Family gatherings at the dinner table. Lively games of lotería. Movie marathons. Karaoke sing-alongs. These are the ways Boyle Heights Beat youth reporters are spending the holiday season, whether they celebrate Thanksgiving or not.
For those who do, Thanksgiving is a time of joy, togetherness and giving thanks. Some of our students enjoy a potluck-style feast with their families. They mix traditional Mexican dishes like tamales and mole with Thanksgiving staples like turkey and mashed potatoes. Others prepare food early in the day, or wake up early to cook for their church group.
“The get-togethers are always joyful and we avoid using our phones… to show our respect to each other,” said youth reporter Joselyn Galeas.
For those who don’t celebrate, Nov. 28 is a regular day with family members who work on the holiday. Others choose not to honor Thanksgiving because it involves the colonization of Native Americans. Youth reporter Chicuei Ehecatl, who is part of an urban Indigenous community, sees Thanksgiving as “a constant reminder of the genocide and ethnocide suffered by Indigenous peoples across the continent and what is now called America.”
We’ve rounded up some photos that capture how our youth team and their families spend the day. Their responses have been slightly edited for clarity.
Hannah Anaya, Theodore Roosevelt Senior High School
We all gather at my grandma’s house, where we eat a blend of traditional Thanksgiving foods and Mexican dishes like tamales and pozole. As we wait for family to arrive, we all talk and watch football. Once everyone arrives, we serve ourselves food, gather around the table, give thanks and finally eat.
Joselyn Galeas, Theodore Roosevelt Senior High School
On Thanksgiving, all five of us feast and also make dinner for our pets, which includes two dogs and a new cat. We all make sure to take the day off to celebrate together.
Our dinner—mashed potatoes, ham, and spaghetti—has been a consistent tradition that we’ve never changed. Before we start the feast, we gather for prayer around the table and share what we’re grateful for. After dinner, we play board games to keep the fun going.
Violet Montzzerrat Rodriguez-Aceves, Anahuacalmecac International Baccalaureate World School
My extended family gathers at my grandmother’s house. We bring plates of macaroni, mashed potatoes, and ice cream for dessert.
One thing my family always looks forward to is my grandma’s macaroni and cheese. We always cannot wait until the holidays because we get to have it again. On this day, we eat, talk, laugh, and play board games and video games.
Stephanie Perez, Bravo Medical Magnet School
My dad’s side of the family always brings an entire Thanksgiving dinner from a Jewish restaurant that my dad has worked at for 40 years.
Our dinner table—made up of two separate tables to accommodate our large family—features turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, ham, seafood boil, aguachiles, and flan for dessert. We spend the holiday catching up, eating, playing games, and listening to music. It’s also tradition for us to draw names for Secret Santa, knowing the next time we’ll all be together is Christmas.
Jaret Chavez, Math, Science, Technology Magnet Academy at Roosevelt High School
In total, 14 of us usually gather at my house around two tables to celebrate the holiday. Most of my family comes, even boyfriends and girlfriends of cousins. With barely enough arm space, we’re always close together.
Our dinner table features mac and cheese, steak, tamales and mole. Before we eat, we hold hands, pray, and go around giving thanks to everything.
Suri Meza, Theodore Roosevelt Senior High School
My Thanksgiving is always celebrated outdoors in the driveway, since there’s no way we could all fit inside the house. My dad’s side of the family is enormous. Our dinner tables include a mix of typical Thanksgiving and Mexican dishes.
There’s turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and tamales. Dessert is something I look forward to, which includes champurrado, fruit salad with marshmallows, pumpkin pie, conchas and cookies. We usually hear a short sermon from my uncle before praying. After that, we dig in.
