.svg)
Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or E
mancipation Day, is a holiday in the United States honoring A
frican American heritage by commemorating the announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. State of Texas in 1865. Celebrated on
June 19, the term is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth,
The state of Texas is widely considered the first U.S. state to begin Juneteenth celebrations with informal observances taking place for over a century; it has been an official state holiday sin ce 1890. It is considered a "partial staffing holiday", meaning that state offices do not close, but some employees will be using a floating holiday t o take the day off. Schools are not closed, but most public schools in Texa s are already into summer vacation by June 19th. Its observance has spread to many other states, with a few celebrations even taking place in other co untries.[4]< /span>[5]
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20130620T030534Z CATEGORIES:Days Until CLASS:PUBLIC ORGANIZER:DaysUntil.com SUMMARY:Marcus Garvey Day (August 17th, 2013 at midnight) URL:http://www.DaysUntil.com/Marcus-Garvey-Day DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20130817 DURATION:P1D TRANSP:TRANSPARENT UID:DaysUntil.com-Marcus-Garvey-Day-00002013 DESCRIPTION:X-WR-CALDESC:Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH (17 August 1887 – 10 June 1940)[1] was a Jamai can publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nat ionalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded th e Universal Negro Improvement Associ ation and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL).[2] He founded the Black Star Line, part of the Back-to-Africa movement, which promoted the return of the Afr ican Diaspora to their ancestral lands.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20130620T030534Z CATEGORIES:Days Until CLASS:PUBLIC ORGANIZER:DaysUntil.com SUMMARY:Indigenous Peoples Day (October 14th, 2013 at midnight) URL:http://www.DaysUntil.com/Indigenous-Peoples-Day DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20131014 DURATION:P1D TRANSP:TRANSPARENT UID:DaysUntil.com-Indigenous-Peoples-Day-00002013 DESCRIPTION:X-WR-CALDESC:Indigenous People's Day (also known as Native American Day) is a holiday celebrated in various localitie s in the United States, begun as a counter-celebration to Columbus Day. T he purpose of the day is to promote Native American culture and commemorate the history of Native American peoples. The celebra tion began in Berkeley, California as an alternative to Col umbus Day, which is listed as a federal holiday in the United State s but is not observed as a state holiday in every s tate.[1] Indigenous People's Day is usually held on the second Monday of Oct ober, coinciding with federal observance of Columbus Day.[2]
The idea of replacing Columbus Day with a day celebrating the indigenous people of North America first arose in 1977 from the International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas, sponsored by the United Nations in Geneva, Switze rland.[3] In 1990, at the First Continental Conference on 500 Years of I ndian Resistance in Quito, Ecuador in July 1990, representatives of Indian groups throughout the Americas agreed that they w ould mark 1992, the 500th anniversary of the first of the voyages of Christopher Columbus, as a day to promote "continental unity" and "liberation".[4]
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20130620T030534Z CATEGORIES:Days Until CLASS:PUBLIC ORGANIZER:DaysUntil.com SUMMARY:Kwanzaa (December 26th, 2013 at midnight) URL:http://www.DaysUntil.com/Kwanzaa DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20131226 DURATION:P1D TRANSP:TRANSPARENT UID:DaysUntil.com-Kwanzaa-00002013 DESCRIPTION:X-WR-CALDESC:Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration held in the Unite d States honoring universal African-American heritage and cul ture, observed from December 26 to January 1 each year. It features activit ies such as lighting a candle holder with seven candles[1] and cu lminates in a feast and gift-giving. It was created by Maulana Karenga and was fi rst celebrated in 1966–67.
