Dara is at

Jamestown was starving and would have perished completely if not for the help of the local Native people, who brought them dinner, friendship, and the first home cooked meal many had had in a while.

This dinner, now know as the first Thanksgiving was the beginning of a long stained relationship between the two peoples.

Although, they had offered much aid in that first winter, the natives lived by the motto that to give a man corn could feed him for a day, but teach him to grow corn and he can rely on his own resources. However, after starving and having many of their people drop like flies, Jamestown was not exactly in the mood for instruction.

Understanding that to continue to offer so much aid to the settlers would negatively affect their own propensity for survival, the natives had no choice but to turn the settlers away. And the settlers had no choice but to steal in order to insure their own survival. This lead to a mistrust between the to cultures, which only escalated as more settlers came to American shores.

At the same time, African people also traveled to the New World. Although, some came over with European settlers as free men, while others came over in chains, within a few decades new American laws forced both free and chained into slavery.

In the Caribbean, most slave plantations kept families together, thereby maintaining much culture, language, and traditions of the people. And by doing so allowed for an under-current of strength, which later united the people to not only overthrow slavery, but to chase the colonizers off island.

The US plantations, learning from the mistakes of their brethren to the south, kept families apart and mixed African ethnic groups to create a wholly new culture. Strangely enough, this was not the strategy adopted in the South Carolina Sea Islands. Rather, in these islands, families where kept together- keeping traditions and evolving — not to unlike the Caribbean islands. These people referred to themselves as Gullah or Geechie. And in their evolution, also like the Caribbean, they mixed with the local native (Cherokee) population.

Not long after emancipation, many of the Gullah/Cherokee people crossed over to the main land in search of new opportunities and a fresh start. Mary’s family migrated to Savanna, we she was able to meet and fall in love with Emigrant. Soon they started a family with 5 girls and one son, who they named George. While George was still a young boy, his parents found the Georgia was becoming increasingly more inhospitable to African and Native people. So they decided to migrate to New York city. This migration allowed George to grow strong and smart.

In college he discovered a young woman named Diana. Although, it was her beauty that attracted him, it was the similarities in her Trini culture to his on Gullah culture that felt familiar and comfortable and helped to maintain his interest. And when she taught him about Calypso and fête-ing he was hooked. Soon all this jump-up lead — as it usually does — to the side effect of conception and on a lovely day in June I was born.

Many people object to the celebration of Thanksgiving as it marks the change of destiny and massive genocide for the Native populations of America. However, it is such a tumultuous history that made it possible for African and Native populations to mix, thereby creating my bloodline and my life.

So on this day, I give thanks to those ancestors.

And thus ends part two of holidays I can directly relate to my birth. Enjoy your weekend!

On Columbus’ third voyage to the new world, he was blown off course landing on the southern most island of the West Indies on Tuesday 31st of July 1498. There he found himself discovered by the local Carib peoples and named their lands after the Holy Trinity, La Trinidad. Though ignored at first, Trinidad would be come a prized property in the war and colonization of the Americas by Europe changing hands upwards of 23 times between the Spanish, British, French and Dutch. These colonist brought with them African slaves, and indentured servants from China and India. The result was that the little “2×4″ island of Trinidad became the most diverse place of the world. It is also the birth place of the only instrument invented in the 20th century, the steel band drum. Also known as the pan. The pan lead the way to the creation of a musical form known as Calypso, from which came Soca and Chutney. The subject of this music is usually either politics or sex and is celebrated in February in Trinidad’s biggest fête, Carnival. One side effect of such a big jump-up is conception. And it was such a side effect that happened on Christmas, Trinidad’s other big fête, when Catalino celebrating the holiday along with his wife Barbara’s birthday that lead to Diana’s birth.

As a small child, Diana voyaged with her family to discover New York City and a better education that could be attained there. With this focus on education, she found herself eventually in college where she was discovered by George. She then introduced George to the rich history and traditions of her people which included fête-ing and it’s own side effects which ultimately lead to my birth. Following in the foot steps of family tradition. I also found myself discovered by Patrick and later begat our own offspring. These offspring like, all children in US and other countries in the Americas, have been granted the day off from School.

Which brings us to today when all of this history can be celebrated in honor of it’s founder Christopher Columbus. Columbus day has in fact become a rich family holiday filled with massive hours of Noggin, Mario Brother’s party of 8, and spontaneous break outs of wining to some good Soca music.

Although there are many who object the observance of Columbus Day because the the implicit notions of destruction and genocide it represents. It is such a tumultuous history that allowed for my own mixed blood line, and ultimately my life. So I can only be thankful on this day and celebrate it in away that can only be reviled by the other thanksgiving holiday which is wrought with it’s on controversy. (please read on for that side of my family history)

So, in essence, I will be working from home Monday so that I can observed the fore-mention festivities.