Thanksgiving Is A Different Kind Of Celebration In The Black Community

Turkey Day is approaching.

On this day, for the black community, it’s typically not about the actual history behind the holiday. Thanksgiving is simply a day we get to eat and fellowship with family and friends. It’s a bonding experience and celebration as we feast together with our loved ones.

As black people, it’s pretty much in our nature to take things we may not resonate with and make it represent something completely different (We know what really happened with the Pilgrims and the Native Americans). Thanksgiving is one of those things we celebrate, but for a completely different reason others may celebrate it in this country.

So when Turkey Day rolls around, we will celebrate the fact that we get to be with our families.

We celebrate the homemade potato custard pies grandma makes, we celebrate the baked beans, collard greens and mac n’ cheese being passed around the table. We celebrate all the catching up we get to have with our cousins. We celebrate the little kids in our family running around without a care in the world, as their moms yell, telling them to sit down and behave. We celebrate the random conversations had around the dinner table about politics, work, school, our favorite tv shows and movies, and “side eye” gossip about the family members that wasn’t able to attend the celebration this time.

For us, Thanksgiving is just an excuse to reconnect and get reacquainted with the people we love because sometimes life happens. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own lives that we forget to come back to the center, the root, our rock, and Thanksgiving is that reminder.

If you want to get creatively fly for the holidays, check out our Thanksgiving tees here.

written by Chandra Meadows for POP ATL