August Holiday Spotlight

The aim of Black Women’s Equal Pay Day is to raise awareness about the wider-than-average pay gap between Black women and white men. Black women are paid 63 cents for every dollar paid to white men.

Equal Pay Today is an organization that calls for equal pay for all women. According to the American Association of University Women’s website, “Equal Pay Day denotes how far into the new year women must work to be paid what men were paid the previous year. Started by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) in 1996, the goal was to raise awareness about the gender wage gap. Since then, other Equal Pay Days have been added to the calendar to denote that mothers and most women of color face a wider-than-average gap and need to work even longer to catch up to men’s earnings.”

Resources

• Five Ways to Understand Black Women’s Equal Pay Day

• Black Women’s Equal Pay Day 2021

• Islamic New Year Fast Facts

• What is the Obon Festival and What Does It Celebrate?

• Religion and Ethics News Weekly: Paryushana Parva

• Gov’t Declares August 17 Marcus Garvey Day

• Ashoura: Why Muslims Fast and Mourn in Muharram

• How to Celebrate the Hungry Ghost Festival

• UNESCO: International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition

August 23: International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is held on the anniversary of the 1791 uprising in Santo Domingo (today known as Haiti and the Dominican Republic) that initiated the abolition of slavery in the Caribbean and across the world. More than 15 million men, women, and children were victims of the transatlantic slave trade. This day remembers the history of slavery: the many lives lost and destroyed from the practice and the ripple effects it has caused since. It is also a day for us to reflect on injustices and give voice and spotlight to human trafficking today. 

Please look into Unicef USA’s Call to Action:

• Join the Anti-Trafficking Movement

This Month

• August 1: Lughnasadh/Lammas
• August 3: Black Women’s Equal Pay Day
• August 9: (sundown): Hijri New Year
• August 12-16: (in Japan): Obon (Ullambana)
• August 16-23: Paryushana Parva
• August 17: (in Jamaica): Marcus Garvey Day
• August 18-19: (sundown to sundown): Ashura
• August 22: Hungry Ghost Festival
• August 23: International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
• August 26: Women’s Equality Day
• August 29-30: Krishna Janmashtam

Full details on each holiday can be found here. 

Written by Taylor Kanemori, Director of Equity & Inclusion