8.01.22 – August Recognitions

Monday, August 1, 2022

August Recognitions

As we move into a new month, August is certainly making itself known and we are all feeling the heat! We hope you are making sure to stay healthy and safe out there. This is an important month, as August has so much to acknowledge and appreciate.

August 4 is the U.S. Coast Guard’s Birthday. The Coast Guard is with The Department of Homeland Security, and they are tasked with keeping our waterways safe and secure with search and rescue, security, and law enforcement. The Coast Guard are one of the five branches of the United States Armed Forces, and on this day and every day we honor and celebrate these members of our armed forces.

August 6 at sundown until sundown on Aug 7 is the Jewish holiday, Tisha B’Av. It is a day of remembrance for when in 586 BCE and 70 CE the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed.

August 7 is Purple Heart Day in observance of those of the U.S. military who have been wounded or killed while serving and is the oldest military award for our U.S. military members. We thank them for their service to the nation and their sacrifice.

August 9 is International Day of the Worlds Indigenous people celebrating the richness of culture of all indigenous people. It is a day to also give light onto the challenges of dispossession, discrimination, poverty, and the dismissiveness of indigenous people’s human rights.

August 11 is Raksha Bandhan, which is a Hindu festival celebrating the love and duty between brothers and sisters. Following tradition, the sister will tie a sacred thread on the wrist of the brother. The brother in turn gives his sister presents and takes an oath to protect her and keep her out of harm’s way. The ritual is then followed by giving each other homemade treats.

August 19 is Ashura, a Muslim holiday of fasting to celebrate Moses’ departure from Egypt and a day of mourning the sacrifice of death of Hussein at the Battle of Kerbala, which is on the tenth day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic lunar calendar.

August 19 is also National Aviation Day, celebrating the development of aviation established in 1939 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the anniversary of Orville Wright’s birthday.

August 23 is International Day for the Remembrance of The Slave Trade and Its Abolition, recognizing the overwhelming suffering caused and tragic place in our history of the transatlantic slave trade. It is particularly significant because on this day in 1791 in Haiti there was an uprising an over the transatlantic slave trade, which initiated its abolition.

August 26 is Women’s Equality Day, which celebrates the work and those who fought for the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits anyone to deny a person the right to vote based on sex. Women continue to for equal rights. Today, the wage gap between men and women still impacts women’s economic power, and gender-based discrimination still exists in many workplaces.

We thank you to those who have contributed to our recognition. We love taking the time to reflect, acknowledge, celebrate, and recognize what we honor and hold dear as well as what is special and important to you. Please continue to let us know what we can recognize, and we will be sure to include it. Stay safe out there and please reach out to us at any time.

In Solidarity,

Chaddrian, Charlotte, and Rhonda
APFA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee
[email protected]