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Ditching the Turkey and Cranberry Sauce; Thanksgiving Traditions Falling by the Wayside
NNPA NEWSWIRE — Most Americans’ typical Thanksgiving Day ritual includes a parade trip, watching football, and overindulging in a family feast. But many are straying from the norms in 2022. And the reasons vary.
The post Ditching the Turkey and Cranberry Sauce; Thanksgiving Traditions Falling by the Wayside first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia
The Thanksgiving dinner table will look a little different this year in the home of Troy Portillo.
“I plan not to get a turkey this Thanksgiving, as I have transitioned to a pescatarian diet since this spring,” said Portillo, the director of operations for the online learning platform, Studypool.
Muhammad Awwad also plans to do something different this year.
“A few years ago, my family and I came to terms with our boredom with traditional Thanksgiving food such as turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and green beans,” said Awwad, a magazine editor.
“We decided to choose a different nationality each year, say Italian or Chinese, and each pick a dish from that nation’s culinary tradition to make for Thanksgiving dinner. I plan to keep this tradition of exploring different types of cuisines until I get a craving for regular Thanksgiving food, which – to be honest – may be never.”
Most Americans’ typical Thanksgiving Day ritual includes a parade trip, watching football, and overindulging in a family feast.
But many are straying from the norms in 2022. And the reasons vary.
“While it may be dismaying not to see a big turkey on the table, I am excited about the alternatives,” Portillo exclaimed.
“We are going to create more veggies, incorporate a plant-based protein dish, and have miraculous pies to melt into after the feast. I am looking forward to it and may not ever buy a turkey again. It is so much work.”
Irene Graham, the co-founder of Spylix, said she’s dumping the tradition of talking politics at the dinner table.
“Politics is where opinions are subjective, a sore subject that can easily turn the tables most unfavorably,” Graham reasoned.
“Once the drama is started, it would take time for it to reach its destiny. We have had a handful of such conversations in the past years, which always created a commotion. So, we have decided to drop the idea of jumping into politics. Instead, we have decided to talk about celebrities, spice the talks up by adding humor, and so on.”
For some, however, certain traditions are worthy of remaining a part of the celebration.
“The Thanksgiving tradition I’m keeping this year is food, including stuffing, potatoes, pie, and gravy,” insisted Dr. Victoria Glass of the Farr Institute.
Still, Glass said she’s determined to skip her annual ritual of watching classic movies and college football.
Thanksgiving can be complicated for some like Bilphena Yahwon, an independent archivist in Baltimore who originally hails from Liberia.
In an earlier interview, Yahwon said the holiday provides an opportunity to celebrate and engage in the food and be reminded once again of festivities of her culture.
“On the other hand, I know a lot of Liberians see Thanksgiving as a way to celebrate freedom, and even then I question it because it is like, ‘You wasn’t free. We still ain’t free.’”
In an Ebony essay, Vann Newkirk recalled that, at 19, he tried to boycott Thanksgiving as he “entered that necessary but annoying phase of young self-righteous and half-informed quasi-pro-Blackness.”
“The love that Black people have for the Thanksgiving holiday would seem to fly in the face of our shared history with American Indians, which is defined greatly by oppression at the hands of the white majority,” Newkirk wrote.
“The holiday’s special place in the Black familial and religious tradition, however, is full of the same contradictions of pain and joy, stark awareness and carefree celebration as are all our traditions.”
The post Ditching the Turkey and Cranberry Sauce; Thanksgiving Traditions Falling by the Wayside first appeared on BlackPressUSA.
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Chavis and Bryant Lead Charge as Target Boycott Grows
BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Surrounded by civil rights leaders, economists, educators, and activists, Bryant declared the Black community’s power to hold corporations accountable for broken promises.

