Diversity Celebrations - December 2021

Universal Human Rights Month

December is Universal Human Rights Month, a time for people in the United States and around the world to join together and stand up for the rights and dignity of all individuals. It is a global holiday that marks the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations in 1948. Article I of the Declaration states: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”

Sadly, many people around the world have not experienced this truth. They face discrimination and persecution because of their race, national origin, sex, gender, religion, age, language, or other status.

December 3 - International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD)

International Day of Persons with Disabilities is a UN day that is celebrated every year on 3 December.

The estimated one billion people living with disabilities worldwide face many barriers to inclusion in some key aspects of society. As a result, they do not enjoy access on an equal basis as others which includes areas such as transportation and employment but also social participation like politics or entertainment.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities falls on the 3rd of December each year, with the aim of promoting empowerment, and helping to create real opportunities for people with disabilities. This enhances their own capacities and supports them in setting their own priorities. Empowerment involves investing in people in jobs, health, nutrition, education, and social protection. When people are empowered they are better prepared to take advantage of opportunities, they become agents of change and can more readily embrace their civic responsibilities.

December 21 – Yule Winter Solstice

Yule ("Yule time" or "Yule season") is a festival historically observed by people living in Central Europe and Scandinavia. Scholars have connected the original celebrations of Yule to the Wild Hunt, the god Odin, and Anglo-Saxon Mōdraniht.

Later departing from its pagan roots, Yule underwent Christianized reformulation, resulting in the term Christmastide.

Some present-day Christmas customs and traditions such as the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, and others have connections to older pagan Yule traditions. Cognates to Yule are still used in Nordic countries as well as Estonia to describe Christmas and other festivals occurring during the winter holiday season. Today, Yule is celebrated in other forms of Neopaganism, such as Wicca, with it being part of their Wheel of the Year.

December 25 - Christmas Day

Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ that was evolved into both a religious and secular holiday that incorporates many pre-Christian and pagan traditions as well. It is widely believed that the Church picked Dec. 25th as the date as it also encompassed many pagan and pre-Christian celebrations that took place around the Winter Solistice. The Christmas Tree is from Norse culture and the burning of the Yule Logs, Santa Claus can be traced back to a monk names St. Nicholas who was born in Turkey and who gave away all of his wealth to help the poor and sick. He became the protector of sailors and children.

Fun Facts About Christmas

Each year, 30-35 million real Christmas trees are sold in the United States alone. There are about 21,000 Christmas tree growers in the United States, and trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold.

In the Middle Ages, Christmas celebrations were rowdy and raucous—a lot like today’s Mardi Gras parties.

When Christmas was canceled: From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Boston, and lawbreakers were fined five shillings.

Christmas was declared a federal holiday in the United States on June 26, 1870.

The first eggnog made in the United States was consumed in Captain John Smith’s 1607 Jamestown settlement.

Poinsettia plants are named after Joel R. Poinsett, an American minister to Mexico, who brought the red-and-green plant from Mexico to America in 1828.

The Salvation Army has been sending Santa Claus-clad donation collectors into the streets since the 1890s.

Rudolph, “the most famous reindeer of all,” was the product of Robert L. May’s imagination in 1939. The copywriter wrote a poem about the reindeer to help lure customers into the Montgomery Ward department store.

Construction workers started the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition in 1931.

December 26 - January 1 - Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa is an African American and pan-African holiday that was created in 1966. It is a 7-day cultural celebration that joins communitarian values with practices of Continental African and African American Culture. During the holiday families and communities organize activities around Nguzo Saba (The Seven Principles): Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani (Faith). The holiday is also celebrated with feasts (karamu), music, dance, poetry and stories. The end of the holiday is celebrated with a day of reflection and recommitment to the Seven Principles and other cultural values.

For more information visit: https://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/