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A Thanksgiving invitation to help President Obama create a legacy

Dakota Access Pipeline protesters sit in a prayer circle at the Front Line Camp on Oct. 27 as a line of law enforcement officers make their way across the camp to remove the protesters and relocate to the overflow camp a few miles to the south on Highway 1806 in Morton County, N.D. Members of more than 200 tribes from across North America have come to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s encampment at the confluence of the Missouri and Cannonball rivers since August, the tribe says.
Dakota Access Pipeline protesters sit in a prayer circle at the Front Line Camp on Oct. 27 as a line of law enforcement officers make their way across the camp to remove the protesters and relocate to the overflow camp a few miles to the south on Highway 1806 in Morton County, N.D. Members of more than 200 tribes from across North America have come to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s encampment at the confluence of the Missouri and Cannonball rivers since August, the tribe says. Mike McCleary The Associated Press

Dear President Barack Obama,

What is happening on Nov. 24, 2016?

On the calendar, it’s a national holiday marked by religious observances and a traditional meal. In the history books, November 1621 marked the first autumn harvest celebration on the shores of Massachusetts Bay at Plymouth with the Wampanoag Indians and newly arrived Pilgrims.

How historic would it be if the first black American president celebrated Thanksgiving 2016, 400 years later, with the leaders of Native American nations on the shores of the Missouri River at Standing Rock?

How momentous would it be if the first black American president attended the gathering to share a proclamation of peace, love and harmony for all future Americans?

This is a gathering like no other in our history and can never be repeated, only remembered and celebrated.

A moment in time when the past, present and future becomes one in thought, word and deed.

This is a moment in time only you, Mr. President, can create.

Thanksgiving 2016 could mark the birth of a legacy that will be shared by all Americans in the truest spirit of Thanksgiving for generations to come.

Do something, Mr. President, that can’t be undone. Thank you.

Jean’ne Blackwell, San Luis Obispo

This story was originally published November 20, 2016 at 7:09 PM with the headline "A Thanksgiving invitation to help President Obama create a legacy."

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