Maulana Karenga of the U S Organization created Kwanzaa in 1966 as the first specifically Africa n American holiday ?[2] Karenga said his goal was to "give Blacks an alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportuni ty to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the prac tice of the dominant society."[3] The name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phras e matunda ya kwanza, meaning first fruits of the harvest.[4] The choic e of Swahili, an East African language, reflects its status as a symbol of Pan-Africanism, especially in the 1960s.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20130620T030534Z CATEGORIES:Days Until CLASS:PUBLIC ORGANIZER:DaysUntil.com SUMMARY:Noble Drew Ali's Birthday (January 8th, 2014 at midnight) URL:http://www.DaysUntil.com/Noble-Drew-Ali-Birthday DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20140108 DURATION:P1D TRANSP:TRANSPARENT UID:DaysUntil.com-Noble-Drew-Ali-Birthday-00002014 DESCRIPTION:X-WR-CALDESC:The Moorish Science Temple of America is an American religious organization founded in the early 20th century by Timothy Drew. Although presented as a sect of Islam, the Moorish Science Temple also draws inspiratio n from Bud dhism, Christianity, Freemasonry, Gnosticism and Taoism to present a message of s elf-determination, personal transformation, indigenous identity in the West ern Hemisphere, indigenous pride, uplift, civic involvement, and self-suffi ciency. One primary tenet is the belief that Afri can-Americans are of Moorish ancestry, specifically from Morocco and, in their reli gious texts, adherents refer to themselves as "Asiatics".[1]
The Moorish Scien ce Temple of America was incorporated under the Illinois Religious Corporat ion Act 805 ILCS 110. Timothy Drew, calling himself the Prophet Noble Drew Ali, fou nded the Moorish Science Temple in 1913 in New Jersey. After some difficultie s, Drew moved to Chicago, establishing a center there as well as temples in other m ajor cities, where it expanded rapidly during the late 1920s. The quick exp ansion of the Moorish Science Temple arose in large part from the search fo r identity and context among black Americans. [2]
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20130620T030534Z CATEGORIES:Days Until CLASS:PUBLIC ORGANIZER:DaysUntil.com SUMMARY:Martin Luther King Day (January 20th, 2014 at midnight) URL:http://www.DaysUntil.com/Martin-Luther-King-Day DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20140120 DURATION:P1D TRANSP:TRANSPARENT UID:DaysUntil.com-Martin-Luther-King-Day-00002014 DESCRIPTION:X-WR-CALDESC:Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a United States federal holiday marking the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luthe r King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, wh ich is around the time of King's birthday, January 15. The floating holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Mon day Holiday Act, though the act predated the establishment of Martin Lu ther King, Jr. Day by 15 years.
King was the chief spokesman for nonviole nt activism in the civil rights movement, which succes sfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campai gn for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed o n January 20, 1986. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20130620T030534Z CATEGORIES:Days Until CLASS:PUBLIC ORGANIZER:DaysUntil.com SUMMARY:Black History Month (February 1st, 2014 at midnight) URL:http://www.DaysUntil.com/Black-History-Month DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20140201 DURATION:P1D TRANSP:TRANSPARENT UID:DaysUntil.com-Black-History-Month-00002014 DESCRIPTION:X-WR-CALDESC:Black History Month, also known as African-Americ
an History Month, is an annual observance in the United States, Canada, and t
he United Kingdom for remembrance of important people and events in t
he history of the African diaspora. It is celebrated annually in the United State
s and Canada in February<
a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_History_Month#cite_note-AboutLoC
-0">[1][2] and the Unit
ed Kingdom in October.
