January/February • 2022

VFN Monthly Digest

   

LAST MONTH’S HIGHLIGHTS Last month’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiative recognized the Anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Attack, National Human Rights Month, World Aids Awareness Day, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, Nochebuena, the Winter Solstice, National Coquito Day, Christmas, Boxing Day, Kwanza, and New Year’s Eve. This month we will be observing the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, World Braille Day, Dia de los Reyes, Lori Maghi, Makar Sankranti (or Maghi), World Religion Day, Martin Luther King Day, and International Holocaust Remembrance Day. For the month of February we will be observing Black History month, Frederick Douglass’ Birthday, Chinese New Year, Nirvana Day, and World Day of Social Justice.

The Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation

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n January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, granting freedom to “all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states of the Confederacy. Importantly, the Emancipation Proclamation did not apply to loyal border states, or Southern secessionist states that had succumbed to Northern control. Nonetheless, the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation marked a major turning point in the civil war, shifting the war’s purpose to ensuring freedom rather than focusing on simply preserving the union. The Emancipation Proclamation also allowed black men into the Union Army and Navy, empowering newly freed slaves to liberate others as the Civil War progressed. An estimated 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought on behalf of the Union by the war’s end. The original text of the Emancipation Proclamation is currently in the National Archives in Washington D.C.

Written by: Monica Munin Edited by: Kris Spitler Created by: Yolanda Burnett Contact: [email protected] 2

VFN DE&I Monthly Digest | Jan/Feb | 2022

World Braille Day

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orld Braille Day is observed on January 4th, the birthdate of Louis Braille, the inventor of Braille. The holiday recognizes the contributions Louis Braille made to help blind and visually impaired people learn to read and write. Louis invented Braille, a code that uses bumps and indentations on a surface to represent letters, after being blinded in an accident at a very young age. Prior to the invention of Braille, visually impaired people could only read, not write, using the “Haüy system” which embossed Latin letters on thick paper or leather. The system was complicated and required extensive training, Braille was invented as a simpler alternative and allows the visually impaired to actively express themselves in addition to reading text. Today there are several different versions of Braille.

World Religion Day

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orld Religion Day is an observance that was initiated in 1950 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States and is celebrated on the third Sunday in January each year. Though originally begun in the United States, World Religion Day is now observed by Ba’hai followers around the world and is intended to encourage interfaith understanding. World religions, include Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Zoroastrianism are celebrated by Ba’hai followers all over the world on World Religion Day. The holiday underscores Ba’hai teachings which worship a single God and believe that the spirituality of all the world’s religions stem from this single god.

VFN DE&I Monthly Digest | Jan/Feb | 2022

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Lori Maghi

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he festival of Lori Maghi is a two-part festival which takes place from January 13th to January 14th and commemorates the end of the month containing the longest night of the year (winter solstice) and the beginning of harvesting of crops sown in early winter in Punjabi Hindu (Northwest Indian) culture. Thought to have begun in the Himalayas, Lori Maghi is traditionally a tribute to the sun god Surya, with many songs offering thanks for his heat and praying for his hasty return. Similarly, some parts of the region pay tribute to Agni, the god of fire, as the festival has origins in preindustrial times where farmers would keep warm after nightfall by singing and dancing by a large fire. The holiday is heavily associated with the “tale of Dulla Bhatti” or the “Robin Hood of Punjab,” a medieval warrior who became a hero by stealing from the rich and rescuing young girls who were sold into slavery. The morning (Lori) of the holiday is marked with children going door to door to sing songs about Dulla Bhatti, receiving sweets, peanuts, and money in return. The main festivities occur in the evening when the community gathers around large bonfires to sing, dance, and throw food to the flames as offerings to the gods in exchange for a good harvest. The next day (Maghi) is believed to be a day of ritual cleansing and charity giving.

Makar Sankranti (or Maghi)

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or Punjabi citizens that observe the Sikh faith, Maghi or Makar Sankranti, is a holiday commemorating the martyrdom of forty Sikhs which died fighting the Mughul Empire in 1705. The holiday is celebrated by eating “kheer,” an old dish where rice is cooked in sugar cane juice and taking a ritual bath in nearby ponds or rivers.