By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent
Calling for continued economic action and community solidarity, Dr. Jamal H. Bryant launched the second phase of the national boycott against retail giant Target this week at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta. Surrounded by civil rights leaders, economists, educators, and activists, Bryant declared the Black community’s power to hold corporations accountable for broken promises. “They said they were going to invest in Black communities. They said it — not us,” Bryant told the packed sanctuary. “Now they want to break those promises quietly. That ends tonight.” The town hall marked the conclusion of Bryant’s 40-day “Target fast,” initiated on March 3 after Target pulled back its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) commitments. Among those was a public pledge to spend $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by 2025—a pledge Bryant said was made voluntarily in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020.“No company would dare do to the Jewish or Asian communities what they’ve done to us,” Bryant said. “They think they can get away with it. But not this time.”
The evening featured voices from national movements, including civil rights icon and National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President & CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., who reinforced the need for sustained consciousness and collective media engagement. The NNPA is the trade association of the 250 African American newspapers and media companies known as The Black Press of America. “On the front page of all of our papers this week will be the announcement that the boycott continues all over the United States,” said Chavis. “I would hope that everyone would subscribe to a Black newspaper, a Black-owned newspaper, subscribe to an economic development program — because the consciousness that we need has to be constantly fed.” Chavis warned against the bombardment of negativity and urged the community to stay engaged beyond single events. “You can come to an event and get that consciousness and then lose it tomorrow,” he said. “We’re bombarded with all of the disgust and hopelessness. But I believe that starting tonight, going forward, we should be more conscious about how we help one another.”
He added, “We can attain and gain a lot more ground even during this period if we turn to each other rather than turning on each other.” Other speakers included Tamika Mallory, Dr. David Johns, Dr. Rashad Richey, educator Dr. Karri Bryant, and U.S. Black Chambers President Ron Busby. Each speaker echoed Bryant’s demand that economic protests be paired with reinvestment in Black businesses and communities. “We are the moral consciousness of this country,” Bryant said. “When we move, the whole nation moves.” Sixteen-year-old William Moore Jr., the youngest attendee, captured the crowd with a challenge to reach younger generations through social media and direct engagement. “If we want to grow this movement, we have to push this narrative in a way that connects,” he said.
Dr. Johns stressed reclaiming cultural identity and resisting systems designed to keep communities uninformed and divided. “We don’t need validation from corporations. We need to teach our children who they are and support each other with love,” he said. Busby directed attendees to platforms like ByBlack.us, a digital directory of over 150,000 Black-owned businesses, encouraging them to shift their dollars from corporations like Target to Black enterprises. Bryant closed by urging the audience to register at targetfast.org, which will soon be renamed to reflect the expanding boycott movement. “They played on our sympathies in 2020. But now we know better,” Bryant said. “And now, we move.”
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The Department of Education is Collecting Delinquent Student Loan Debt
BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — the Department of Education will withhold money from tax refunds and Social Security benefits, garnish federal employee wages, and withhold federal pensions from people who have defaulted on their student loan debt.

By April Ryan
Trump Targets Wages for Forgiven Student Debt
The Department of Education, which the Trump administration is working to abolish, will now serve as the collection agency for delinquent student loan debt for 5.3 million people who the administration says are delinquent and owe at least a year’s worth of student loan payments. “It is a liability to taxpayers,” says White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at Tuesday’s White House Press briefing. She also emphasized the student loan federal government portfolio is “worth nearly $1.6 trillion.” The Trump administration says borrowers must repay their loans, and those in “default will face involuntary collections.” Next month, the Department of Education will withhold money from tax refunds and Social Security benefits, garnish federal employee wages, and withhold federal pensions from people who have defaulted on their student loan debt. Leavitt says “we can not “kick the can down the road” any longer.”
Much of this delinquent debt is said to have resulted from the grace period the Biden administration gave for student loan repayment. The grace period initially was set for 12 months but extended into three years, ending September 30, 2024. The Trump administration will begin collecting the delinquent payments starting May 5. Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough, president of Talladega College, told Black Press USA, “We can have that conversation about people paying their loans as long as we talk about the broader income inequality. Put everything on the table, put it on the table, and we can have a conversation.” Kimbrough asserts, “The big picture is that Black people have a fraction of wealth of white so you’re… already starting with a gap and then when you look at higher education, for example, no one talks about Black G.I.’s that didn’t get the G.I. Bill. A lot of people go to school and build wealth for their family…Black people have a fraction of wealth, so you already start with a wide gap.”
According to the Education Data Initiative, https://educationdata.org/average-time-to-repay-student-loans It takes the average borrower 20 years to pay their student loan debt. It also highlights how some professional graduates take over 45 years to repay student loans. A high-profile example of the timeline of student loan repayment is the former president and former First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama, who paid off their student loans by 2005 while in their 40s. On a related note, then-president Joe Biden spent much time haggling with progressives and Democratic leaders like Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer on Capitol Hill about whether and how student loan forgiveness would even happen.
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VIDEO: The Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. at United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent
https://youtu.be/Uy_BMKVtRVQ Excellencies: With all protocol noted and respected, I am speaking today on behalf of the Black Press of America and on behalf of the Press of People of African Descent throughout the world. I thank the Proctor Conference that helped to ensure our presence here at the Fourth Session of the […]

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