1621 Thanksgiving: First is Edward Winslow's account, which he wrote in a letter dated December 12, 1621. The complete letter was first published in 1622 showing the following information:

"Our corn [i.e. wheat] did prove well, and God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley indifferent good, but our peas not worth the gathering, for we feared they were too late sown. They came up very well, and blossomed, but the sun parched them in the blossom. Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."


The second description was written about twenty years after the fact by William Bradford in his History Of Plymouth Plantation. Bradford's History was rediscovered in 1854 after having been taken by British looters during the Revolutionary War. Its discovery prompted a greater American interest in the history of the Pilgrims.  It is also in this account that the Thanksgiving turkey tradition is founded.

The Pilgrims and the Puritans embraced Calvinistic views. The 1623 harvest was large as well.  At first, the Native Americans and the Pilgrims had peaceful relations. Later, we know the rest of the story. Squanto worked with other tribes in forming trading plans. Massasoit, Squanto, and other Wampanoags were captured by Corbitant or the sachem of the Narragansett tribe. Myles Standish wanted to execute Corbitant. Standish injured many Native Americans. Later, Myles Standish and his men murdered Native Americans like Massachusett leaders when they posed no threat to them. Myles Standish was a murderer and a war criminal. Standish’s raid ruined a more peaceful relationship between the Pilgrims and Native Americans. William Bradford admitted to this. The Pilgrim’s only close ally was the Massasoit led Wampanoag tribe. Standish was the military leader of the Plymouth colony. The Pequot War and the King Philip’s War came later.

The 1637 Massacre in Mystic caused at least 700 Native Americans to be murdered by Europeans. Men, women, and children Native Americans were burned alive, and their buildings were destroyed. William Bradford or the Governor of Plymouth praised the massacre in sick terms by the following words: “…Those that escaped the fire were slain with the sword; some hewed to pieces, others run through with their rapiers, so that they were quickly dispatched and very few escaped. It was conceived they thus destroyed about 400 at this time. It was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fire...horrible was the stink and scent thereof, but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave the prayers thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them, thus to enclose their enemies in their hands, and give them so speedy a victory over so proud and insulting an enemy."

“This day forth shall be a day of celebration and thanksgiving for subduing the Pequots," read Governor John Winthrop’s proclamation.

You couldn’t make this stuff up. This is real and these massacres against Native Americans are totally evil plus disgusting. Later, Pequots prisoners were executed. Pequot women and children were sold into slavery in the West Indies. The Pequot War killed most of the Pequot peoples.


King Philip was the younger son of Massasoit. He didn’t want more settlers to take more Native American lands. The mysterious death of the Christian Native American John Sassamon caused war. Some believe that Sassamon wasn't murdered, but Sassamon's death was caused by an accidental fall in a frozen pond. By the end of the 1600's, Native Americans experienced genocide, and many left the region. Metacomet moved many of his people to New York. Sadly, his wife and 9-year-old son were captured and sold into slavery. Brokenhearted, he returned to his homeland - and was soon killed. Many Puritans were complicit in the slave trade where they oppressed black African people (i.e. Puritan ship owners began a slave-trading business by raiding the coast for Native American people and trading them for black African human beings). Also, scholarship like Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz's "Indigenous People's History of the United States" is ignored in academia and popular culture. The early English colonizers and capitalists wanted to go into America to promote the myth of white spiritual supremacy and to expand their resources. Today, many Native Americans suffer various forms of oppression like diseases, homelessness, dilapidated and vermin-infested housing, substance abuse, inadequate education, unemployment, and police brutality. Likewise, we acknowledge many Native Americans standing up for justice back then and today in 2019. So, we desire true liberation. Therefore, we know the truth. Having empathy towards the indigenous people means that we can never glamorize killers and murderers like many European imperialists were.

