September 2012 E-News from Multicultural Activities

Welcome!
Welcome to the new term! In this monthly e-newsletter, you will find information on upcoming programs, workshops, and other events. You will also learn about some of the celebrations and holidays that are observed by various cultural and religious groups each month. Your input, ideas, and questions are welcome! Please contact Karen Roth, Multicultural Activities at kroth1@cocc.edu or call 541-383-7412 for more information.

Upcoming Programs and Events

Principles of Community
Stop by the Multicultural Center to pick up a copy of the Principles of Community. Tell Karen Roth that you saw this message in the E-news and you’ll get a free RESPECT button, too! Then share the responsibility for creating a more inclusive and respectful campus community. A respectful campus community benefits us all. When we feel safe, valued, and included, we have a greater capacity to grow and develop, to give and to receive, to thrive. Join us as we strive to create the kind of atmosphere that supports us all. Think Respect!

Online at: http://www.cocc.edu/Multicultural/Creating-Community/

Multicultural Celebrations and Holidays

* indicates a date when observants do not work or go to school 

September/October is National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15). The proclamation for the United States to celebrate the contributions of Latinos to our communities and country started with the observance of Hispanic Heritage Week in September of 1968. It wasn't until 1988 that Congress authorized the designation of National Hispanic Heritage Month.

September 3 – Labor Day, voted as a national holiday by the U.S. Congress in 1894 to honor working people’s contribution of labor.

September 12-16 – Gahambar Paitishahem, the Zoroastrian celebration of the creation of the earth.

September 16 - Mexican Independence Day commemorates the 1810 revolution that ended Spanish dictatorship. The Independence Day festivities in Mexico begin at midnight on the day of the holiday. At that time, in villages, towns, and cities all over Mexico, the people gather at the "zocalo" or public square. There are bands playing and people throw confetti and wave flags. At midnight the president (or in small towns a local public official) reads the "Grito de Dolores" of Father Hidalgo, the organizer and principal leader of the rebellion against the Spaniards. The people chant the "Grito" after the president. He then rings the independence bell as fireworks light up the sky and the dancing and singing continues.

September 17 - Anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, 1787.

*September 18 - Rosh Hashanah/New Year, Jewish observance marks the first and second day of the Jewish New Year and the anniversary of the creation of the world. It begins at sundown the night before and ends 10 days later with Yom Kippur. It is observed with prayers and religious services.

September 19 - Keiro No Hi, a Buddhist commemoration also known as the Festival of Lanterns. Prayer services are held to remember the ancestors and lanterns are floated down rivers or in the sea to guide ancestral spirits back to the other world.

September 19 – Ganesh Chaturthi, a Hindu observance that honors one of the major deities, Ganesh, the elephant-headed god. He is known as the “remover of all obstacles” and is invoked at the beginning of all new undertakings.

September 20 - Birth of Red Cloud, Oglala Sioux Chief at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, 1822.

September 20 – Dashalakshani-Parva, a Jain celebration that lasts ten days. Each day is dedicated to a virtue: humility, honesty, purity, forgiveness, truthfulness, self-restraint, asceticism, study, celibacy, and detachment.

September 21 - International Day of Peace was first observed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1982.

September 22 - Ostara, Pagan celebration in the Southern Hemisphere to welcome spring.

September 22 – Mabon, a Pagan celebration in the Northern Hemisphere to mark the fall equinox and the end of the harvest season.

September 22 - Chichen Itza Festival in Mexico of the Autumn Equinox. People gather at the Mayan Temple of Kukulkan to see the interplay of sun and shadow forming the impression of a long-tailed serpent moving down the temple stairs.

September 22 – Shuki sorei sai, a Japanese Shinto observance that honors family ancestry by visiting graves and being with family.

September 22 – Oktoberfest, a German celebration that originated in 1810 when Joseph Maximilian of Bavaria first decided to celebrate his marriage with princess Theresa of Saxonie in royal style. Originally meant to be a simple horse race event, it became a happy gathering of cheerful beer drinkers.

September 23 – Ksamavani, a Jain day of universal forgiveness for wrongs committed by them and to them.

September 24 - Anniversary of Desegregation of Little Rock, Arkansas Central High School, 1957.

September 25 - National Native American Day (USA). Although not an official government holiday, many American Indian organizations and tribes do observe this holiday.

September 25 - Sandra Day O’Connor sworn in as first woman Supreme Court Justice, 1981.

*September 26 - Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Also known as the Day of Atonement, it is observed with strict fasting and ceremonial repentance to atone for one’s mistakes. Observance begins at sundown the day before.

September 30 – Harvest Moon Festival , celebrated in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan with family reunions, moon gazing and eating of moon cakes. In Vietnam, it is called Trung Thu and on that night children form a procession and travel through the streets with bright lanterns, singing and dancing to the beat of drums. In Korea, it is called Chusok and is observed by paying homage to ancestors and expressing gratitude for rich crops.

September 30 - National Farm Workers Association began, founded by Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Phillip Vera Cruz, 1962.

September 30 – Pavarana, commemorates when Buddha went into intensive practice during the rainy season.

September 30 – San Geronimo Day, named after St. Jerome, an Apache fighter, this day is celebrated by Native Americans in Taos, New Mexico. Among the ceremonies are the morning races, the sacred clowns, and the pole climb.