|
This article originally appeared in the January-February 2005 issue of
the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children.
2005 Multicultural Calendar
U.N. International Decade for a Culture of Peace
January
1 New Year's Day: first day of the Gregorian
calendar year • Emancipation Proclamation takes effect 1863.
2 Ancestor's Day (Haiti).
6 Armenian (Orthodox) Christmas, Epiphany, Día de los
Reyes, Twelfth Day: Christians celebrate the visits of the Magi •
Birthday of Kahlil Gibrán (1883-1931): Lebanese American poet.
7 Ethiopian, Greek, and Ukranian (Orthodox) Christmas, also for
other countries following the old Julian calendar.
8 Midwife's or Women's Day (Greece): Men do all the housework
and women spend time in cafes.
9 Birthday of Rigoberta Menchú (1959- ): Quiche Maya activist
for the rights of Indigenous peoples in Guatemala.
14 Makar Sankranti, Gujarat (India): Hindu holiday celebrating
the sun's changing position. During the day kites are flown; at night
they are strung with oil lamps.
15 Humanitarian Day: celebrates those who changed racial segregation
laws in the U.S.
16 World Religion Day: dedicated to increasing interfaith understanding
and cooperation • Ati-Atihan (Philippines): celebrates an ancient
peace pact between the Ati of Panay and the Malays, early migrants to
the islands.
17 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day (1929-68): birthday of African
American civil rights leader • Día de San Antonio (Mexico):
blessing of animals • Birthday of Alan Alexander Milne (1882-1956):
author/creator of Winnie the Pooh.
23 Babin Den (Bulgaria): Grandmother and Midwives' Day.
24 Tu B'Shevat (Jewish): day to show appreciation for trees and
plants, begins at sundown • Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) addressed
the first African American women's rights
convention in Akron, Ohio, in 1851.
27 Day of Remembrance for Victims of Nazism.
Return to top
February
African American History Month
1 National Freedom Day: commemorates the 1865 abolition of slavery
• African American students staged a nonviolent protest of segregation
in 1960 at a North Carolina lunch counter, launching widespread civil
rights activities • Birthday of Langston Hughes (1902-67): African
American writer.
2 Groundhog Day • Día de la Candelaria (Mexico): celebration
with dances and processions • Candlemas: commemorates Bridget, Celtic
goddess of fire, fields, poetry, and childbirth (Ireland, France, Canada).
3 Setsubun (Japan): Bean-throwing Festival celebrates the end
of winter • Birthday of Rosa Parks (1913-): civil rights activist.
6 Birthday of Bob Marley (1945-81): influential reggae musician
in the Rastafarian movement.
8 Carnival, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras (Brazil, Caribbean, Italy):
celebration of the cycles of life with music, costume balls, and parades,
the last day before Christian Lent.
9 Yuan Tuan (China): New Year, Year of the Rooster • Tet
(Vietnamese): Children pay respect to their elders and receive gifts of
money • Awwal Muharram/Al Hijra (Islam): New Year (1426), begins
at sundown • Birthday of Alice Walker (1944-): African American author
and activist.
12 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) established in 1909.
14 Valentine's Day.
15 Birthday of Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906): early women's rights
advocate • Birthday of John Trudell (1946-): Lakota activist, poet,
spoken-word artist.
17 International Friendship Week.
18 Birthday of Toni Morrison (1931-): African American author.
19 Japanese Internment National Day of Remembrance: commemorates
the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II • Birthday
of Amy Tan (1952-): Chinese American author.
21 Presidents' Day.
23 Teng Chieh (Lantern Festival, China) marks the end of the New
Year holiday period • Birthday of W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963): sociologist
who helped found the NAACP.
24 Día de la Bandera: Mexican flag day • Elizabeth
Gurley Flynn (1890-1964) led 20,000 women in the 1912 "Bread &
Roses" textile strike in Massachusetts.
Return to top
March
Women's History Month
2 Read Across America Day • Birthday of Dr. Seuss (Theodore
Geisel, 1904-91): children's book author.