Black History Month had its begin nings in 1926 in the United States, when historian Carter G. Woodso n and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History announced the second week of February to be "Negro History Week". This week was chosen because it marked the birthday of both Abra ham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.[1] Wo odson created the holiday with the hope that it eventually be eliminated wh en black history became fundamental to American history.[4] Negro History Week was met with enthusiastic response; it prompted the creation of black history clubs, an increase in interest among teachers, and interes t from progressive whites. Negro History Week grew in popularity throughout the following decades, with mayors across the United States endorsing it a s a holiday.[< /span>1]
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20130620T030534Z CATEGORIES:Days Until CLASS:PUBLIC ORGANIZER:DaysUntil.com SUMMARY:Frederick Douglass Day (February 14th, 2014 at midnight) URL:http://www.DaysUntil.com/Frederick-Douglass-Day DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20140214 DURATION:P1D TRANSP:TRANSPARENT UID:DaysUntil.com-Frederick-Douglass-Day-00002014 DESCRIPTION:X-WR-CALDESC:Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washi ngton Bailey, c. February 1818[3] – Februar y 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. Af ter escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaini ng note for his dazzling oratory[4] and incisive antislavery w riting. He stood as a living counter-example to slaveholders' arguments tha t slaves did not have the intellectual capacity to function as independent American citizens.[5][6]< /sup> Many Northerners also found it hard to believe that such a great orat or had been a slave.< a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass#cite_note-slave-ora tor-6">[7]
Douglass wrote several autobiographies, eloquently describing his experiences in slavery in his 1 845 autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frede rick Douglass, an American Slave, which became influential in its s upport for abolition. He wrote two more autobiographies, with his last, Life and Times of Frederick D ouglass, published in 1881 and covering events through and after th e Civil War. After the Civil War, Douglass remained active in the United States' struggle to reach its potential as a "land of the free" . Douglass actively supported women's suffrage. Without his app roval he became the first African American nominated for Vice President of the United States as the running mate of Victoria Woodhull on the impracticable and small Equal R ights Party ticket. Douglass held multiple public offices.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20130620T030534Z CATEGORIES:Days Until CLASS:PUBLIC ORGANIZER:DaysUntil.com SUMMARY:Myrtilla Miner Day (March 4th, 2014 at midnight) URL:http://www.DaysUntil.com/Myrtilla-Miner-Day DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20140304 DURATION:P1D TRANSP:TRANSPARENT UID:DaysUntil.com-Myrtilla-Miner-Day-00002014 DESCRIPTION:X-WR-CALDESC:Myrtilla Miner (March 4, 1815, near Br ookfield, New York – December 17, 1864, Was hington, DC) was an American educator and abolitionist whose school for African Americans, estab lished against considerable opposition, grew to a successful and long-lived teachers institution.
Miner was educated at the Clover Street Seminary in Rochester, New York (1840-44) , and taught at various schools, including the Newton Female Institute (1846-47) in Whitesville, Mis sissippi, where she was refused permission to conduct classes for Afric an American girls. In 1851, with encouragement from Henry Ward Be echer and with a board of trustees which included Johns Hopkins and other Quaker philanthropists, Miner opened the Normal School for Colored Gi rls in Washington, DC. The school was eventually merged with other loca l institutions to form the University of the District of Columbia.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20130620T030534Z CATEGORIES:Days Until CLASS:PUBLIC ORGANIZER:DaysUntil.com SUMMARY:Crispus Attucks Day (March 5th, 2014 at midnight) URL:http://www.DaysUntil.com/Crispus-Attucks-Day DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20140305 DURATION:P1D TRANSP:TRANSPARENT UID:DaysUntil.com-Crispus-Attucks-Day-00002014 DESCRIPTION:X-WR-CALDESC:Crispus Attucks (c. 1722 – March 5, 1770) was
an American slave, merchant seaman and dockwo
rker of Wampanoag and African descent. He w
as the first person shot to death by British redcoats during the Boston Massacre, in Boston, Massachusetts.[2] Little is known for certain about Crispus Attucks beyond that he, alon
