Diversity and Inclusion

February is ...

• African-American History Month
• Heart and Stroke Month

Weeks to Celebrate:

• Aromantic Awareness Week (week following Valentine's Day)
• Eating Disorder Awareness Week (1st week of February)
• World Orphan Week (3rd week of February)

Days to Celebrate:

• 2/1 - National Freedom Day / Signing of the 13th Amendment
• 2/4 - World Cancer Day
• 2/6 - International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation
• 2/12 - International Women's Health Day, Day of Sexual and Reproductive Health 
• 2/14 - Valentine's Day, International Childhood Cancer Day
• 2/18 - President's Day
• 2/20 - World Day of Social Justice
• 2/21 - International Mother Language Day
• 2/22 - National Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day / Anosmia Awareness Day
• 2/29 - Rare Disease Day

​Major Religious Holidays & Observances

• Buddhism: Magha Puja Day (Feb. 9)
• Christianity: Saint Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14)
• Buddhism: Parinirvana Day (Feb. 15) 
• Hinduism: Maha Shivaratri (Feb. 22)
• Christianity: Ash Wednesday/Start of Lent (Feb. 26)
• Christianity: Lent (Feb. 26-April 11)

Significant Birthdays & Anniversaries

• Feb. 4, 1913-civil rights activist Rosa Parks (birthday)
• Feb. 4, 1921-feminist writer Betty Friedan (birthday)
• Feb. 14, 1818-abolitionist writer Frederick Douglass (birthday)
• Feb 14, 1847- suffragist, physician, and minister Anna Howard Shaw (birthday)
• Feb. 15, 1820-suffragist and social reformer Susan B. Anthony (birthday)
• Feb. 18, 1934-civil rights activist, feminist, and writer Audre Lorde (birthday)
• Feb. 21, 1940-civil rights activist and politician John Lewis (birthday)
• Feb. 23, 1868-civil rights activist, writer, and sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois (birthday)

March is ...

• American Red Cross Month
• Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month
• Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
• Deaf History Month (March 13 - April 15)
• Deep Vein Thrombosis Prevention Awareness Month
• Developmental Disabilities Month
• Irish-American Heritage Month
• International Black Women in Jazz and the Arts Month
• Lent (March 6 - April 18)
• Multiple Sclerosis Month
• Self-Injury Awareness Month
• Trisomy Awareness Month
• Women's History Month

Days to Celebrate:

• 3/1 - International Wheelchair Day, Self-Injury Awareness Day
• 3/5 - Dissociative Identity Disorder Awareness Day / Mardi Gras 
• 3/6 - National Lymphedema Awareness Day
• 3/8 - United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace / International Women's Day
• 3/10 - National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
• 3/12 - World Glaucoma Day
• 3/16 - Brain Injury Awareness Day
• 3/18 - National Trisomy 18 Awareness Day
• 3/21 - World Down Syndrome Day / International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 
• 3/25 - World Tuberculosis Day, Annunciation Day
• 3/26 - United States National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day
• 3/27 - Amniotic Fluid Embolism Awareness Day
• 3/31 - Transgender Day of Visibility

​Major Religious Holidays & Observances

• Christianity: Lent (Feb. 26-April 11)
• Hinduism: Holi (March 10)
• Judaism: Purim (March 10) 
• Christianity: St. Patrick’s Day (March 17)
• ​Islam: Lailat al Miraj (March 22)
• Christianity: Annunciation Day (March 25)

Significant Birthdays & Anniversaries

• March 4, 1948-gay rights activist Jean O’Leary (birthday)
• March 8, 1951-transgender activist, veteran, and Transgender Pride Flag designer Monica Helms (birthday)
• March 10, 1913-abolitionist and activist Harriet Tubman dies at approximately age 91
• March 17, 1910-civil rights and gay rights activist Bayard Rustin (birthday)
• March 18, 1922-minister and civil rights activist Fred Shuttlesworth (birthday)
• March 24, 1912-civil rights and women’s rights activist Dorothy Height (birthday)
• March 25, 1891- Empress Menen of Ethiopia (birthday)
• March 25, 1934-feminist Gloria Steinem (birthday)
• March 30, 1934-gay rights activist Ruthie Berman (birthday)
• March 31, 1927-civil rights activist and labor leader Cesar Chaves (birthday)

April is ...