Virginia's Story (Its Modern Age and Virginia's Culture)

In the modern age of Virginian history, massive developments came about. In 1964, the world famous Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel was opened. By 1976, the Washington Metro began to link Washington, D.C. with the growing population centers in Northern Virginia. By the 1980's, Northern Virginia and the Hampton Roads region achieved great growth and prosperity. The reason is mostly because of the employment related to the federal government agencies and defense (and an increase in technology in Northern Virginia) were concentrated in those regions. Shipping in the Port of Hampton Roads started to expand which continues to the 21st century as new container facilities were opened.  Coal piers in Newport News and Norfolk had recorded major gains in export shipments by August 2008. The recent expansion of government programs in the areas near Washington has profoundly affected the economy of Northern Virginia whose population has experienced large growth and great ethnic/cultural diversification, exemplified by communities such as Tysons Corner, Reston and dense, urban Arlington. The subsequent growth of defense projects has also generated a local information technology industry. In recent years, intolerably heavy commuter traffic and the urgent need for both road and rail transportation improvements have been a major issue in Northern Virginia. The Hampton Roads region has also experienced much growth, as have the western suburbs of Richmond in both Henrico and Chesterfield Counties. On January 13, 1990, Douglas Wilder was the first African American to be elected as Governor of a U.S. state since Reconstruction when he was elected Governor of Virginia. That was a very historic time. Douglas Wilder worked among many levels of government before he was elected governor. Wilder governed as a centrist when he was in office. Wilder was born in Richmond, Virginia at the then Church Hill neighborhood. He was involved in the Korean War.  At the Battle of Pork Chop Hill, he and two other men found themselves cut off from their unit, but they bluffed nineteen Chinese soldiers into surrendering, for which Wilder was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. He was a sergeant when he was discharged in 1953. In recognition of his landmark achievement as the first elected African-American governor, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People awarded Wilder the Spingarn Medal for 1990. After Douglas Wilder was Governor of Virginia, he served as mayor of Richmond for numerous terms.

Virginia developed information technology locations during the days of Internet plus network communication. In 1993, the Washington area had the largest service providers. In 1996, the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia first accepted women applicants. In 2000, more than half of all Internet traffic flowed along the Dulles Toll Road. The Pentagon was attacked in 2001 in Arlington, Virginia by extremists.

By 2016, 70 percent of the world's internet traffic flowed though Loudoun County.  Bill von Meister founded two Virginia companies that played major roles in the commercialization of the Internet: McLean, Virginia based The Source and Control Video Corporation, forerunner of America Online. While short-lived, The Source was one of the first online service providers alongside CompuServe. On hand for the launch of The Source, Isaac Asimov remarked, "This is the beginning of the information age." The Source helped pave the way for future online service providers including another Virginia company founded by von Meister, America Online (AOL). AOL became the largest provider of Internet access during the Dial-up era of Internet access. AOL maintained a Virginia headquarters until the then-struggling company moved in 2007. In 2006, former Governor of Virginia Mark Warner gave a speech and interview in the massively multiplayer online game Second Life, becoming the first politician to appear in a video game. In 2003, over 1 million customers lost electricity due to Hurricane Isabel. I lived through that time. There was the Virginia Tech massacre when one student killed 33 people (including the murderer who committed suicide) in 2007.  In 2007, Virginia speedily passed the nation's first spaceflight act by a vote of 99–0 in the House of Delegates. Northern Virginia company Space Adventures is currently the only company in the world offering space tourism. In 2008, Virginia became the first state to pass legislation on Internet safety, with mandatory educational courses for 11- to 16-year-olds.

In 2013, by a slight margin in the Virginia Governor's race, the state of Virginia broke a long acclaimed streak of choosing a governor against the incumbent party within the White House. For the first time in more than thirty years will the Governor and the President be from the same party. There was an Earthquake in Virginia in 2011. I felt it too. In 2019, Ralph Northam is still the Governor of Virginia and Justin Fairfax is the Lieutenant Governor. Rlaph Northam was wrong to be involved in blackface years ago, and Fairfax has been accused of sexual assault against a woman. These controversies remind us that we should always follow the Golden Rule. Racism and sexual assault must be condemned and opposed at every circumstance. I am consistent to believe that Northam and Fairfrax ought to resign, because we can't be hypocrites here. If a far right Republican did something racist, then we condemned it all of the time. If a Democrat does the same thing, then we also ought to condemn that also. We must treat people right, learn, reject bigotry, and believe in justice for all.

