Thanksgiving, is one of my favorite Holidays. My family is lucky enough to have us all relatively close (at least in the same state) and we usually try and get together for Thanksgiving, go Christmas Tree hunting, and just hang out. Good times indeed. I also like this Holiday because it is about reflecting on what you are thankful for. .. and hopefully, helps you gain cognizance of others around you who are less fortunate.
I started this post as a usual Ryan-esque rant on how ignorant and ungrateful a lot of us Americans really are. Then googlemail interrupted me with an email from the Save Darfur Coalition. Despite several Declarations of Genocide, the UN still does not view the terrible situation as so. And has done little to help the 2.5+ million people that are suffering because of nothing more than Ethnic Identity. Again, just proof of how useless the United Nations really is. (Watch this video, and try and dispute it)
I've blogged it before, but it's easy to forget the situation there. The media would rather show you tragedy as it pertains to politics rather than just plain old tragedy and injustice that they can't pin a politician's face to. If you don't know much about what's going on in Darfur, Click here for a brief overview. If you want to know about it in depth, check out what Wikipedia has to say about it.
Include the people of Darfur in your Thanksgiving. Send a letter to the President, Donate, or at least just be aware. It just may help you reflect on what exactly this Holiday is really about to you.
Obviously, there are a lot of crappy situations out there in the world (and most likely, you're own community). We can't fix them all. .. But it just may change the way you look at the less fortunate. .. or maybe yourself.