• Autism Awareness Month
• Alcohol Awareness Month
• American Cancer Society Month
• Black Women's History Month
• Child Abuse Prevention Month
• Deaf History Month (March 13 - April 15)
• Earth Month
• Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy Month
• IBS Awareness Month
• Limb Loss Awareness Month
• Primary Immunodeficiency Awareness Month
• Saroidosis Awareness Month
• Sexual Assault Awareness Month
• STD Awareness Month
• Spondylitis Awareness Month

Days to Celebrate:

• 4/1 - Youth Homelessness Matters Day
• 4/2 - World Autism Awareness Day 
• 4/4 - Auditory Processing Disorder Awareness Day
• 4/6 - Bohring-Opitz Syndrome 
• 4/7 - World Health Day / Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Rwanda Genocide 
• 4/8 - Cushing Disease/Syndrome Awareness Day
• 4/10 - National Youth HIV and AIDS Awareness Day 
• 4/11 - Parkinson's Disease International Awareness Day 
• 4/12 - International Day for Street Children
• 4/13 - Functional Neurological Disorder Awareness Day
• 4/17 - World Hemophilia Day
• 4/19 - Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Action Day
• 4/23 - Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva Awareness Day / St. George's Day 
• 4/25 - World Meningitis Day / World Malaria Day/ Show you Mettle day 
• 4/27 - Carnival ( St. Thomas U.S. Virgin Islands)
• 4/28 - International Workers Memorial Day / International Commemoration Day
• 4/29 - Make-a-Wish Day / Day of Remembrance of Victims of Chemical Warfare

Major Religious Holidays & Observances

• Hinduism: Rama Navami (April 2)
• Christianity: Palm Sunday (April 5)
• Buddhism: Theravada New Year (April 7)
• Islam: Lailat al Bara’ah (April 9)
• Judaism: Pesach/Passover (April 9-10, 11-12, 15-16)
• Christianity: Good Friday (April 10)
• Christianity: Lent (Feb. 26-April 11)
• Christianity: Easter Sunday (April 12) 
• Judaism: Yom HaShoah (April 21)Islam: start of Ramadan (April 23 at sundown)

​Significant Birthdays & Anniversaries 

• April 4, 1968-Martin Luther King assassinated in Memphis, TN
• April 23, 1918-Japanese internment opponent and sociologist Gordon Hirabayashi (birthday)
• April 27, 1927-author and civil rights activist Coretta Scott King (birthday)

May is ...

• ALS Awareness Month
• Allergy/Asthma Awareness Month
• Arthritis Month
• Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
• Brain Tumor Awareness Month
• Celiac Awareness Month
• Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month
• Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Month
• Fibromyalgia Awareness Month
• Foster Care Month
• Guide Dog Month
• Haitian Heritage Month
• Hepatitis Awareness Month
• Huntington's Disease Awareness Month
• Jewish American Heritage Month
• Lupus Awareness Month
• Lyme Disease Awareness Month
• Mental Health Month
• Military Appreciation Month
• Mobility Awareness Month
• Older Americans Month
• Stroke Awareness Month

Weeks to Celebrate:

• Week surrounding 5/5 - International Cri du Chat Syndrome Awareness Week
• Second week of May - Williams Syndrome Awareness Week

Days to Celebrate:

• 5/2 - International Scurvy Awareness Day 
• 5/5 - Cinco de Mayo / Cri du Chat Syndrome Day / Ependymoma Awareness Day / National Childhood Stroke Awareness Day / World Asthma Day 
• 5/6 - Misophonia Awareness Day / Misophonia Monday / World Moyamoya Day / International Awareness Day for Osteogenesis Imperfecta 
• 5/7 - National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day / Bladder Cancer Awareness Day 
• 5/8 - World Ovarian Cancer Awareness Day / World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day
• 5/10 - World Lupus Day
• 5/12 - Mother's Day / International Awareness Day for Chronic Immunological and Neurological Diseases
• 5/14 - Childhood Speech Apraxia Awareness Day
• 5/15 - International Mucopolysaccharidoses Awareness Day 
• 5/17 - Worldwide Neurofibromatosis (NF) Awareness Day / International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia
• 5/18 - International AIDS Vaccine Day / International AIDS Candlelight Memorial 
• 5/19 - World Hepatitis Day / Schizencephaly Awareness Day 
• 5/20 - International Behcet's Disease Awareness Day
• 5/21 - Global Accessibility Awareness Day
• 5/22 - Harvey Milk Day 
• 5/23 - International Day to End Obstetric Fistula 
• 5/25 - World Thyroid Day
• 5/27 - Memorial Day / World Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Day
• 5/28 - World Hunger Day

Major Religious Holidays & Observances

• Buddhism: Vesak/Buddha Day (May 7)
• Islam: Laylat al Qadr (May 19) 
• Christianity: Ascension (May 21)
• Islam: Eid Al Fitr/End of Ramadan (May 23 at sundown)
• Judaism: Shavuot (May 29-30)Christianity: Pentecost (May 31)

​Significant Birthdays & Anniversaries

• May 19, 1925-Muslim leader and human rights activist Malcom X (birthday)
• May 22, 1930-gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk (birthday) 

June is ...