g with Samuel Gray and James Caldwell, died "on the spot" during the incide
nt.[3] T
wo major sources of eyewitness testimony about the Boston Massacre, both pu
blished in 1770, did not refer to Attucks as a "Negro," or "black" man; it
appeared that Bostonians accepted him as mixed race. Hist
orians disagree on whether Crispus Attucks was a free man or an escaped slave; but agree that he was of Wampanoag and
African descent. Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Harriet Ross; 1
820 – March 10, 1913) was an African-Americ
an abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the Americ
an Civil War. After escaping from slavery
, into which she was born, she made thirteen missions to rescue more th
an 70 slaves[1 As a child in Dorchester County, Maryland, Tub
man was beaten by masters to whom she was hired out. Early in her life, she
suffered a head wound when hit by a heavy metal weight. The injury caused
disabling seizures, narcoleptic attacks, headaches, and powerfu
l visionary and dream activity, which occurred throughout her life. A devou
t Christ
ian, Tubman ascribed the visions and vivid dreams t
o reve
lations from God
. Paul Leroy Robeson (
/ˈ<
a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English#Key" title="
Wikipedia:IPA for English">r
Robeson won a scholarship to Rutgers College and there he was an All-Americ an football player, and valedictorian of his class. He further advanced his education attending Columbia Law School, while playing professionally in the National Footb all League (NFL) and singing and acting in off-campus productions. He g raduated from law school and had a brief stint working as a lawyer before f ocusing his career on the arts. He made singing tours of the US and Europe, and became an international star of stage, screen, radio and film.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20130620T030534Z CATEGORIES:Days Until CLASS:PUBLIC ORGANIZER:DaysUntil.com SUMMARY:Emancipation Day (April 16th, 2014 at midnight) URL:http://www.DaysUntil.com/Emancipation-Day DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20140416 DURATION:P1D TRANSP:TRANSPARENT UID:DaysUntil.com-Emancipation-Day-00002014 DESCRIPTION:X-WR-CALDESC:Emancipation Day is celebrated in many former Britis h colonies in the Caribbean and areas of the United States on various dates in observance of the emancipation of slaves of Afric an origin. It is also observed in other areas in regard to the abolitio n of serfdom or other forms of servitude.
The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 ended slavery in the British Empire on August 1, 1834. Emancipation Day is widely observed in the British West Indies during the first week of August. In many Caribbean countries the Emancipation Day celebration is a part of Carnival, as the Caribbean Carnival takes place at this time (although Carnaval in T rinidad and Tobago takes place in February or March according to Ash Wednes day, not near August[1]< /span>).
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20130620T030534Z CATEGORIES:Days Until CLASS:PUBLIC ORGANIZER:DaysUntil.com SUMMARY:Duke Ellington Day (April 29th, 2014 at midnight) URL:http://www.DaysUntil.com/Duke-Ellington-Day DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20140429 DURATION:P1D TRANSP:TRANSPARENT UID:DaysUntil.com-Duke-Ellington-Day-00002014 DESCRIPTION:X-WR-CALDESC:Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 &nda sh; May 24, 1974)[1] was an American composer, pianist, and big-band < a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandleader" title="Bandleader">leader< /a>. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions. In the opinion of Bob Blument hal of The Boston Globe "In the century since his birth, t here has been no greater composer, American or otherwise, than Edward Kenne dy Ellington."[2] A major figure in the history of jazz, Ellington's music stretched into various other genres, including blues, gospel, film scores, popular, and classical. His career spanned more than 50 years and included leading his orchestra, composing an inexhaustible songbook, scoring for movies, composing stage mu sicals, and world tours. Several of his instrumental works were adapted int o songs that became standards. Due to his inventive use of the orchestra, o r big band , and thanks to his eloquence and extraordinary charisma, he is general ly considered to have elevated the perception of jazz to an art form on a p ar with other traditional genres of music. His reputation increased after h is death and the Pulitzer Prize Board bestowed on him a special posth umous honor in 1999.[3]
Ellington called his music "Americ
an Music" rather than jazz, and liked to describe those who impressed him as "beyond cate
