Thanksgiving...

Rebelliously Thriving was founded during a time of deep divide in our country and we stand in solidarity with those who fight systemic injustice, white supremacy, and the destruction of marginalized bodies.

Currently, solidarity looks like listening, believing, donating, feeling, holding space, asking for consent, giving room, reflecting, and having direct and sometimes difficult conversations with people in our lives. And this is especially important with Thanksgiving around the corner. We must remember that there is no body liberation without indigenous liberation.

The majority of systems within the United States have roots in white supremacy. It is ever so present in the eating disorder treatment community and diet culture, where we see how the stories and voices of black, brown, indigenous and other marginalized people are missing and their bodies demonized.

The narrative of Thanksgiving is no different. The narrative we all know is full of half-truths and omissions of important context. While there of course is nothing inherently wrong with wanting a day to memorialize the hardships that the settlers went through and be grateful for all that life has provided, there are no national holidays to commemorate the losses experienced by the Native Americans as a direct result of European colonialism.

This Thanksgiving, I challenge everyone to work towards challenging this narrative and on a larger scale thus challenging the system as a whole. Moving away from insidious conditioning requires a commitment to constantly seek information and engage in new practices of divestment. This is a movement, not a moment and change happens through tiny, consistent acts over time.

Here are some ideas to aid your unlearning:

-Allow for discomfort to arise instead of trying to move away from it. Comfort is not real when others live in constant fear and vigilance.

-Learn about white fragility, because it is blocking liberation. Check out Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings.

-Donate, but please don’t make that all that you do.

-Listen to voices unlike your own and be willing to change your mind. Build those relationships with people and communities of color that are transformational, not transactional.

This is a time for deep humility, for listening and amplifying, and for leaning into the discomfort of not having the answers. For letting things change until they are not familiar. For leaving safety at the expense of others for something big and inclusive enough to include every single one of us.

The credit for everything in this blog belongs to BIPOC humans, leaders, teachers, and artists. Please, do not praise us for doing what is right.

November Follows:

An attainable way to increase exposure to voices unlike your own is to look at your social media feed. Switch up who you follow. Add fat creators and creators of color. Share their work and give them credit. For November, I would like to highlight some of my favorite Indigenous creators.

First is Jen Deerinwater, @jendeerinwater, is the executive director of Crushing Colonialism, @crushingcolonialism. Jen recognizes that without recognizing the intersections of fatness, ableism and colonialism there is no possibility for body liberation. Listen to Jen on She's All Fat: A Fat Positive Podcast on Apple Podcasts here.

Another favorite Indigenous follow is Gloria Lucas, @gloriarinis,

founder and CEO of Nalgona Positivity Pride, @nalgonapositivitypride.

"I started Nalgona Positivity Pride because I needed community. As a woman of color and daughter of immigrants, I never saw my story represented and I wanted to create a platform where communities of color could create non-conventional eating disorder support."

Also, check out this must follow list from Elle Canada: https://www.ellecanada.com/culture/society/10-indigenous-content-creators-you-should-be-following