D&I Calendar 2024

AUGUST 2024 MORE INFORMATION

Marcus Garvey Day celebrates the birthday of the Jamaican politician and activist who is revered by Rastafarians. Garvey is credited with starting the Back to Africa movement, which encouraged those of African descent to return to the land of their ancestors during and after slavery in North America. World Humanitarian Day is an international day dedicated to recognize humanitarian personnel and those who have died working for humanitarian causes. The World Senior Citizen's Day is celebrated on 21 August each year. The celebration took place for the first time in 1991. The day is intended to increase awareness of the factors and issues that affect older adults, such as health deterioration and elder abuse. Both International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition and the anniversary of the uprising in Santo Domingo (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic) that initiated the abolition of slavery in the Caribbean are recognized on this day. Women’s Equality Day commemorates the August 26th, 1920 certification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution that gave women the right to vote. Congresswoman Bella Abzug first introduced a proclamation for Women’s Equality Day in 1971. Since that time, every US president has published a proclamation recognizing the 26th as Women’s Equality Day. Krishna Janmashtami, also known simply as Krishnashtami, Janmashtami, or Gokulashtami, is an annual Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu. In certain Hindu texts, such as the Gita Govinda, Krishna has been identified as supreme God and the source of all avatars. The beheading of John the Baptist, also known as the decollation of Saint John the Baptist or the beheading of the Forerunner, is a biblical event commemorated as a holy day by various Christian churches. Raksha Bandhan is a Hindu holiday commemorating the loving kinship between a brother and sister. “Raksha” means “protection” in Hindi and symbolizes the longing a sister has to be protected by her brother. During the celebration, a sister ties a string around her brother’s (or brother-figure’s) wrist and asks him to protect her. The brother usually gives the sister a gift and agrees to protect her for life.

People being civil to other people is what makes the world a better place and is the key focus of National Civility Month, which is held in August each year. National Civility Month was founded to help the world remember to treat others the way we wish to be treated ourselves — with kindness, empathy, and respect. Lammas is a festival to mark the annual wheat harvest within some English-speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere. Transfiguration of the Lord, or Feast of the Transfiguration is celebrated by various Christian denominations. The feast day is dedicated to the transfiguration of Jesus. Purple Heart Day. Each year on August 7, our nation recognizes the men and women who are known as our Purple Heart recipients. The Purple Heart, one of the oldest military decorations, is presented to service members who were injured or killed in service to our country. Aadi Pooram is one of the most important festivals of the Tamilians. It is celebrated in the Tamil month Aadi. This is the birthday of Andal who is believed to be an incarnation of Goddess Laxmi and one of the biggest devotees of the Lord. The Fast of Ninth of Av ('Tisha B'Av') is a yearly observance that remembers the five major calamities and tragedies that befell the nation of Israel around that particular day throughout history. Obon, or Ullambana, is a Buddhist festival and Japanese custom that honors the spirits of ancestors. Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary commemorates the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven at the end of her earthly life according to the beliefs of the Catholic Church, Eastern, and Oriental Orthodoxy, as well as parts of Anglicanism. The Dormition of the Theotokos is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches which commemorates the "falling asleep" or death of the Theotokos (Mary, the mother of Jesus), and her bodily resurrection before being taken up into heaven.

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