Are we thinking differently about Thanksgiving?

words by Charles Brooks

As families typically come together to eat on Thanksgiving, it is also the day that amplifies the historical contradictions and deep-seated mythology rooted in American history.  

For the indigenous folk, the 27th was a reminder of loss. Of death. They remember Thanksgiving as a Day of Mourning. 

Thanksgiving is now one of those days, another federally recognized holiday that day reminds us of the country’s violent settler beginnings. 

As the days got closer to Thanksgiving, I thought more and more about the late Glen Ford - a long-time journalist, and a co-founder of the Black Agenda Report, who served as their Executive Editor until he passed away in 2021.  It's an online site that publish stories that examine critical "themes, topics, and debates of concern to the Black radical left".

The very first sentence in Pascal Roberts' obituary of Glen Ford was telling, “Black radical analysis was the foundation of Glen Ford's work….”

That explains why his body of work continues to stand out and remains relevant in a field filled with cheerleaders, stenographers, firefighters, along with hollow commentary disguised as analysis. 

His book, The Black Agenda was published shortly after his death. The book is a collection of his

writings from 2003-2020 on race and politics from a Black radical perspective. It has over 65 essays of his analysis and observations on important national and geo-political issues and topics.  

The book opens with a critical essay about Thanksgiving that was published back in 2003.  Twenty years later, “The End of American Thanksgivings: A Cause for Universal Rejoicing” takes on an even greater meaning with each passing year as more people become increasingly conscious of America’s settler beginnings.  

The essay is a counter narrative highlighting the historical contradictions to the mistruths that continues to sustain the popular narrative around Thanksgiving.  “…The Thanksgiving holiday fable is at once a window on the way that many, if not most, white Americans view the world and their place in it, and a pollutant that leaches barbarism into the modern era. The fable attempts to glorify the indefensible, to enshrine an era and mission that represent the nation’s lowest moral denominator….”

Ford goes on to dismantle the mythology around Thanksgiving, redirecting our attention to the core message rooted in a racist narrative that would hold strong for years to come.  It's a message that builds the racist propaganda framing the Pilgrims as good, as victims. What Ford does with this essay is reframe the message, observing the narrative as a shield to the crimes against humanity the settlers committed against Native Americans. 

He describes the national mythology on display for Act I, The American Dream followed by Act II, African Slavery. “The End of American Thanksgiving” reminds of a American nation, “fathered by genocide and mothered by slavery.” 

He tells us of a different account of Thanksgiving beginnings, one that informs us that, “Thanksgiving did not begin as a great loving relationship between the pilgrims and the Wampanoag, Pequot and Narragansett people…” Instead, Ford recounts a story of the atrocities; the smallpox, being sold into slavery, along with brutal acts of genocide.  

Ford’s analysis shatters the romanticized view of Thanksgiving, compelling a different discussion and different conclusions about America’s settler colonial beginnings.

Additional Reading and resources:

The End of American Thanksgivings: A Cause for Universal Rejoicing | Black Agenda Report

U.S. Capitalism Born in Blood: From the First Thanksgiving to Today w/ Dr. Gerald Horne, 

Book Excerpt: The Real Thanksgiving Story – BillMoyers.com, An excerpt from, "All the Real Indians Died Off+: And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Beacon Press, 2016)

Exterminate All the Brutes | Raoul Peck’s Statement of Intent | HBO

Decolonize Thanksgiving by Cultivating Authentic and Respectful Holiday Traditions - ACLU of Wyoming

What hidden truths does Dr. Horne uncover?

words by Charles Brooks 

Book Discussion: “The Capital of Slavery: Washington D.C. 1800-1865”.

What hidden truths are uncovered in his newest work?

There are organized formations having political discussions, engaging in political work and activities in neighborhoods and communities all across the country extending beyond the cursory critique of Trump or excitement around the NYC Mayoral campaign. These discussions spotlight the political contradictions while organizing Black folk around particular issues affecting their material and political conditions. 

In NYC, the December 12th Movement is one of those organized formations with a long history in the fight for liberation for Black people.  For nearly forty years, they’ve been active on all political fronts, from the local and national to international political struggles.

