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By:
SIMON NGUGI | |||||||||
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Dec,05-2017 23:01:16
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In 1863, right in the middle of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation designating the final Thursday in November as a day of giving thanks for life's minute and great fortunes. He envisioned a people besieged by civil strife who needed a reason to embrace what little decency they had left in the middle of one giant indecency.
This year Thanksgiving day will be celebrated on Thursday November 23, 2017 in the United States, Canada and some Caribbean nations. It will come at a time of great uncertainty in the World which is littered with a litany of socio-political conflicts in every corner. Thanksgiving will find Americans uncertain of their own Administration for the first time in a long time as they still grapple with the outcome of the 2016 Presidential elections and it's aftermath. Kenyans on the other hand are still wondering what will become of the nation after not one but two presidential elections as our brothers and sisters to the South in Zimbabwe find themselves on the eve of ushering in a new government for the first time in 37 years. At the same time, Ugandans are also staring at the prospect of havig a president who has been ruling for the last 32 years extend his rule for life via a planned and controversial Consitutional change. These few instances serve to illustrate how far we as Africans in the diaspora have come and just how much there is to be thankful for this Thanksgiving day. We have brought our talents and expertise to this side of the Atlantic and nobody can deny we have made an indelible mark in this new home in all spheres of life. Let us be thankful to God for the many children that we have been blessed with both here in the USA and many other countries outside of Continental Africa for these are the beacons of hope for mother Africa's future! All uncertainties aside, as it's name suggests, Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for all of life's mercies, big and small. It is a time for all who have come to these far lands of the able whether from the East, West, North or South of the African continent to reminisce on their individual journeys, take stock and be thankful! In the same spirit, let us move on and cultivate our hopes and the dreams of our children, setting aside negativity and looking into the future with a prayerful approach embracing Abraham Lincoln's prayer seeking peace; " With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and everlasting peace!" Happy Thanksgiving Friends! Sincerely Simon Ngugi
Lowell, Massachusetts
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Source:
AJABU AFRICAN NEWS
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