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VFN DE&I Monthly Digest | Jan/Feb | 2022

Dia de los Reyes (or Epiphany)

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he Epiphany, known as Día de lo Reyes (Three Kings Day) in Latin America and Spain, or “Little Christmas” in other parts of the world, celebrates the birth of Jesus and the journey made by Melchoir, Caspar, and Balthazar, to bring the holy infant symbolic gifts they brought with them. According to the bible, the three kings brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh to mark the holy birth. Día de los Reyes marks the end of the 12 days of Christmas and is celebrated with a number of traditions, including Three Kings Cake, and gift giving to children who are told that the Three Wise Men visited them overnight. Children often leave grass and carrots for the camels upon which the Three Wise Men arrive the night before. Prominent in Spanish speaking countries, the holiday is also observed in Bulgaria, Brazil, Egypt, England, Finland, Greece, India, Ireland, Poland, Jordan, Italy, Lebanon, and France, with traditions varying slightly from culture to culture.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

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artin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrating the life and legacy of the civil rights advocate. The holiday is observed the third Monday in January, Dr. King’s actual birthday was January 15th. Martin Luther King earned his reputation by emphasizing the use of nonviolent protests to combat racial discrimination and violence either authorized or otherwise tolerated by state and federal law. Notably, Dr. King is known for organized sit-ins, marches, and peaceful demonstration. He delivered his most famous speech (the “I have a dream” speech) on April 28, 1963, declaring his dream for racial equality in America. For his work to combat racial inequality, Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Although highly celebrated today, Dr. King’s work was extremely controversial and dangerous throughout his lifetime. Dr. King was assassinated by James Earl Ray, a vocal opponent of racial integration, in 1968.

VFN DE&I Monthly Digest | Jan/Feb | 2022

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International Holocaust Remembrance Day

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nternational Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed on January 27th and remembers the victims of Adolf Hitler’s systematic torture and killing of an estimated 12 million people. The Holocaust was part of Hitler’s “final” solution, intended to “cleanse” German society of undesirables, upon whom the blame of military and economic woes was placed. The Holocaust is known for the emphasis placed upon identifying and eliminating European Jews through a systematic plan intended to either work victims to death, starve them to death, or murder them using large gas chambers erected at concentration camps. An estimated 6 million Jewish people lost their lives as a result of the holocaust. The holocaust also targeted, political prisoners, prisoners of war, disabled individuals, Roma peoples, religious minorities, including those who observed the Jehovah’s witness faith, and homosexuals. In its efforts to “cleanse” German society, the Third Reich (Hitler’s government) established a number of killing camps, referred to today, generally, as concentration camps. Inmates were segregated by gender, age, and “race,” among other traits and selected either to be worked to death or immediately gassed. The Nazis are also known to have performed involuntary pseudoscientific experiments upon the inmate population, most notably under the charge of Josef Mengele, “the angel of death” who had a particular obsession with twins. The experiments performed on inmates defied the code of medical ethics, as inmates were exposed to diseases and chemicals so that the “doctors” might observe the impact such toxins had on the human body. In one instance 150 women were murdered after being purchased so that experiments testing anesthetics could be performed on their bodies. The experiments, conducted by the company known today, as Bayer were summarized simply by an employee who wrote, “the transport of 150 women arrived in good condition. However, we were unable to obtain conclusive results because they died during the experiments. We would kindly request that you send us another group of women to the number and at the same price.” The horrors of the holocaust lead to the creation of international norms for medical research and the first international definition and prohibition of genocide as a tool of war.