In Brooklyn, New York there’s Sista’s Place, where over the years they've hosted many political events, report backs, meetings, community forums, and film screenings. “...Over its 30 years, Sistas’ Place has fulfilled that vision – as a jazz unicorn, a coffee shop, a community center, a cultural gathering place, and a liberated zone in the People’s Republic of Brooklyn…”

As part of their ongoing work as a Pan-Africanist and human rights organization, they recently hosted a book discussion with the esteemed Dr. Gerald Horne in Brooklyn, New York, to discuss his newest book, “The Capital of Slavery: Washington D.C. 1800-1865”.  The book is another installment in his body of work, highlighting the counter-narratives and contradictions dispelling strongly held myths in American history, particularly around the nation’s founding.   

The current political moment can be described by state/government actions and inactions causing widespread chaos, and confusion. A moment fed by fascism morphing to its current state as American imperialism spirals in crisis.  

But the current moment is also one that compels a clear analysis of history to understand the forces shaping today’s material and political conditions.  Dr. Horne’s analysis, research and intellectual production bring clarity to this moment.  His diverse body of work includes over 40 books as settler colonialism, racial capitalism and white supremacy became the focus of his scholarship in recent years. 

He is frequently interviewed and is a recurrent guest on several radio shows and podcasts to share his observations and analysis of recent developments in national and global politics. 

For over two hours, Dr. Horne framed his discussion around his long-standing thesis and analysis, critical insights from the book as well as his observations of current events in both national and geopolitics.  

Book Insights

His book, "The Capital of Slavery: Washington D.C. 1800-1865”, is in direct opposition to the groundswell of literature that Dr. Horne maintains, seeks to retell a romanticized view of the founding of the United States of America. 

As another Ken Burns documentary production, “American Revolution” is set to premiere, Dr. Horne points to the “cyclonic burst of propaganda” already in motion in preparation for next year's 250th anniversary of the nation's founding. 

Dr. Horne explains, “...It's already begun…with regard to some of the attempted distortions of the history of this country up to and including circumscribing the Smithsonian Museum, action our history of Washington DC, to it including trying to remove photographs of beaten Africans with scars on their back because it doesn't comport with the historic narrative of the founding of the United States…” 

Dr. Horne describing Raoul Peck’s 2021 documentary, “Exterminate All the Brutes” as a “sweeping castigation of settler colonialism”, allowed him to segue to his long-standing critique on the setter colonialism and class collaboration question where he calls out the white left.  

He commented, “...Interestingly enough, this is rather disheartening that the term settler colonialism is increasingly being used to describe historic Palestine but I'm sure the Israel expatriates and the Israeli lobby in this country are prime to accuse those who used that descripture for historic Palestine, don’t use it for America. They start to shout anti Semitism, in terms of using it for Israel but not the United States of America…” 

Dr. Horne extended his analysis to talk about the connection he typically makes between anti-Black racism and what has happened in the Israeli West Bank settlements. “…I would likely think that the proliferating movement into this country, in solidarity with the Palestinians has to do with the parallelism between these two movements…”, he asserted. 

In addition to Peck’s work, Prof. Horne recommended similar works of counter-narratives such as, Tyler Stovall’s, “White Freedom: The Racial History of an Idea", Ishmael Reed’s, "The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda", Belle, the 2013 movie depiction of Dido Elizabeth Belle, and “The Book of Negroes”.   

In sharing details from the book, he tells an intriguing story of the War of 1812 fought on two fronts, one from the British, the red coats. and the other, from Black people, the unpaid and free. He dissects what he describes as the “ticking time bomb” - a series of events leading up to eventual collapse of the nations' capital in August 1814. 

He dissects what he describes as the “ticking timebomb” - a series of events leading up to eventual collapse of the nations' capital in August 1814. This is where Dr. Horne draws a contrast in the Black settlements in Cape Palma’s (Liberia) compared to Merikans settlement in Trinidad, “…the enslaved Africans joined the British in terms of torching the White House, plundering and pillaging the newly invented capital and fleeing on British boats to Trinidad & Tobago to freedom…”

Dr. Horne outlined the deep significance of the Haitian revolution evidenced in slave revolts worldwide such as the story of Osborne Anderson, and his role in the Harpers Ferry Raid. 

He highlighted yet another contradiction - one grounded in fear, such as in the post office where there was a  “real nervousness” of Black postal workers using the postal system to send, abolitionist literature, anti-slavery literature, and seditious literature, “...and as I point out in the book, there was a real fear of this population that the enslavers were depended upon. so that obviously a toxic combination when you're fearing those who were propelling your economy. On the one hand, you want to exploit them to their last breath, on the other hand, you want to get rid of them….”

