Office of Inclusive Excellence Monthly Highlights - August
Welcome to august!
August welcomes the beginning of the 2024-2025 Academic Year!
This August, we also recognize the following: Lughnasadh/Lammas, World Indigenous People's Day, World Humanitarian Day, and the Anniversary of the 19th Amendment
Lughnasadh (Gaelic) or Lammas (based on the Christian Feast of the Fruits), celebrates the beginning of the harvest season on August 1st. Modern day celebrants bake breads and cakes to celebrate the historical grain harvest (and subsequent bread making). Some observers celebrate with a harvest ritual. This ritual typically involves decorating an altar with symbols of the season. Some of these symbols include scythes (because they are used to cut the grain), corn, grapes, apples, and/or any other crops that might be harvested at this time.
World Indigenous Peoples Day on August 9 recognizes the achievements and contributions that indigenous people make to improve world issues such as environmental protection. There are an estimated 476 million Indigenous Peoples in the world living across 90 countries. They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures. Indigenous Peoples' territories encompass 28% of the surface of the globe and contain 11% of the world’s forests. They are guardians of most of the world’s remaining biodiversity.
World Humanitarian Day on August 19 pays tribute to humanitarian workers killed and injured in the course of their work, and to honor all aid and health workers who continue to provide life-saving support and protection to people most in need. The 2024 WHD campaign, #ActForHumanity, focuses on addressing the alarming rise in attacks against humanitarian workers and civilians, advocating for the enforcement of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) to end impunity for these violations.
The 19th Amendment (certified on August 26, 1920) protected discrimination against all women, but in practice, it only gave White women the right to vote. Black women, Native American women, Asian American women, and women from other racial and ethnic minority groups were discriminated against for 45 more years until the passage of The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA).
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