Thank You For Reading, Listening & Watching...
Hey there GreenNewDealmakers,
It’s Sam Eilertsen, writing from occupied Narragansett lands here in Providence, Rhode Island and wishing you a happy and safe Thanksgiving!
There’s no podcast this week, but coming up on Tuesday we’ve got an awesome conversation episode with metereologist-turned-journalist, and climate activist, Eric Holthaus—who recently started The Phoenix Newsletter which is a climate-justice must-read. So, please make sure you’re subscribed (to the pod, and to Eric’s newsletter!) and stay tuned.
Also, we did some trolling of the fossil fuel industry this week! With some help from the pros, our pals Amy Westervelt and Mary Heglar of the Hot Take Podcast/Newsletter and Jamie Henn of Fossil Free Media, we made a parody of a very bad natural gas industry ad…
We hope this spoof video gives you a laugh or two in these strange times, and if you want to learn more about how you can help sever the ties between the advertising industry and fossil fuel companies, check out: https://www.cleancreatives.org/
Now, back to Thanksgiving…First off, please be as safe as you can celebrating this holiday.
Personally, I will only be seeing my family via Zoom. My partner and our puppy and two cats will be cooking/eating all day tomorrow without seeing anyone in the flesh. Cases are really spiking right now: several people I was supposed to film with (outdoors) yesterday canceled because of potential exposure, and I know at least one person who has tested positive this past week, plus I just saw this tweet from movement comrade Max Berger:
May his memory be a blessing, Max.
Next, we wanted to share some things we, here at GenGND, are thankful for, and a few things we’re not thankful for…
We’re thankful for the climate movement: Two years ago, who would’ve imagined Sunrise Movement would be considered a major player within the Democratic party and that climate would be one of the top policy issues for the new administration. but here we are! (AND, we’re thankful that Dianne Feinstein stepped down from her leadership of the judiciary committee)
We’re thankful for signs of a peaceful transition of power: Trump has allowed the transition to begin and his legal efforts to overturn the election seem to be falling, like so many beads of dyed sweat from Rudy Giuliani’s head.
We’re not out of the woods yet and the fact that Trump refuses to concede and many Republicans refuse to challenge him on it is an ominous sign for the future of American democracy…but the coup attempt seems to have failed.
We’re thankful for YOU: Our readers, our listeners, our viewers, AND our donors. Making the podcast, newsletter and film has been such and amazing experience and we truly could not have done it without you!
We’re NOT thankful for the traditional Thanksgiving story: The Thanksgiving holiday didn’t actually originate with the feast supposedly shared between Pilgrims and Wampanoag people in 1621. In classic colonial-settler fashion, America dehumanized, robbed and murdered indigenous people before romanticizing and making up nice stories about them. Tisquantum, the native man who saved the Pilgrims from starvation by teaching them farming techniques had been kidnapped, enslaved and brought to Europe by sailors, he returned to find his entire tribe had died of smallpox, and would later perish of disease himself.
The “first Thanksgiving” allegedly included the Pilgrims, Tisquantum, and a group of Wampanoags led by Sachem Massasoit, who had also helped save the Pilgrims. A few decades later Massasoit’s son Metacomet and most of the Wampanoags would be killed by colonists in “King Philip’s War”, and the survivors including Massasoit’s grandchildren would be sold into slavery in the Caribbean.
Today, native communities are being hit very hard by the COVID pandemic. We encourage you to find out which native people’s land you are living on and lend support to indigenous people in whatever way you can.
A great place to donate to indigenous communities, and support indigenous power building, is the NDN Collective.
We also encourage you to watch the new film GATHER, about indigenous foodways, and consider how our industrial food-systems became an extension of this colonial mindset.
Also, back in 2016 I had the honor of helping make a short film that tells the story of the A:shiwi people (also known as Zuni) and their sacred connection with the Grand Canyon — directed by GenGND executive producer Daniel Byers. You can watch it free on YouTube here:
We’re NOT thankful for the failure of Congress to send Americans more aid: Millions of people are struggling to put food on the table right now, as documented on Wednesday's episode of The Daily podcast. Food insecurity is spiking in horrifying fashion.
If you are able, we ask you to please consider donating to your local food bank or supporting mutual aid efforts in your community.
Now, here’s our Thanksgiving Green New Reading/Listening List…
Listen to: Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant” (I listen every Thanksgiving and it never gets old.)
Read: “When “Creatives” Turn Destructive: Image-Makers and the Climate Crisis” by Bill Mckibben, in The New Yorker
Read: “Are We Insane” by Emily Atkin, in HEATED
Read: “Focusing on a Just Transition” by Eric Holthaus, in The Phoenix
Listen to: “Making the Case with Rhiana Gunn Wright” on this week’s Hot Take Podcast, with Mary Heglar & Amy Westervelt
Listen to: Ian Haney Lopez discuss “What Democrats got Wrong About Hispanic Voters” on the Ezra Klein Show
Listen to: The Generation Green New Deal Pod (from the beginning!)
This newsletter was written by Sam Eilertsen & edited by Nate Birnbaum