Chris didn’t even ask me to prepare my famous Brussels sprouts dish this year - he just handed me the bag of sprouts. It’s interesting, I didn’t particularly like Brussels sprouts growing up, but I did like Thanksgiving - now the tables have turned completely. I don’t like Thanksgiving knowing the true vile history behind it, and having it represent the ongoing genocide of native people and their cultures here and everywhere. But I do love Brussels sprouts, so here is the recipe, garnished with my actual contemplations: Cut Brussels sprouts in halves or quarters, and contemplate the Mediterranean history of this species, and that the precursor to sprouts likely came from Rome, now the capitol of your (ok my) ancestral home. Peel and cut into bite size pieces a Cushaw squash, and think about its origins from Nicaragua to southern Mexico, and how it came up to North America in ancient trade routes, probably on a similar yet borderless path as the current caravan. Consider how our modern borders slice up a continent (known to some as Abya Yala) where people and cultures once moved more freely before 90% of native peoples were murdered by Europeans and their diseases. Add the following: garlic chunks (originally from Central Asia and Iran, and very important in dear old Italy); olive oil (from the Mediterranean and the Levant, especially Syria - think of the migrants crossing choppy waters, eating now in camps, fleeing danger, much like many Central Americans…and of course think again of millennia of olive harvests in your ancestral home of Italy); smoked paprika (these chilies come from central Mexico, but were brought to Spain during - you guessed it - the genocidal colonization of Abya Yala, or the Americas, which were named after an Italian); black pepper (an Indian spice that later gave chilies the name “pepper” because the flavors seemed similar to European conquerors); dried sage (this is the Mediterranean culinary sage, not the Native American white sage that is being over harvested to cleanse negative energy); and salt. Finally, add Maple Syrup, a Native American sweetener. Consider ordering your next batch from White Earth Land Recovery Project and support traditional Ojibwe practices. This time, use syrup from Sweet Freedom Farm and be grateful to have the opportunity to support Prison Abolition work and revisit the history of maple syrup as an alternative to the slavery of Africans in sugar cane plantations. Take a chug right from the bottle and add a little sweetness to your life. Phew! So much to think about in all that chopping and mixing of ingredients/cultures! Bake until done at 400 degrees F. Offer thanks for this land, your ancestors, and all of the gifts of ten thousand years of indigenous farmers across this planet, and consider what healing the deep violence of our history might look like in material and spiritual terms. Maybe learn the names of the indigenous people who originally inhabited (and likely still inhabit) where you live now, consider how you can support their cultural preservation and land recovery work, and learn about the true history of Thanksgiving.
