So, here is the President’s Thanksgiving message. Although I appreciate him thanking our military who cannot be with their families tomorrow, where is the part about some of those military personnel who can’t even acknowledge their family tomorrow? He also forgot to mention the tens of thousands of people who are not able to sit down tomorrow as a family because many aren’t granted that honor. Or the families who will have an empty seat at the Thanksgiving table because someone has lost their life to suicide, violence or hate? What about these families Mr. President, what about these families?
I, however, am NOT thankful for empty promises. I am NOT thankful for just another smooth talking icon. I am NOT thankful that another year of inequality has passed with little to no progress. I am NOT thankful that I have to waste another 1-3+ years fighting for my family’s dignity, respect and acknowledgement. Lest we not forget Mr. President, all the things that we are not thankful for.
Brooke —
Tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, Americans across the country will sit down together, count our blessings, and give thanks for our families and our loved ones.
American families reflect the diversity of this great nation. No two are exactly alike, but there is a common thread they each share.
Our families are bound together through times of joy and times of grief. They shape us, support us, instill the values that guide us as individuals, and make possible all that we achieve.
So tomorrow, I’ll be giving thanks for my family — for all the wisdom, support, and love they have brought into my life.
But tomorrow is also a day to remember those who cannot sit down to break bread with those they love.
The soldier overseas holding down a lonely post and missing his kids. The sailor who left her home to serve a higher calling. The folks who must spend tomorrow apart from their families to work a second job, so they can keep food on the table or send a child to school.
We are grateful beyond words for the service and hard work of so many Americans who make our country great through their sacrifice. And this year, we know that far too many face a daily struggle that puts the comfort and security we all deserve painfully out of reach.
So when we gather tomorrow, let us also use the occasion to renew our commitment to building a more peaceful and prosperous future that every American family can enjoy.
It seems like a lifetime ago that a crowd met on a frigid February morning in Springfield, Illinois to set out on an improbable course to change our nation.
In the years since, Michelle and I have been blessed with the support and friendship of the millions of Americans who have come together to form this ongoing movement for change.
You have been there through victories and setbacks. You have given of yourselves beyond measure. You have enabled all that we have accomplished — and you have had the courage to dream yet bigger dreams for what we can still achieve.
So in this season of thanks giving, I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to you, and my anticipation of the brighter future we are creating together.
With warmest wishes for a happy holiday season from my family to yours,
President Barack Obama