There is massive change coming into the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginian Senate. Ghazala Hashmi defeated the Republican Glen Sturdivant. Hashmi is the first Muslim woman to serve in the Virginia General Assembly. Chris Bell has won a seat. In Newport News, Shelly Simonds won her a seat. Virginia passed Medicaid expansion after huge opposition. Now, people are continuing to fight for higher minimum wage, gun safety provisions, and getting rid of right to work laws.The old Dominion state of Virginia is representative of America is, and we (who are Virginians) a'int going anywhere.

The Culture of Virginia

The culture of Virginia has always been diverse. To understand the culture of Virginia is to understand that much of Virginian culture is Southern culture. Without black people, there is no culture of Virginia. Also, to understand Virginia is to comprehend its region. I live in the Hampton Roads region. We have a distinct culture, geography, occupations, economy, etc. than other regions of Virginia. There is the Eastern Shore, the Chesapeake Bay region, North Virginia, Central Virginia, Southern Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley, the Blue Ridge Highlands, and Appalachia. I have been to Northern Virginia and the Eastern Shore too in real life. One major part of Virginian culture is the study of colonial Virginia, the Civil War era, and the modern era of our time. There is Colonial Williamsburg, there is the U.S, Civil War Museum, and there are other museums that celebrate the culture of African Americans. Latino Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and other human beings all reside in Virginia. The Piedmont region is most famous for its strong Southern American English dialect. There is the Tidewater accent. Virginia has over 8.5 million people. English, Spanish, and other languages are spoken in the state of Virginia. 62 percent of Virginians are European Americans, 19.8 percent of Virginians are African Americans, 9.4 Virginians are Hispanic people, 6.8 percent of Virginians are Asian Americans, and 2.9 % of Virginians are biracial human beings. 0.5 percent of Virginians are Native Americans and 0.1 percent are Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders. Most Native American people live in the Tidewater region. Centuries ago, many people of English and Irish descent lived in Virginia. Scots Irish people heavily were in the northwestern mountains and the Shenandoah Valley.

Most African American Virginians are descendants of enslaved Africans who worked on tobacco, cotton, and hemp plantations centuries ago. They heavily came from West and West Central Africa (from Angola and the Bight of Biafra heavily). The Igbo ethnic group of what is known as southern Nigeria were the single largest African group of slaves in Virginia. That is why most African Americans are descended from Western and Central Africa. My DNA test results show a significant amount of Nigerian and Congolese heritage. The Great Migration caused many black Americans to come to the North from Virginia, but now, there is a reverse trend of many black people moving into Virginia (and other states of the South). Many Hispanic people live in Northern Virginia. There is a large Salvadorian population in the D.C. suburbs of Northern Virginia, and there is a large Puerto Rican population in Hampton Roads (which is at Southeastern Virginia). Vietnamese Americans live in Northern Virginia. There is a large about 45,000 Filipino American community in the Hampton Roads area, many of them have ties to the U.S. Navy and the armed forces.

Most Virginians embrace Protestantism and Baptist teachings. There is a large Roman Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim including other religious populations. Virginia's economy is mixed with a service economy, agricultural economy, and other federal government jobs. Northern Virginia is the richest economic region of the state. The military is heavily involved in Virginia from the veterans to the largest Naval base on Earth which is the Norfolk Naval Station. It is very common to see Air Force, NATO, Army, Navy, and other military men and women walking around in Virginia getting food, working, and doing everyday activities. The Hampton Roads area has the largest concentration of military personnel and assets of any metropolitan area on Earth. Tourism is found all over the state including technology related businesses. Cuisine in Virginia include barbecue, country ham (as found in Smithfield, Virginia), grapes, crabs, other seafood, etc.

There are many art museums in the state. The Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia is a premier art facility. It was created in 1933 and it's located at 1 Memorial Place. It sits on the body of water called the Hague. Recently, it has expanded greatly by 2014. It has artwork spanning thousands of years of human history. Works from Paul Cezanne, Gustave Dore, Bernini, John Singelton Copley, and other human beings are ever present. The museum has works from Asia, Africa, and Pre-Columbian America as well. Virginia also names a state Poet Laureate, currently Ron Smith, whose term began on July 1, 2014. From state fairs, the Virginia Film Festival, the VCU French Film Festival, and other celebrations, Virginia has great cultural institutions.


By Timothy