I’m a little late to get a Thanksgiving post out but as it’s still Thanksgiving weekend here in the states, and 2020 has been anything but typical, I thought a little late, well, you know how the saying goes. There is so much to be mindful of in this twentieth year of the 21st century. There are the personal blessings of health and family that feel of paramount importance living through a pandemic. And at the top of the list of things to be grateful for. But I am also cognizant of the broader blessings which might begin to heal a great nation steeped in injustices. The first Black and South Asian American woman as Vice President, Sen. Kamala Harris [D-CA], elected earlier this month. And possibly, a Native American woman to be named as Secretary of the Interior. If she is indeed selected, Congresswoman Deb Haaland (NM-01), a Laguna Pueblo member in New Mexico, will be the first Indigenous person to hold a cabinet Secretary position in the U.S. government. It is time to come clean with our past and start inviting all to the table. With a little hope, the twenty-first year of the 21st century will turn these tides. I give Hope. And Thanks.
*UPDATE* Deb Haaland was confirmed as 1st Native American Interior Secretary on March 15, 2021.
The MET on November 1, 2020
Photography Beth Horta for Sweet Sabelle.