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VFN DE&I Monthly Digest | Jan/Feb | 2022

Black History Month

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lack History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States which has also received recognition in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. In the United States, Black History Month is observed in February whereas it is observed in October in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Black History month was created in 1926 in the United States and initially was only a week long. Historian Carter G. Woodson and the “Association for the Study of Negro Life and History” announced that the second week in February would be “Negro History Week.” The second week of February was chosen because it coincided with the birth of Frederick Douglass (discussed below) on February 14th and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdate on February 12th. Both dates were celebrated within the Black community beginning in the late 19th Century. As the observance evolved, emphasis began to be placed upon the importance of teaching the history of Black Americans in United States public schools. North Carolina, Delaware, West Virginia, and the city administrations of Baltimore and Washington D.C. were the first departments of education to implement a course curriculum regarding the Black American path to full citizenry under the law. In 1970, Black educators from Kent State University were the first to propose dedicating a month rather than a week to the history of Black Americans. Six years later in 1976 Black History Month attained widespread observance throughout the United States. As part of the observance, the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum have put together a collection of historical materials as well as online presentations which can be accessed at: https://africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/.

VFN DE&I Monthly Digest | Jan/Feb | 2022

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Frederick Douglass’ Birthday

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rederick Douglass was a social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, stateman, and escaped slave. Douglass is known predominantly for his work to support the abolition of slavery, support women’s suffrage, and biographical accounts of his escape from slavery. Believed to have been fathered by his owner, Douglass was separated from his mother, herself a slave, very early on in life, noting that it was a “common custom, in the part of Maryland from which I ran away, to part children from their mothers at a very early age…I do not recollect of ever seeing my mother by the light of day. She was with me in the night. She would lie down with me, and get me to sleep, but long before I waked she was gone.” Douglass had one failed escape attempt prior to successfully fleeing from his master’s bondage after boarding a northbound train to Philadelphia from Baltimore. He met and fell in love with Anna Murray, a free black woman about five years his senior. Her freedom helped inspire Douglass to continue to pursue his own civil rights. Upon reaching freedom successfully, Douglass set about promoting for the abolition of slavery, writing about his own time in bondage in “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,” “My Bondage and My Freedom,” and “Life and Times of Frederick Douglass.” Douglass believed heavily in the power of dialogue and was criticized by some abolitionists for his willingness to engage with slave owners. Douglass famously replied, “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.” Douglass also publicly wrote a scathing letter to his former owner outlining his escape and assent to freedom. The letter is available in full at: https://glc.yale.edu/letter-thomas-auld-september-3-1848.

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VFN DE&I Monthly Digest | Jan/Feb | 2022

Chinese New Year

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ebruary 1st marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year, a spring festival that is considered among the most important celebrations observed in China due to its immense cultural and historic significance. The New Year signals the beginning of Spring in addition to the beginning of a new year according to the Chinese lunar calendar. According to Chinese legend, the New Year celebrations stem from a battle against the “Nian,” a terrifying beast that attacked people and ate children. According to the legend, people used fireworks and firecrackers to chase the beast away. Now, the tradition continues and is associated with prosperity as well as a time of rest for farmers. The New Year is celebrated by Chinese families with a “Reunion Dinner” on New Year’s Eve wherein extended family would gather for a meal featuring auspicious foods such as fish and dumplings. The tradition is also observed by cleaning the home, decorating one’s home, giving gifts and red envelopes, setting off firecrackers as previously discussed and making offerings to ancestors as a part of religious observances.

Nirvana Day

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irvana Day, observed on February 15th by most, is a Mahayana Buddhist holiday celebrated in East Asia. The festival remembers the death of the Buddha when he reached Nirvana at the age of 80. Buddhists celebrate the holiday by going to temples or monasteries which treat the festival as a social occasion. Buddhists reflect on their lives, are reminded that death is a part of life for everyone and reflect on other primary religious beliefs that emphasize loss and change as entities to be accepted rather than resisted. Mandalas, which represent symbolic depictions of the universe, are sometimes created on Nirvana Day to help Buddhist’s meditate.

VFN DE&I Monthly Digest | Jan/Feb | 2022

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World Day of Social Justice

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ebruary 20th is World Day of Social Justice, an international observance which recognizes the need to promote social justice and promotes collaboration to address social ills like poverty, gender inequality, unemployment, human rights, and social protections. The observance is recognized by the American Library Association, the International Labor Association, as well as the United Nations.

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VFN DE&I Monthly Digest | Jan/Feb | 2022