• African-American Music Appreciation Month
• Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome Awareness Month
• Chronic Venous Insufficiency Awareness Month
• Hemiplegic Migraine Awareness Month
• LGBTQ+ Pride Month
• Men's Health Month
• Migraine and Headache Awareness Month
• National Caribbean-American Heritage Month
• National Hunger Awareness Month
• PTSD Awareness Month

Days to Celebrate:

• 6/1 - International Children's Day / World Hypoparathyroidism Awareness
• 6/2 - National Gun Violence Awareness Day
• 6/5 - National HIV/AIDS Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day
• 6/6 - Hunger Day
• 6/7 - National Cancer Survivors Day
• 6/8 - World Brain Tumor Day
• 6/11 - Neuropathy Action Awareness Day 
• 6/13 - International Albinism Awareness Day
• 6/14 - World Blood Donor Day
• 6/15 - World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
• 6/16 - Father's Day
• 6/17 - CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder Worldwide Awareness Day
• 6/18 - Autistic Pride Day
• 6/19 - Emancipation Day / Juneteenth / World Sickle Cell Day
• 6/20 - World Refugee Day / Christianity: Corpus Christi
• 6/21 - Global Day of Recognition of ALS/MND
• 6/23 - Dravet Syndrome Awareness Day
• 6/25 - World Vitiligo Awareness Day
• 6/27 - U.S. National Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Day / Anniversary of Stonewall Riots
• 6/29 - Chronic Migraine Awareness Day / World Scleroderma Awareness Day
• 6/30 - Arthrogryposis Awareness Day / LGBT Pride Day / Stonewall Day 

​​Major Religious Holidays & Observances

• Christianity: Corpus Christi (June 11)

​​Significant Birthdays & Anniversaries 

• June 2, 1951-gay rights activist, artist, and Rainbow Pride Flag designer Gilbert Baker (birthday)
• June 27, 1880-disability rights activist, women’s rights activist, and labor advocate Helen Heller (birthday)

July is 

• Disability Pride Month
• Fragile X Syndrome Month
• National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness and Prevention Month
• Sarcoma Awareness Month

Days to Celebrate:

• 7/4 - U.S. Independence Day /
• 7/13 - Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Awareness Day 
• 7/16 - Disability/ADA Awareness Day 
• 7/17 - World Day for International Justice
• 7/18 - Nelson Mandela International Day (birthday)
• 7/22 - Fragile X Syndrome Awareness Day
• 7/23 - World Sjogren's Day
• 7/23 - Haile Selassie the First 's Birthday
• 7/24 - National Seasonal Affective Disorder Day
• 7/26 - Disability Independence Day
• 7/28 - World Hepatitis Day
• 7/30 - International Day of Friendship (July 30)
• 7/30 - Gastroschisis Awareness Day

​Major Religious Holidays & Observances

• Buddhism: Asalha Puja/Dhamma Day (July 4) 
• Judaism: Tish'a B'Av (July 30)
• Islam: Waqf al Arafa – Hajj (July 30)
• Islam: Eid al Adha (July 31)

Significant Birthdays & Anniversaries

• July 2, 1951-transgender rights and gay liberation activist Sylvia Rivera (birthday)
• July 7, 1936-gay rights activist Connie Kurtz (birthday)
• July 10, 1808-abolitionist and author Solomon Northup (birthday)
• July 16, 1862-journalist and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett (birthday)
• July 23, 1892- Haile Selassie the First of Ethiopia (birthday)

August is ...

• Autoinflammatory Disorders Awareness Month
• Cataract Awareness Month
• Digestive Tract Paralysis Month
• Don't be a Bully Month
• Immunization Awareness Month
• Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month
• Steven-Johnson Syndrome Month

Days to Celebrate:

• 8/1 - Clergy Sexual Abuse Awareness Day
• 8/7 - Purple Heart Day
• 8/9 - International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples
• 8/12 - International Youth Day 
• 8/17 - Marcus Garvey's Birthday 
• 8/19 - World Humanitarian Day
• 8/21 - National Senior Citizens Day
• 8/26 - Women's Equality Day / 19th Amendment Day
• 8/29 - Day of Ashura 
• 8/30 - International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances
• 8/31 - International Overdose Awareness Day

