Tag Archives: diversity

February is Black History Month

02 Thursday Feb 2017

Posted by in Holidays, Special Events

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If you regularly tune into the nightly news, you know that diversity has been a consistently hot topic among journalists. That’s why we were excited to flip the calendar from January to February and celebrate Black History Month.

National African American History Month is an observance designated to celebrating the achievements of black Americans. Dr. Carter G. Woodson created the holiday after years of study. During his time at Harvard University, he realized that African American History had been misrepresented or completely missing from the history books.

In the year 1915, Dr. Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (today, it is known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History). One year later, he started publishing the Journal of Negro History so he could slowly rewrite African Americans back into history.

In 1926, the organization sponsored a national Negro History Week during the second week of February. The event successfully encouraged schools and communities to establish history clubs and organize their own local celebrations. City mayors began issuing annual proclamations in the years that followed.

By the 1960s, Negro History Week evolved into Black History Month at many colleges and universities, due in part of the Civil Rights Movement and the growing awareness of black identity. President Gerald J. Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976. Every US President has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month since that time.

We have seen the great impact that African American leaders have had on our country and we look forward to celebrating those achievements in the 26 days ahead. How do you plan to celebrate?

Happy Black History Month from Lions Pride!

 

 

 

A Holiday Wish from Lions Pride

22 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by in Holidays, Special Events

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winter-sceneThe spirit of Christmas is all around us. With the big holiday only days away, we continue to see it in store windows, on light posts and underneath the tree.

Although we are all excited to celebrate America’s “favorite” holiday, it’s important for us all to remember that Christmas is not the only holiday taking place this time of year. Here at Lions Pride, we thought there was no better time for us to look at several other celebrations happening throughout the month of December:

  • The Feast of Our Lady Guadalupe took place on Monday, December 12. Each year, the festivity honors the belief that Jesus’s mother Mary appeared to a man in Mexico City on two different occasions in 1531.
  • St Lucia’s Day (or St. Lucy’s Day) is one of the biggest Swedish holidays and recognizes the bravery of St. Lucia who was one of the earliest martyrs who was killed because of her religious beliefs in the year 304. The celebration takes place each year on December 13.
  • Hanukkah is the festival of lights that commemorates the Jewish people’s successful rebellion against the Greeks in the Maccabean War. This year, Hanukkah falls on the same day as Christmas. The last time the two holidays occurred on the same date was in 1978.
  • Kwanzaa is the African American weeklong holiday that honors family, community and culture. The celebration honors African heritage with a feast and gift giving, and is observed from December 26 to January 1.
  • Boxing Day also takes place on December 26 and is a holiday celebrated in a few countries connected to England (Canada, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. During the Middle Ages, one day out of the year was designated to open church collection boxes and distributed to the poor. Today, some churches still open these boxes.

Rather than simply spreading Christmas cheer this month, remember to consider all of the other holidays taking place. There are many reasons why they call it the most wonderful time of the year, and we’d like to think diversity is one of the best.

Happy Holidays from Lions Pride!