3 Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival, Japan): a special festival for
girls • First law regulating hours of employment for children passed
in 1824.
6 Birthday of Gabriel García Márquez (1928-): Colombian
author.
8 International Women's Day: holiday started by U.S. women garment
workers demonstrating for the right to vote.
9 Barbie debuts 1959.
10 Death of Harriet Tubman (1821-1913): leader of the Underground
Railroad and self-liberated slave.
12 Youth Day (Zambia).
16 National Youth Service Day.
17 St. Patrick's Day (Irish) • South African referendum to
end Apartheid, 1992.
20 Vernal Equinox (Northern Hemisphere): first day of spring •
Ibo Afo Festival (Nigeria): celebrated with shouts driving out the old
year and applause greeting the new year.
21 Noruz (Persian New Year): rebirth of nature celebrated with
3,000-year-old rituals, which include preparation of seven symbolic dishes
beginning with the Farsi letter 's' • International Day for the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination (U.N.) • Day of the Indian Child (Mexico)
• Birthday of Benito Juarez (1806-72): Zapotec leader of resistance
to foreign invasion in Mexico.
24 Purim (Jewish): celebrates the ancient rescue of the Jews from
religious persecution with plays and pastries, begins at sundown •
Birthday of Harry Houdini (1874-1926):
magician and escape artist.
25 Holi (India): Hindu spring festival of colors.
27 Easter.
29 Youth Day (Taiwan).
31 Cesar Chavez Day (1927-93): celebrates the birthday of the
Mexican American labor leader who organized migrant farmworkers.
Return to top
April
Child Abuse Prevention Month
Month of the Young Child
1 April Fool's Day.
3 Week of the Young Child begins.
4 Birthday of Maya Angelou (1928-): African American author.
5 Ch'ing Ming (China), Han Sik'il (Korea): celebrates the coming
of spring and honors ancestors • Birthday of Booker T. Washington
(1856-1915): African American leader and educator • Gayanashagowa
(Great Binding of Nations): Iroquois confederacy was established uniting
six Native American nations, became the model for the U.S. constitution.
9 Varsha-Pratipada (Hindu): New Year begins (2062) • Birthday
of Paul Robeson (1898-1976): African American actor, singer, activist.
10 Birthday of Dolores Huerta (1930-): Chicana labor rights leader
and social activist.
13 Thingyan (Burma), Songkran (Thailand): water is splashed on
others and on Buddha images to bring in new year.
20 Mawlid al Nabi (Islam): celebrates the birthday of the prophet
Muhammad (570-632), begins at sundown.
21 Birthday of Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852): the father of kindergarten
and an originator of the progressive education movement • Birthday
of John Muir (1838-1914): naturalist and conservationist.
22 Earth Day: first celebrated in 1970 to honor the earth and
promote environment-friendly living.
23 Passover (Jewish): Jewish celebration of liberation from slavery,
begins at sundown.
24 Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.
25 Arbor Day.
27 National Child Care Professionals Day • Deaf Moms and
Dads Day.
30 Día de los Niños (Mexico, U.S.) • Spank
Out Day: promotes alternative methods of discipline.
Return to top
May
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
1 Worthy Wage Day: established to increase awareness of the need
for adequate wages for child care workers to ensure quality care for children
• International Workers' Day, May Day: celebrated around the world
to honor workers • Lei Day (Hawai'i): leis are made and worn to celebrate
May Day • Mother Goose Day: reappreciate old nursery rhymes.
3 World Asthma Day.
4 National Teachers' Day.
5 Cinco De Mayo (Mexico) • Occupation of Wounded Knee, South
Dakota, by the American Indian Movement ended in 1973 • Children's
Day (Japan and Korea).
6 National Provider Appreciation Day: honors child care providers
and teachers.
8 Mothers' Day.
17 Desegregation in public schools mandated by the U.S. Supreme
Court in 1954 (Brown v. Board of Education).
19 Birthday of Malcolm X (1925-65): African American nationalist
and civil rights activist.
22 Birthday of Harvey Milk (1930-78): gay rights leader.
25 African Freedom Day commemorates the independence of Chad,
Zambia, and other African countries with sports contests, political rallies,
and tribal dances.
