Remembering DEI During a Time of Love & Acceptance: February Holidays & Observances 2024
A collage of February holidays and observances
Welcome to February, the month of love! The days are getting longer, spring is around the corner, and there is so much to celebrate around the world! Please read on for a breakdown of just a small selection of February holidays and observances for 2024. After the honeymoon phase of a new year fades, we settle into our new (or old?) routines and begin to focus on tackling the shortest month of the year.
Despite having the least amount of days, February brings with it a myriad of domestic and international holidays and observances; offering a chance for unity and understanding across borders. It's a time when our global community comes together to acknowledge and celebrate our shared humanity.
Acknowledging observances outside of those more well-known and universally celebrated holidays and observances, not only shows your diverse workforce but also shows that you are open-minded and excited to share in more diverse traditions. It also allows your employees to learn and grow as individuals. It is important to remember that we want to include those who celebrate less well-known observances in the conversation and ask them how they would like to participate. We want to avoid any exclusion of these employees and/or put them on the spot to share special memories or traditions with their coworkers. This may make some employees uncomfortable which is counterproductive for any work environment.
Here is a list of observances and how to acknowledge them in the workplace, plus resources to share with your employees and more.
List of Holidays and Observances in February
Monthly Observances:
Black History Month
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
Black History Month (BHM) is an annual celebration of the achievements and contributions of Black Americans observed in February in the US, as well as October in Canada and the UK. BHM provides an opportunity for community inclusion and understanding, as well as honoring the accomplishments of Black Americans who have often been neglected and erased from history. Check out five ways to celebrate BHM this year!
Looking for ways to spread awareness and celebrate observance of BHM with your workplace? We've got you covered! Here's a free email template resource for you to adapt and share with your colleagues and work teams this Black History Month.
Looking for ways to get the conversation started around Black History in America? Look no further than this session that The Rise Journey has to offer: Why Black History is American History.
Want to shake up the standard Lunch & Learn? Consider booking our Black History Month Poetry Slam and welcome some of the top spoken word artists to share their talents and passion with your colleagues.
LGBTQ+ History Month
LGBTQ+ History Month is an important time to celebrate the contributions and histories of LGBTQIA+ individuals around the world and show appreciation and recognition of these communities. Currently, the United Kingdom honors the LGBT+ community in February. However, the United States, Canada, and several other countries commemorate this observance during October. This year, the theme of the observance is #UnderTheScope, where communities are encouraged to learn about LGBTQIA+ history and influences in health and medicine.
For more ideas on how to celebrate this month, check out this article from The Guardian
Looking for ways to discuss supporting and celebrating the LGBT+ community in the workplace, take a look at our Lunch & Learns centered around LGBTQIA+ culture.
Weekly Observances:
African Heritage and Health Week
A group of friends celebrating African Heritage and Health Week
Originally proposed in 1990 by nonprofit organization Oldways. African Heritage and Health Week occur annually in the first week of February. The goal of this week is to encourage African communities and individuals to reconnect with the sustainable, unique, flavorful, and nutritious traditional food of their ancestors. For other folks, this week is a great opportunity to learn more about these traditions and the history behind new cuisine and cultures.
Fancy yourself a cook? Try out some of these African recipes featuring dishes from a variety of countries and cultures.
Special Observances:
Lunar New Year
Also called Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival, Lunar New Year is one of the main annual holidays celebrated in China and in the Chinese communities abroad. The holiday has been celebrated since ancient times as an opportunity for members of diverse communities across Asia to join in honoring the new calendar year.
Read more on the historical and modern traditions centering around the holiday here.
Looking for ways to spread awareness and celebrate the observance with your workplace? We've got you covered! Here's a free email template resource for you to adapt and share with your colleagues and work teams this Lunar New Year.
Are you a workplace leader interested in taking a deeper dive to learn more about the Asian American community and how to support them within your workplace? Explore our recommended session available for year-round learning and education: Empowering the AAPI Community.
Tết
Family celebrating Tết (Lunar New Year)
Tết Nguyen Dan, commonly known as Tết, is a major holiday in Vietnamese culture. The vibrant festival encourages the themes of love, hope, and celebrating family, loved ones, and other positive relationships as individuals and communities enter a new year.
Read more about the history of Tết and how it is celebrated today around the world in this article.
This year, Tết and the Lunar New Year fall on the same day, so consider ways to respectfully celebrate and acknowledge both the Chinese and Vietnamese communities in your workplace and life by talking with them and learning more about these important yearly celebrations.
The Importance of Open-Mindedness and Acceptance in Creating a Positive DEI Environment
News flash: The world is a lot bigger than you, your company, and your community! There are billions of people on this planet and while we can’t possibly understand all of them - shouldn’t we do our best to get to know the folks we spend most of our time with outside of our families?
Making an effort to learn from and celebrate diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and accessibility (DEIBA) with your coworkers allows for deeper connection, personal growth, and helps to create a better overall work environment where we can all thrive. Here at The Rise Journey, we value and appreciate others’ cultures and communities and we strive to help bring awareness to other organizations on these important aspects of the work environment. Please feel free to see the various topics we cover to help promote DEI in the workplace during our Lunch & Learns at The Rise Journey.
One important aspect of DEI is that it broadens your perspective, allowing you to see the world through a different set of lenses and expand your understanding of other cultures. By delving into the nuances of different traditions, customs, and ways of life, you break down preconceived notions and foster a more nuanced, open-minded worldview.
Furthermore, exploring diverse cultures plays a crucial role in preventing and overcoming ethnic and racial divisions. When you take the time to understand and appreciate the diversity that exists throughout the world, you contribute to building bridges instead of walls. This helps promote unity within society.
As you open yourself up to learning about different cultures, you also open the door to meeting new people. This exposure to a variety of perspectives and backgrounds not only expands your social circle, but also cultivates a rich network of relationships that can be both enlightening and rewarding. Learning about other cultures isn't just an academic exercise (or a way to score more points in trivia); it's a pathway to becoming a more empathetic, informed, and interconnected global citizen.
Key Takeaways:
Are you an HR or People professional looking for creative, fun, unexpected, or interesting ways to bring these conversations into your workplace? We’ve got you covered! Book time to chat with our team or take a look at our Lunch & Learn programs to see which upcoming celebration or significant observance can be celebrated, acknowledged, and understood by your workforce.