Dr. Horne also outlined several of the ugly realities of slavery - the exploitation and treatment of black women, the afterlife of slavery, that includes rape culture, sex slaves, house of prostitution and breeding.  To underline his analysis, Dr. Horne points to Amrita Chakrabarti Myers' book, "The Vice President’s Black wife; The Untold Life of Julia Chinn” a study on the life of Julia Chinn, the Black enslaved wife of Richard M. Johnson, who served as vice president under President Martin Van Buren.

Recent Developments

He went on to discuss the precedent set with reparations being paid to owners of the enslaved to England’s colonies like Jamaica and Barbados while highlighting the connection of uncompensated expropriation of private property, to the rise of Klan terrorism. He also amplifies the parallels between the collaboration enabling anti-communism and the Red Scares of the past to today’s iteration that now includes a "Blue" Scare.

This is where Dr. Horne transitioned from discussing his book to sharing his acute observations and analysis of the recent developments on both the national and global stage. 

He outlined what he described as the “graphic of crisis” - a montage of threats that paints a picture of American imperialism in crisis, seemingly centered on the rise of China. 

He points to the nervousness and anxiety over China’s recent military parade coupled with threats to restrict their exports of rare earth minerals. These minerals are a critical element used by several industries, including artificial intelligence as the threats pose enormous global implications. Dr. Horne also brought into the discussion the significance of recent meetings between China’s president, Xi Jinping and Pres. Trump. 

Listening to Dr. Horne analysis this October evening is both an example and a critical reminder of the analysis needed to inform our political life. His analysis compels a different discussion that leads to drawing new and different conclusions about American history, American imperialism, racial capitalism and fascism. 

Dr. Horne's work also reminds us that understanding our history is a weapon in the fight against fascism.  

Additional Reading

Notes from Around the Horne, weekly updated list of articles reviewed by Dr. Horne for his weekly show. 

Around the Horne, You-Tube channel from the Activist News Network

Gerald Horne's interviews, De Facto Podcast

Where is the sense of urgency?

words by Charles Brooks

The political misleadership in Baltimore City is on full public display as their Mayor Brandon Scott continues to bask in the limelight for crime and violence reduction while three families mourn and grieve after losing loved ones experiencing mental crises only to end up dead. 

Over a span of just eight days, a few months now back in June, three Black people experienced mental crises and are now dead. 

Bilal “BJ” Abdullah shot by police. Pytorcarcha Brooks shot by police. Donnie Melton was handcuffed, in leg restraints yet died in police custody. 

The multiple deaths in such a short period of time compelled the City Council to hold a hearing.  

Their deaths are shedding light not only on a broken 911 diversion program but are increasingly serving as a reminder of the ongoing issues with the Baltimore PD that includes their response to mental crises and beyond. 

Their deaths drew immediate attention but the combination of media-driven narratives and political misleadership have disabled the sense of urgency.  

There’s a dismissal of the realities that should enable this sense of urgency such as the prevalence of mental illness in Baltimore City, and the historical trauma that continues to shape and influence today's material conditions. 

There’s also the difficult decisions people have to make today in their own personal economies as their cost-of-living increases. As more and more folks deal with their issues of housing and food insecurity, the likelihood of experiencing mental crisis rises. 

Blacks make up nearly 60% of the population where according to Baltimore Health Services Baltimore, more than 107,000 accessed care exceeding costs of more than $52 million. 

These deaths are also a reminder of the 2017 consent decree that outlined the concerns that led to establishing the 911 Diversion program. The Gibson-Banks Center for Race and the Law makes this point in their statement to the City Council, “…The consent decree outlined and documented a long history of using unreasonable force against persons who are experiencing behavioral health crises, particularly Black people and youth, underscoring the urgent need for crisis response systems that do not involve police…” 

A recent report by the Baltimore City Behavioral Health Collaborative underlines this point, “Black Baltimore residents who experience behavioral health crises disproportionately interact with BPD officers when compared to residents of other races and ethnicities. Black Baltimoreans in crisis disproportionately interact with BPD officers compared with people of other races.”

The data shows; 

4270 emergency calls were made. 