30 Memorial Day.
31 World No Tobacco Day (U.N.).
Return to top
June
Gay and Lesbian Pride Month
1 Stand for Children Day: day to advocate on issues affecting
children • Children's Day (China).
7 Multicultural American Children's Awareness Day: share the talents
of all children.
12 Philippines Independence Day • Birthday of Anne Frank
(1929).
16 Cherokees were forced to begin the 1,200 mile Trail of Tears
to Oklahoma in 1838.
19 Fathers' Day • Juneteenth: African American celebration
of the day in 1865 when the slaves of Texas were proclaimed free •
Birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi (1945-): Burmese leader for democracy and
nonviolence.
20 World Juggling Day.
21 Summer solstice (Northern Hemisphere).
24 Inti Raymi (Inca): festival of the sun god
celebrated with bonfires, dances, processions.
26 Release of Smoke Signals, the first major U.S. movie to be
entirely written, directed, and produced by Native Americans, in 1998.
28 Stonewall Riot in New York City (1969): considered the beginning
of the gay liberation movement.
29 Birthday of Julia Lathrop (1856-1932): pioneer in the struggle
to establish child labor laws.
Return to top
July
1 Canada Day.
2 Birthday of Thurgood Marshall (1908-93): first African American
Supreme Court justice.
3 Child laborers struck for an 11-hour work day and a six-day
work week in Patterson, New Jersey, in 1835.
4 U.S. Independence Day.
6 Birthday of the Dalai Lama (1935-): Tibet's spiritual leader.
7 Star Festival (Japan): children tie poems, wishes, and decorations
to bamboo sticks and offer them to the stars.
12 Birthday of Pablo Neruda (1904-73): Chilean poet and diplomat.
15 Bon Festival (Japan): lanterns and bonfires lit to honor the
dead.
18 Birthday of Nelson Mandela (1918-): South African black leader
against apartheid. Imprisoned for 27 years, he was president of South
Africa from 1994 to 1999 • Children's Defense Fund founded by Marian
Wright Edelman in 1967.
19 Seneca Falls convention (1848): women drafted the "Declaration
of Sentiments" asserting women's right to equality.
20 First Special Olympics held in Chicago in 1968.
24 Parents' Day • Birthday of Amelia Earhart (1897-1937?):
record-setting aviator.
26 Americans with Disabilities Act signed 1990.
Return to top
August
1 International Clown Week begins.
6 Hiroshima Day: commemorates the 1945 atomic bombing and promotes
peace.
9 International Day of the World's Indigenous People (U.N.) •
Birthday of Jean Piaget (1896-1980): Swiss philosopher and psychologist
who studied children's mental development.
15 Birthday of Oscar Romero (1917-80): archbishop who worked for
justice and peace in El Salvador.
18 Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ratified in 1920,
giving women the right to vote.
19 Raksha Bandhan (Brother and Sister Day, India): brothers and
sisters promise to be good to each other.
27 Birthday of Mother Teresa (1910-97): devoted her life to caring
for the destitute of Calcutta, India.
28 March on Washington in 1963, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
gave the "I Have a Dream" speech.
Return to top
September
Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15)
1 Childhood Injury Prevention Week begins.
3 Frederick Douglass (1817-95) escaped from slavery in 1838 and
became a leader in the struggle.
5 Labor Day (U.S., Canada): honors the working class.
11 Ethiopian New Year (1998) • Coptic New Year (1722).
12 Grandparents' Day.
15 Mexican Independence Day.
17 U.S. Constitution signed in 1787.
18 Tet Trung Thu (Vietnam): autumn festival, children parade through
the streets with lanterns and moon cakes are baked. Also Hong Kong moon
festival • Chusok (Korea): harvest thanksgiving festival.
21 International Peace Day (U.N.) • Autumn Equinox (Northern
Hemisphere): first day of fall.
22 Banned Books Week begins • Birthday of the ice cream cone
in 1913, originated by Italo Marchiony, who sold lemon ice from a pushcart
in New York.
