A Calendar of Concern For Peace & Justice
January
1 --
World Day of Prayer for Peace, especially in the Catholic tradition
22 – Anniversary of the US Supreme Court “Roe v. Wade” decision
Third Monday -- holiday for the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr
30 -- anniversary of the assassination of Mahatama Gandhi in 1948;
and the beginning of the “Season of
Nonviolence”
February
National Black History Month
16-22 -- Brotherhood/Sisterhood Week, sponsored by the National
Conference for Community & Justice (NCCJ,
71 Fifth
Avenue, New York, NY 1003)
19 -- anniversary of the school killings in Bethel, AK in 1997
21 -- anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965
29 -- anniversary of the school killings in Mount Morris Township, MI in
2000
Lent begins - an ideal time for a 6-week program
March
5 -- anniversary of the school killings in Santa Ana, CA in 2001
8 -- UN International Women’s Day
10 -- anniversary of the death of Harriet Tubman in 1913
18 -- Beginning of the war on Iraq in 2003
24 -- anniversary of the assassination of Oscar Romero, Archbishop of
San Salvador and apostle of nonviolence, in 1981; also the anniversary of
the school killings in Jonesboro, AR, in 1998
April
Child Abuse Prevention Month & Sexual Assault Awareness Month
4 -- anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr, in
1968
4-11 -- “Week of Nonviolence” sponsored by the Leadership Conference of
Women Religious (8800 Cameron
Ave.,
Silver Spring, MD 20910; 301-588-4955)
16 -- anniversary of the assassination of 12 year-old Iqbal Masih, the
victim of child labor in the carpet industry
of
Pakistan who organized widely against this exploitation of children
19 -- anniversary of the bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995
20 -- anniversary of the school killings in Littleton, CO, in 1999
22 -- Earth Day
23 -- anniversary of the death of Cesar Chavez in 1993
24 -- anniversary of the school killings in Edinboro, PA, in 1998
30 -- Shoah/Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah)
Last week -- “TV-Turnoff Week”, sponsored by TV-Free America (call
202-887-0436)
May
5 -- “Cinco de Mayo” (Mexican Independence Day)
Second week -- “Family Week,” sponsored by the National Council of
Churches (475 Riverside Dr., New York, NY
10115)
Saturday before Mother’s Day, a “Day without Violence”, sponsored by the
Optimist Clubs of North America (4494 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63119)
Second Sunday -- Mother’s Day (originally the day for mothers to protest
war)
15 -- International Conscientious Objector’s Day
19 -- anniversary of the school killings in Fayetteville, TN in 1998
20 -- anniversary of the school killings in Conyers, GA in 1999
21 -- anniversary of the school killings in Springfield, OR in 1998
24 -- Women’s International Disarmament Day
26 -- anniversary of the killing of a teacher by a student in Lake Worth,
FL in 2000
Last Monday -- Memorial Day in the US
June
First Saturday of June -- “Stand for Children” events in Washington,
DC, and across the US, sponsored by the
Children’s
Defense Fund
First Monday of June -- Samantha Smith Day (commemorating the life of
this young ambassador of
reconciliation between the US and the Soviet Union during the 1980s; she
died in a plane crash at age 13 in 1985)
4 -- UN International Day of Innocent Children, Victims of Aggression
5 -- anniversary of the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968
5 -- UN World Environment Day
19 -- “Juneteenth”, celebrating “Emancipation Day” for US African
Americans
July
1 -- “Canada Day” (independence in Canada)
4 -- Independence Day in the US
13 -- National HOPE Remembrance Day (a day of mourning for all victims,
whether of individual or state-sanctioned killing’ contact Project HOPE to
Abolish the Death Penalty, 11076 CR 267, Lanett, AL 36863;
334-499-2380
August
6 and 9 -- anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki; use the origami peace cranes as a symbol of nonviolence.
September
11 -- anniversary of the death of victims of terrorism in New York,
Pennsylvania, and
Washington, D. C., 2001
11 -- anniversary of the signing the Peace Accords between Egypt and
Israel in Camp David, MD
Week including the 16th -- National Hispanic Week (US Catholic
Conference,
Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs, 3211 4th St. NE, Washington, DC
20017)
21 -- UN International Day of Peace, devoted to strengthening the ideas
of peace both within and among all nations and peoples (see AC 167 for
details)
October
Respect Life Month
Domestic Violence Awareness Month
1 -- anniversary of the school killings in Pearl, MS in 1997
2 -- anniversary of the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi in 1869
4 -- anniversary of death of St. Francis of Assisi in 1226
6 -- anniversary of the assassination of Anwar Sadat (Egypt) in 1981
7 -- anniversary of the US bombing of Afghanistan in 2001
Second week -- “Week Without Violence”, sponsored by the YWCA
Third weekend -- Children’s Sabbath, sponsored by the Children’s
Defense Fund,
16 -- UN World Food Day
16-22 -- National “Peace With Justice Week”
24 -- United Nations Day
25 -- anniversary of the death of Sadako Sasaki in 1955, the Japanese
girl killed by the radiation from the
atomic
bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and the girl who made the origami peace cranes
famous
November
3 -- feast of St. Martin de Porres, patron of social justice
because of his care for the sick and the slaves of Lima, Peru
4 -- anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin (Israel) in 1995
8 and 29 -- The anniversaries of the birth and death of Dorothy Day,
founder of the Catholic Worker houses of hospitality and life-long peace
activist
11 -- Remembrance Day in Canada and Veteran’s Day in the US; also the
feast of St. Martin of Tours, a Roman
soldier
who became a Christian pacifist serving the poor
15 -- International Day of the Indian (World Council of Indigeneous
Peoples)
19 -- anniversary of the school killings in Deming, NM in 1999
20 -- UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1954
29 -- UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
December
Advent -- An ideal time for a four-week program
1 -- anniversary of the school killings in Paducah, KY in 1997
2 -- anniversary of the assassinations of the four US women
missionaries in El Salvador in 1980 (Ita Ford,Maura Clark, Jean Donovan,
Dorothay Kazel)
6 -- anniversary of the school killings in Ft. Gibson, OK in 1999
7 – anniversary of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941
10 -- International Human Rights Day
-- Hanukkah
12 -- Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, especially important for Mexican
Americans an affirmation of the dignity of indigenous peoples
17-24 -- Las Posadas, the Hispanic celebration of Mary and Joseph’s
search for hospitality
25 – Christmas, the birth of “The Prince of Peace”
25-31 -- African American celebration of Kwanza