BPD officers interacted with 2,048 persons in crisis; 74% were Black even though Black residents comprise only 57% of Baltimore’s population.

BPD reported 439 use of force incidents, 40 (9%) of which occurred in response to behavioral health-related calls for service.

Meanwhile, the deaths cast a spotlight on the ongoing issues with the 911 Diversion Project compelling the City Council to hold a hearing.  

As the hearing concluded though, there were more questions than answers. 

For example, nearly 4,300 emergency calls were made but only 28, amounting to less than 1% were diverted to 988.  $10 million spent on educating the public resulting in less than a third of the public are aware of the 988 number.  An outdated computer aided dispatch system often leading to frequent outages. The city’s one mobile response team, saddled with response times of nearly two hours extending well beyond the national standard of one hour. 

These hearings witnessed frustration and tensions escalated from folks both working people - both Black and White as critical questions were left unanswered. 

Three people were killed by the police but had to sit and listen to the police role reduced to their lack of de-escalation training. The use of deadly force managed to escape scrutiny from local legislators. Instead, there were suggestions of adding more layers to Baltimore’s political bureaucracy.  And more training.  

The attempt to frame the solutions around transparency and accountability diverts attention and critical resources away from what’s needed to provide the needed mental health care.

The publicized failures of the 911 Diversion program and police can trigger a different conversation about health care and mental illness in Baltimore City. The 911 Diversion program is inherently vulnerable to shifts in political priorities typically revealed in annual budget allocations. 

For instance, $9.8 million is allocated to the Baltimore City Health Department compared to $614 million for the police. 

The short-term goal here would be establishing an effective 911 diversion program - an operational 988 system that meets the needs of the mentally challenged. 

This compels a self-determined discussion around community control and community-based solutions, that identifies needs and makes demands. 

The answers lie in the capacity to hold discussions that are community-based, and community directed where a course of action is defined. It’s a conversation and discussion that instills a renewed sense of urgency, particularly during the current time of chaos and upheaval. 

We’re reminded that people have the right to take charge of their own affairs and resources, to participate in shaping policies and making decisions that directly affect their lives, their current conditions. 

There is an opportunity to shift the discussion to building a human rights framework that removes police and meets the necessary mental and behavioral needs of the working-class communities in Baltimore City. 

Additional Resources:

City of Baltimore - File #: LO25-0026, Documents from the August 27th Baltimore City Council Hearing such as written statements for public testimony, meeting minutes, and the PowerPoint presentation from Baltimore City officials.

Resources and Reports | Baltimore Police Department

City of Baltimore Consent Decree

Behavioral Health 9-1-1 Diversion | City of Baltimore Consent Decree

The Capital of Slavery: Washington D.C. 1800-1865 - a book discussion

words by charles brooks

Book Discussion: “The Capital of Slavery: Washington D.C. 1800-1865” by Gerald Horne

What myths are shattered with his newest work?

The current political moment compels a clear analysis of history to understand the forces shaping today's material and political conditions. 

Dr. Horne’s analysis, research and intellectual production bring clarity to a moment defined by uncertainty, confusion and chaos. His diverse body of work includes over 40 books as settler colonialism, (racial) capitalism and white supremacy became the focus of his scholarship in recent years. 

He is frequently interviewed as a recurrent guest on several radio shows and podcasts to share his observations and analysis of recent developments in national and global politics. 

Dr. Horne recently visited Sista’s Place in Brooklyn, New York to discuss his newest book, “The Capital of Slavery: Washington D.C. 1800-1865”.  The book is another installment in his body of work, highlighting the counter-narratives and contradictions dispelling those strongly held myths of American history, particularly around the nation’s founding.   

For over two hours, Dr. Horne framed the discussion around his long-standing thesis/analysis, incredible insights from the book as well as his observations and analysis of current events in both national and global politics.  

Book insights 

His book, "The Capital of Slavery: Washington D.C. 1800-1865”, is in direct opposition to the groundswell of literature that Dr. Horne maintains, seeks to retell a romanticized view of the founding of the United States of America. 