30 Teachers' Day and Confucius's birthday (551-479 B.C.E.), Taiwan,
China.
Return to top
October
Child Health Month
2 Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948): leader of the nonviolent
struggle for Indian independence • Birthday of Charlie Brown and
Snoopy (1950).
3 Rosh Hashanah (Jewish): New Year begins at sundown (year 5766)
• Ramadan (Islam): month of fasting and prayer begins at sundown.
5 Walk to School Day • Death of Tecumseh (1768?-1813): Shawnee
leader who spoke out against unfairness of treaties with white settlers.
7 Birthday of Desmond Tutu (1931-): South African archbishop and
leader in the struggle against apartheid.
9 White Sunday (Samoa): a feast is prepared by parents and served
to children.
10 Indigenous People's Day • Birthday of Ken Saro Wiwa (1941-95):
Ogoni environmental and human rights activist in Nigeria.
12 Yom Kippur (Jewish): Day of Atonement, begins at sundown •
Día de la Raza (Mexico).
13 Lights on Afterschool! publicizes the need for afterschool
programs.
17 Succot: Jewish harvest festival begins at sundown • International
Day for the Eradication of Poverty (U.N.)
24 United Nations founded in 1945 to work for world peace.
31 Halloween.
Return to top
November
Native American Indian Heritage Month
1 Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead, Mexico): Cemeteries
are visited and shrines decorated to honor departed loved ones •
Diwali (India): Festival of Lights celebrates fortune, wealth, and generosity.
3 Eid-al-Fitr (Islam): celebrates end of Ramadan with feasting
and praying • Child Protection Act banning hazardous toys and articles
passed in 1966.
9 Berlin Wall opened in 1989, symbolizing the end of the Cold
War.
10 Sesame Street, the children's educational television program,
premiered in 1969.
11 Veteran's Day: honors veterans of U.S. wars.
14 Children's Day (India): commemorates the birthday of Jawaharlal
Nehru (1889-1964), India's first prime minister • National Children's
Book week begins.
18 Birthday of Wilma Mankiller (1945-): Chief of the Cherokee
nation from 1985-1995 • Children's Advocate newspaper began publication
in 1973.
20 Universal Children's Day (U.N.)
24 Thanksgiving.
25 Buy Nothing Day: activists urge no shopping on this day to
draw attention to over-consumption.
29 Education for All Handicapped Children Act passed in 1975.
30 Andres Bonifacio Day (1863-97): Birthday of Filipino leader
who led the nation's revolt against Spain.
Return to top
December
1 World AIDS Day • Arrest of civil rights leader Rosa Parks
for refusing to give up her seat in a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955.
This set off a bus boycott which ended segregation on buses throughout
the southern U.S.
3 International Day of Disabled Persons (U.N.) • Birthday
of Anna Freud (1895-1982): authority on mental disorders in children.
She warned against the effects of neglect and harsh
discipline.
10 Human Rights Day (U.N.) • Birthday of Thomas H. Gallaudet
(1787-1851), pioneer in the education of deaf people.
11 United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
established in 1946.
12 Feast of the Virgen de Guadalupe: patroness of Mexico.
16 Las Posadas (U.S., Mexico), Simbang Gabi (Philippines): candlelight
parades commemorate Joseph and Mary's search for shelter in Bethlehem,
lasts until January 6.
20 Birthday of Sandra Cisneros (1954-): Mexican American author.
21 Winter Solstice (Northern Hemisphere).
24 Birthday of Ricky Martin (1971-): Puerto Rican singer and actor.
25 Christmas • Chanukah (Jewish): Festival of Lights, begins
at sundown.
26 Kwanzaa begins: seven-day African American family festival
in recognition of traditional African harvest festivals.
30 Rizal Day (Philippines): Date of execution of Dr. Jose Rizal
(1861-96), Filipino reformer and writer.
31 New Year's Eve • World Peace Meditation.
Return to top
Calendar originally compiled by Daphne Muse. Revised and updated this
year by Jessine Foss.
Drawings by students of Oakland's Studio One art program.
Return to top
|