gory."[4
Mary Jane McLeod Bethune (July 10, 1875 – May 18, 1955) was an American educator and civil rights leader best known for s tarting a school for African American students in Daytona Beach, Florida, that eventually became Bethune-Cookman University and for being an advisor to President < a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt" title="Franklin D. Roosevelt">Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Born in South Carolina to parents who had been slaves and having to work in fields at age five, she took an early interest in her own education. With the help of benefacto rs, Bethune attended college hoping to become a missionary in Africa. When th at did not materialize, she started a school for African American girls in Daytona Beach. From six students it grew and merged with an institute for African American boys and eventually became the Beth une-Cookman School. Its quality far surpassed the standards of education fo r African American students, and rivaled those of schools for white student s. Bethune worked tirelessly to ensure funding for the school, and used it as a showcase for tourists and donors, to exhibit what educated African-Ame ricans could do. She was president of the college from 1923 to 1942 and 194 6 to 1947, one of the few women in the world who served as a college presid ent at that time.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20130620T030534Z CATEGORIES:Days Until CLASS:PUBLIC ORGANIZER:DaysUntil.com SUMMARY:Malcolm X Day (May 19th, 2014 at midnight) URL:http://www.DaysUntil.com/Malcolm-X-Day DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20140519 DURATION:P1D TRANSP:TRANSPARENT UID:DaysUntil.com-Malcolm-X-Day-00002014 DESCRIPTION:X-WR-CALDESC:Malcolm X (
/ˈm
Malcolm X's father died—killed by white supremacists, it was rumored—when he was young, and at least one of his uncles was lynched. When he was thirteen, his mother was placed in a mental hospital, and he was placed in a series of foster homes. In 1946, at age 20 , he went to prison for breaking and entering.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20130620T030534Z CATEGORIES:Days Until CLASS:PUBLIC ORGANIZER:DaysUntil.com SUMMARY:African Liberation Day (May 25th, 2014 at midnight) URL:http://www.DaysUntil.com/African-Liberation-Day DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20140525 DURATION:P1D TRANSP:TRANSPARENT UID:DaysUntil.com-African-Liberation-Day-00002014 DESCRIPTION:X-WR-CALDESC:African Liberation Day on May 25 is an annual holiday in var ious countries in Africa, coinciding with African Union's Africa Day.
On Apri l 15, 1958, in the city of Accra, Ghana, African leaders and political activists gathered at the fi rst Conference of I ndependent African States. It was attended by representatives of the go vernments of Egy pt (which attended as part of the United Arab Republic), Ethiop ia, Ghana, Liberia, Libya, < a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco" title="Morocco">Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and representatives of the National Liberation Front of Algeria, and the Uni on of the Peoples of Cameroon. The conference was significant in that i t represented the first pan-African Conference held on African soil.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20130620T030534Z CATEGORIES:Days Until CLASS:PUBLIC ORGANIZER:DaysUntil.com SUMMARY:Mary Church Terrell Day (June 4th, 2014 at midnight) URL:http://www.DaysUntil.com/Mary-Church-Terrell-Day DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20140604 DURATION:P1D TRANSP:TRANSPARENT UID:DaysUntil.com-Mary-Church-Terrell-Day-00002014 DESCRIPTION:X-WR-CALDESC:Mary Church Terrell (September 23, 1863 – July 24, 1954), daughter of former slaves, was one of the first African-America n women to earn a college degree. She became an activist who led several importan t associations and worked for civil rights an d suffrage .
Terrell was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Robert Reed Church and Louisa Ayers, both former slaves. Robert Ch urch was mixed-race and said to be the son of his white master, Charles Chu rch. He rapitaly became a self-made millionaire from real-estate investment s in Memphis and was married twice. When Terrell was six years old, her par ents sent her to the Antioch College Model School in Yellow S prings, Ohio, for her elementary and secondary education. Terrell, know n to members of her family as "Mollie," and her brother were born during th eir father's first marriage, which terminated in divorce. Their half-siblin gs, Robert, Jr. and Annette, were born during their father's second marriag e, to Anna (Wright) Church.
END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR