I remembered my Indigenous neighbors and their kindness to strangers and the historical result of them helping and feeding the Pilgrims. I made a gratitude list starting with  acknowledging kindness to others from the first people in this land. I am grateful I learned logical thinking early in life  and how to analyze people and situations correctly. No person, especially a politician, tells me what to think or how to vote. I am grateful that my parents loved me and taught me to love myself, which made me confident I was capable and not inferior. I will not go back to a time when Black people and women could not vote, own property, manage their own lives or succeed in the job of their choice. I will not go back in time to when Black people were openly brutalized, insulted and denied all human rights. Even when I discovered my master’s degree would not earn me as much money as a White male factory worker, I was determined to succeed despite barriers. That means that Kamala Harris was also capable as a woman, person of color and daughter of immigrants, as an American politician to be the first Biracial woman of color president.

Leading up to Christmas Day:

I plan to give more of my time and hard-earned money to others and not be like the folks who only support about their interests, their race, their gender, their economic class, their families, those with formal education, money and exact sameness.  I would want to join with caring people who see and treat everyone as people, Wisconsinites, and Americans. During the season of Advent, I remember that the greatest evidence of being a follower of Christ is a life-exhibiting respect and love. Love is not Donnie Swaggart rebuking the entire Black church with his false “superiority.”  Quite frankly there is no Black church, Indigenous church, Spanish church, or White church. There is supposed to be one church with people from many races, cultures, and languages. Swaggert’s Assemblies of God came from the Azusa Street Revival, which was a Pentecostal revival, led by an African American, William J Seymour. Since White Christians would not follow a Black Christian leader, their church separated. I am wrapping myself in Christmas peace and joy so that I can face the 2025 Presidential inauguration with resilience. Thankfully, I also have a cultural holiday to remind me of who and who we are and how we have survived and thrived despite worse people and times.

Leading up to Kwanzaa:

Kwanzaa follows Christmas:  I will have seven days from December 26 to January 1, to reflect on my courageous ancestors who never gave up during enslavement, segregation, or while fighting for civil rights and human rights. They never gave up through Black Lives Matter. I will not give up either as I wrap myself spiritually and culturally in our holidays with family and friends as a Wisconsinite and American.