In a friends’ FB post I put this explanation up..and thought why not share it with everyone. So here it is.. (open to corrections, if I have got it wrong).-Mani
`My american-grown friend explained it to me.. In America, Thanksgiving is the big `public/open/ all inclusive’ festival.. where everyone is invited to the meal.. (in comparison to X’mas where only close family is invited).. Both are equally big.. And their tradition is that until Thanksgiving is finished, no X’mas sales, decorations. trees or other initiatives even start! (unlike in UK when shops start selling xmas stuff in August!). Thanksgiving is the last Thursday of the month in November….and so the friday following it is where they start their big sales..(our equivalent of Boxing day).. It ‘s also when their first Xmas related sales start.
The reason for `black’ Friday..instead of pink friday or green friday or whatever is …until this point.. most shops are in the red with their accounts…and as sales start..they go from red to black So it’s actually a description in favour of the sellers and shops…
So there you go 🙂
-Mani Navasothy
-Mani Navasothy
QuantumPhoenix 
Yep, that’s what I heard too. I’ve seen a lot of memes flying about FB saying it’s to do with the slave trade but I can’t see that being accurate at all.