that is both short and not scary. Well, it's sort of scary.

I recovered from a 24 hour stomach flu over the weekend in time to stop by my local grocery for some last-minute Halloween candy to greet trick-or-treaters. The candy display shelf was empty, but a store clerk was busily restocking it...with Christmas candy. From a bin nearby, I picked up the last package of orange-and-brown, individually wrapped chocolates, and fought the urge to cry a little bit. 

Among the women who run this website, we often discuss the intense pressure of the holiday season. How the invisible work of parenting, which falls so heavily on mothers, expands exponentially until it feels like it might crush us.

As the enforced boundaries of the pandemic fade, the renewed call for celebrations is understandable...but the ensuing demands on energy and participation often feel unreasonable.

I spent a lot of time over the weekend explaining to my child that it was going to be okay when I showed up to the 'costumes mandatory' neighborhood party without a costume. The truth is, I felt like a superhero, busting her perception that you have to do what other people tell you to do, even when (especially when?) it's all in good fun. 

Shelby Stone-Steel of Shalom & Polepole wrote this week about 'the work of setting mental and emotional boundaries'. Her struggle for stillness at day's end felt both piercing and tender. I thought of a section of Bon Appétit magazine's Thanksgiving issue that I had paged through the week before: it said, "my family will flip if I don't serve turkey". It reminded me that it's hard enough to set boundaries on everyday weeks or months of the year, but near impossible to do so on holidays where the weight of expectations threaten to drown you in red-and-green-foil-wrapped chocolates. 

We at GFJ want to think differently about Thanksgiving this year. In many ways, it feels like there is no alternative but to stop, interrupt, question, consider, resist. Will you join us?

We are starting with a question for y'all. If you're inclined to share, please tell us:

How are you reimagining Thanksgiving? What new traditions are you creating? Or what stale traditions are you letting go of? How do you celebrate or honor the Indigenous people of the U.S. (or your home locale) and acknowledge the true history of European colonization? Maybe you live in the U.S. but have never celebrated Thanksgiving at all? We'd love to know what you do instead. 

All responses will be considered anonymous by default. However, if you are comfortable sharing with a wider audience, we just might turn your answer into artwork to inspire others this November. 

We'll leave you with this: from the Lakota Law Project's newsletter, submit your public comment to oppose mining operations on sacred Amah Mutsun lands. Field Organizer DeCora Hawk writes, "It’s critical that we continue to stand in solidarity with one another every step of the way, each time any project imperils Unci Maka and the future we wish to create for the next seven generations. By widening our circle, we increase our power. ...Rest assured that together, we can and will continue to win justice — for Indigenous People and for our Grandmother Earth."

In community,

Dor + Tay

photo by William Trevaskis for GFJ Stories

tidbits...

resources on anti-racism, environmentalism and food culture AKA stuff we're reading / listening to / watching / noticing / thinking about / captivated by this Tuesday . . .
 

Jessica Plumb's photojournalistic essay, The Edge of Ice and Sea, is a captivating read about a father, daughter, and granddaughter exploring Western Greenland on a steel-hulled schooner.

Daljit Kaur Soni on the growing movement towards labor rights in the food system, for the A Growing Culture newsletter.

This summer, the Not Our Farm project, in partnership with FairShare CSA, held BIPOC-centered focus groups with nearly 40 farm workers. Workers from all over the country have offered up questions that consumers and vendors can ask farm owners to ensure they are supporting worker-centered farms when buying food. In their words, "If you can ask how the chickens are living / being treated, you can ask if the workers have access to a bathroom!"

Anjali Prasertong looks into the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetic's close ties to food, beverage, pesticide and pharmaceutical companies. You won't want to miss the nuance in this one.

Taylor had to make Yossy Arefi's recipe for self-saucing chocolate cake as soon as she saw it. Tay's tip: replace hot coffee for the boiling water to make it truly divine.

The Mustard Sandwich is back with more 'curious stories in food' (but we stay for the contagious energy and humor from its writer, Swati Singh).

View and share this free guide to How to Write a More Equitable Job Post, and stay tuned for new resources to deepen this work.

"The process of studying history and prehistory has indefinitely lacked the inclusion and approval of Indigenous people." Read the latest GFJ Story on the swordfish hunters of North Haven Island in Maine. Words by Jasmine Michel, photos by William Trevaskis.

got a tidbit? drop it here for us and we'll share it in next week's newsletter.