Major Religious Holidays & Observances

• Hinduism: Raksa Bandhana (Aug. 3)
• Hinduism: Krishna Janmashtami (Aug. 12)
• Buddhism: Obon (Aug. 13-15)
• Christianity: Assumption Day (Aug. 15)
• Islam: Hijra/Islamic New Year (Aug 20) 
• Hinduism: Ganesh Chaturthi (Aug. 22)
• Hinduism: Anant Chaturdashi (Aug. 22)
• Islam: Day of Ashura/Muharram (Aug. 29)

​Significant Birthdays & Anniversaries 

• Aug. 2, 1945-feminist and political activist Jewell Jackson McCabe (birthday)
• Aug. 6, 1886- suffragist, labor lawyer, and war correspondent Inez Milholland (birthday)
• Aug. 13, 1818- abolitionist, suffragist, and women’s rights advocate Lucy Stone (birthday)
• August 17, 1887- political activist and Pan-African philosopher Marcus Garvey (birthday)
• Aug. 24, 1945- transgender rights and gay liberation activist Marsha P. Johnson (birthday)

September is ...

• Achalasia Awareness Month
• Alopecia Awareness Month
• Arnold-Chiari Malformation Awareness Month
• Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
• Deaf Awareness Month
• German-American Heritage Month (9/15 - 10/15)
• Gynecological Cancer Awareness Month
• Hispanic-Latino Heritage Month (9/15 - 10/15)
• Lymphoma Awareness Month
• National Guide Dog Month
• National Hydrcephalus Awareness Month
• National Recovery Month
• Orthostatic Tremor Awareness Month
• Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
• Pain Awareness Month
• PCOS Awareness Month
• Prostate Awareness Month
• Sight Saving Month
• Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month
• Suicide Prevention Month
• Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month
• Tumor Awareness Month
• Women of Achievement Month
• World Alzheimer's Disease Month

Weeks to Celebrate:

• Last week of September: International Week of the Deaf

Days to Celebrate:

• 9/2 - Labor Day 
• 9/4 - World Cerebral Palsy Day
• 9/5 - International Day of Charity
• 9/7 - Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
• 9/9 - International Fetal Alchohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness Day 
• 9/10 - World Suicide Prevention Day
• 9/11 - Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance
• 9/11 - Ethiopian New Year
• 9/13 - Celiac Disease Awareness Day
• 9/15 - World Lymphoma Awareness Day
• 9/16 - Mexican Independence Day
• 9/18 - National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day
• 9/19 - Aortic Dissection Awareness Day / Usher Syndrome Awareness Day 
• 9/21 - Myositis Awareness Day / World Alzheimer's Day / International Day of Peace
• 9/22 - Celebrate Bisexuality Day / World Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Day
• 9/24 - Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (aHUS) Awareness Day
• 9/25 - International Ataxia Awareness Day
• 9/26 - Mesothelioma Awareness Day
• 9/27 - National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
• 9/28 - World Rabies Day
• 9/29 - World Heart Day 
• 9/30 - Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Awareness Day

​​Major Religious Holidays & Observances

• Judaism: Rosh Hashana (Sept. 19-20) 
• Judaism: Yom Kippur (Sept. 28)

​Significant Birthdays & Anniversaries 

• Sept. 6, 1860-social worker, suffragist, and sociologist Jane Addams (birthday)
• Sept. 14, 1879-feminist health advocate Margaret Sanger (birthday)
• Sept. 23, 1838-suffragist Victoria Woodhull (birthday)
• Sept. 25, 1952- feminist, social activist, and author Bell Hooks (birthday)

October is ...

• AIDS Awareness Month
• Breast Cancer Awareness Month
• Bullying Prevention Month
• Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Month
• Colon Cancer Awareness Month
• Depression Education and Awareness Month
• Diversity Awareness Month
• Domestic Violence Awareness Month
• Down Syndrome Awareness Month
• Dwarfism Awareness Month
• Dysautonomia Awareness Month
• Eczema Awareness Month
• Fair Trade Month
• Filipino American History Month
• German American Heritage Month (9/15 - 10/15)
• Hispanic-Latino Heritage Month (9/15 - 10/15)
• Hunger Awareness Month
• Infant Loss and Miscarriage Awareness Month
• Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month
• LGBT History Month
• Lupus Awareness Month
• National Disability Employment Awareness Month
• Polish American Hertiage Month
• Raynaud's Awareness Month
• Rett Syndrome Awareness Month
• Selective Mutism Awareness Month
• Spina Bifida Awarenss Month

Days to Celebrate:

• 10/1 - International Day of Older Persons / World Vegetarian Day
• 10/2 - World Cerebral Palsy Day
• 10/5 - World Day of Bullying Prevention / American Veterans Disabled for Life Awareness Day
• 10/7 - International Trigeminal Neuralgia Awareness Day / Team Margot Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Awareness Day / World Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day
• 10/9 - PANDAS/PANS Awareness Day 
• 10/10 - World Mental Health Day 
• 10/11 - International Day of the Girl Child / National Coming Out Day 
• 10/13 - Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day 
• 10/14 - Global Food Protein Enterocolitis Syndrome Day / Indigenous People's Day
• 10/15 - World Blind Day / World Sight Day / International Day of Rural Women / National White Cane Safety Day / Blind Americans Equality Day
• 10/16 - World Food Day
• 10/17 - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 
• 10/20 - World Osteoporosis Day
• 10/21 - Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day 
• 10/22 - International Stuttering Awareness Day 
• 10/23 - Kabuki Syndrome Awareness Day
• 10/24 - United Nations Day
• 10/25 - Spina Bifida Awareness Day / Hydrocephalus Day 
• 10/27 - Intersex Awareness Day / World Day for Audiovisual Heritage 
• 10/29 - World Stroke Day 
• 10/31 - Halloween

​​Major Religious Holidays & Observances

• Judaism: Sukkot (Oct. 3-4, 5-9)
• Judaism: Shmini Atzeret (Oct. 10)
• Judaism: Simchat Torah (Oct. 11) 
• Hinduism: Navaratri (Oct.. 17)
• Hinduism: Saraswati Puja (Oct. 22)
• Hinduism: Dussehra (Oct. 25)
• Islam: (Sunni) Eid Milad un Nabi (Oct. 29)

​​Significant Birthdays & Anniversaries 

• Oct. 6, 1917-civil rights and women’s rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer (birthday)
• Oct. 25, 1940- transgender rights activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy (birthday)
• Oct. 27, 1921-gay rights activist and writer Warren Allen Smith (birthday)

November is ...

• Adoption Awareness Month
• Alzheimer's Awareness Month
• COPD Awareness Month
• Dercum's Disease (Adiposis Dolorosa) Awareness Month
• Diabetes Awareness Month
• Epilepsy Month
• Hospice Month
• Lung Cancer Awareness Month
• Native American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month
• Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
• Prematurity Awareness Month
• Prostate Cancer/Men's Health Awareness Month
• Red-Ribbon/Anti-Drunk-Driving Month
• RSD/CRPS Awareness Month
• Transgender Awareness Month

Days to Celebrate:

• 11/1 - World Vegan Day / Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome Awareness Day 
• 11/2 - Coronation Day (Ethiopia) / Day of the Dead 
• 11/6 - International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict
• 11/8 - Aicardi Syndrome Awareness Day / Intersex Day of Remembrance
• 11/9 - World Freedom Day 
• 11/10 - World NET Cancer Awareness Day
• 11/11 - Veteran's Day / Remembrance Day / Armistice Day
• 11/12 - World Pneumonia Day
• 11/13 - World Pancreatic Cancer Day
• 11/14 - World Diabetes Day 
• 11/15 - World Ohtahara Syndrome Awareness Day
• 11/16 - International Day for Tolerance
• 11/17 - International Students Day / World Prematurity Day
• 11/18 - World COPD Day
• 11/19 - International Men's Day
• 11/20 - Transgender Day of Remembrance / Universal Children's Day
• 11/24 - N24 Awareness Day
• 11/25 - International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
• 11/28 - Thanksgiving
• 11/30 - Self Harm Awareness Day

​Major Religious Holidays & Observances

• Christianity: All Saint’s Day (Nov. 1)
• Buddhism: Loy Krathong (Nov. 2)
• Islam (Shia): Eid Milad un Nabi (Nov. 3)

​Significant Birthdays & Anniversaries 

• Nov. 12, 1815-suffragist and abolitionist Elizabeth Cady Stanton (birthday)
• Nov. 18, 1787-abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth (birthday)

December is ...

• AIDS Awareness Month
• Universal Human Rights Month

Days to Celebrate:

• 12/1 - World Aids Day
• 12/2 - International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
• 12/3 - International Day of Persons with Disabilities
• 12/10 - Human Rights Day
• 12/31 - Western New Year's Eve

Major Religious Holidays & Observances

• Buddhism: Bodhi Day (Dec. 8)
• Judaism: Chanukah (Dec. 11-18)
• Christianity: Christmas (Dec. 25)
• Hinduism: Diwali (Oct. 14)​

​Significant Birthdays & Anniversaries 

• Dec. 4, 1920-gay rights activist Jeanne Manford (birthday)
• Dec. 25, 1920-gay rights activist Stormé DeLarverie (birthday)