He points to the “cyclonic burst of propaganda” already in motion in preparation for next year's 250th anniversary of the nation's founding, “...It's already begun…with regard to some of the attempted distortions of the history of this country up to and including circumscribing the Smithsonian Museum, action our history of Washington DC, to it including trying to remove photographs of beaten Africans with scars on their back because it doesn't comport with the historic narrative of the founding of the United States…” 

Dr. Horne describing Raoul Peck’s 2021 documentary, “Exterminate All the Brutes” as a “sweeping castigation of settler colonialism”, allowed him to segue to his long-standing critique/thesis on the setter colonialism and class collaboration question where he calls out the white left.  

“...Interestingly enough, this is rather disheartening that the term settler colonialism is increasingly being used to describe historic Palestine but I'm sure the Israel patriates and the Israeli lobby in this country are prime to accuse those who used that descriptor for historic Palestine, don’t use it for America. They start to shout anti Semitism, in terms of using it for Israel but not the United States of America…” 

Dr. Horne extended his analysis to include the connection he typically makes between anti-Black racism and what has happened in the Israeli West Bank settlements. “...Those of us who examine settler colonialism know that inherent in settler colonialism is class collaboration, Horne continues, “Look at the settlements in the West Bank, for example…there is a kind of parallel between what's happening in the West Bank, and what transpired in the United States of America. I would likely think that the proliferating movement into this country, in solidarity with the Palestinians has to do with the parallelism between these two movements. 

In addition to Peck’s work, Prof. Horne recommended similar works of counter-narratives such as, Tyler Stovall’s, “White Freedom: The Racial History of an Idea", Ishmael Reed’s, The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Belle, the 2013 movie depiction of Dido Elizabeth Belle, and “The Book of Negroes”.   

In sharing details from the book, he tells an intriguing story of the War of 1812 fought on two fronts, one from the British, the red coats. and the other, from Black people, the unpaid and free. He dissects what he describes as the “ticking time-bomb” - a series of events leading up to eventual collapse of the nations' capital in August 1814.  

This is where Dr. Horne directs attention to the large population of Blacks in the DMV area, the Haitian revolution that ignites not only a crisis of the entire slave system, but slave revolts as well. 

He highlights a contradiction - one grounded in fear, such as in the post office where there was a  “real nervousness” of Black postal workers using the postal system to send, abolitionist literature, anti-slavery literature, and seditious literature, “...and as I point out in the book, there was a real fear of this population that the enslavers were depended upon. so that obviously a toxic combination when you're fearing those who were propelling your economy. On the one hand, you want to exploit them to their last breath, on the other hand, you want to get rid of them….”

Dr. Horne also outlined several of the ugly realities of slavery - the exploitation and treatment of black women, the afterlife of slavery, that includes rape culture, sex slaves, house of prostitution and breeding.  To underline his analysis, he points to Amrita Chakrabarti Myers' book, “The Vice President’s Black wife; The Untold Life of Julia Chinn” a study on the life of Julia Chinn, the Black enslaved wife of Richard M. Johnson, who served as vice president under President Martin Van Buren.

Recent developments

He went on to discuss the precedent set with reparations being paid to owners of the enslaved to England’s colonies like Jamaica and Barbados while highlighting the connection of uncompensated expropriation of private property, to the rise of Klan terrorism. Dr. Horne amplified the parallels between the collaboration between liberals and conservatives enabling anti-communism and the Red Scares of the past to today’s iteration that now includes a "Blue" Scare.   

This is where Dr. Horne transitioned from discussing his book to sharing his acute observations and analysis of the recent developments on both the national and global stage. 

He began to outline what he described as the “graphic of crisis” - a montage of threats that paints a picture of American imperialism in crisis, seemingly centered on the rise of China. 

He points to nervousness and anxiety over China’s recent military parade coupled with threats to restrict their exports of rare earth minerals. They’re a critical element used by several industries, including artificial intelligence as threats pose enormous global implications. Prof. Horne also brought into the discussion the significance of recent meetings between China’s president, Xi Jinping and Pres. Trump. 

Dr. Horne’s analysis this October evening is both an example and a critical reminder of the analysis needed today to inform our political life. His analysis compels a different discussion about American history, American imperialism, racial capitalism and fascism. 

Dr. Horne's work reminds us that understanding our history is a weapon in the fight against fascism.  

Additional Reading

Notes from Around the Horne, weekly updated list of articles reviewed by Dr. Horne for his weekly show. 

Around the Horne, You-Tube channel from the Activist News Network

Gerald Horne's interviews, De Facto Podcast