Dear John,

This Thanksgiving, we at Maine Conservation Voters give thanks for your support of the work to create a safe and healthy environment for all people. 

As the global pandemic touches each of our lives, we take a moment to express both our profound appreciation for those on the frontlines of this terrible disease and sympathy for those whose friends and families have been affected. We also recognize that the coronavirus has disproportionately and devastatingly affected indigenous, Black, and other communities of color.

This year has not been easy. As we look ahead with hope to a COVID vaccine and a new administration, it seems like we are close to turning a corner. So it’s a fitting time to take stock of this past year and some of the lessons we will take into 2021.  

The events of 2020 demand from us a powerful examination of racial justice and equity.  This year, staff at MCV are taking a deeper look at Thanksgiving and reflecting on our country’s legacy of colonization. Many of us were taught about “the first Thanksgiving” and the story of the pilgrims and the Wampanoag people. But what is the full story—what came before and what came after?  

This year, please join us in learning more about this history, including the history of Wabanaki people, as well as the stories of how your ancestors — and you — arrived here, if you are not indigenous to this place. Reflect on how those histories continue today. To go deeper, you can find educational resources from Maine-Wabanaki REACH (Restoration-Engagement-Advocacy-Change-Healing) and can click here for their events, workshops, and presentations.

If you are able, please also consider clicking here to donate to the REACH Community Response Fund which, among other efforts, aims to put food on the tables in Wabanaki homes during the pandemic. 

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect, and this year we can both widen the lens and focus in a deeper way on histories we may not have seen before. In doing so, we might begin to heal the world we are in and create the world we long for. 

From all of us here at MCV, stay safe and be well.

-- Abbie, Beth, Ches, Gina, Greta, Kathleen, Maureen, Rani, Stacie and Will