Hi team,
On behalf of the eHealth Technologies DEI Committee, we’d like to shed light on the many observances and holidays celebrated by our team members and beyond throughout the month of August.
Do you celebrate any of these observances? If so, we’d love to hear more about why they are important to you. Feel free to share your memories and photos and we may include them in the next employee newsletter – send an email to BrilliantIdeas@ehealthtechnologies.com.
AUGUST 2023
August 1: Lammas is a festival to mark the annual wheat harvest within some English-speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere.
August 4: Barack Obama’s Birthday: This day marks the birth of the United States’ first Black president
August 6: Transfiguration of the Lord, or Feast of the Transfiguration, is celebrated by various Christian denominations. The feast day is dedicated to the transfiguration of Jesus.
August 9 – International Day of the World’s Indigenous People: This day was created by the UN to celebrate the culture of indigenous people on a global scale.
August 13 to August 15: Obon, or Ullambana, is a Buddhist festival and Japanese custom that honors the spirits of ancestors.
August 15: Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary commemorates the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven at the end of her earthly life according to the beliefs of the Catholic Church, Eastern, and Oriental Orthodoxy, as well as parts of Anglicanism.
August 15: Independence Day is celebrated annually on 15 August as a national holiday in India commemorating the nation’s independence from the United Kingdom on 15 August 1947, the day when the provisions of the 1947 Indian Independence Act, which transferred legislative sovereignty to the Indian Constituent Assembly, came into effect. India attained independence following the Independence Movement noted for largely non-violent resistance and civil disobedience.
August 17: Marcus Garvey Day celebrates the birthday of the Jamaican politician and activist who is revered by Rastafarians. Garvey is credited with starting the Back to Africa movement, which encouraged those of African descent to return to the land of their ancestors during and after slavery in North America.
August 18 – Lord Krishna’s Birthday: This day is the birthday of one of the most popular deities in the Hindu faith. Lord Krishna is also known as Janmashtami, and his birthday is celebrated with a festival
August 23: Two holidays of note: International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, and the Anniversary of the Uprising in Santo Domingo (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic) that initiated the abolition of slavery in the Caribbean.
August 24 – Marlee Matlin’s Birthday: This day celebrates the birth of Marlee Matlin — the sole hearing-impaired actor to win best actor/actress.
August 26: Women’s Equality Day commemorates the August 26th, 1920, certification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution that gave women the right to vote. Congresswoman Bella Abzug first introduced a proclamation for Women’s Equality Day in 1971. Since that time, every US president has published a proclamation recognizing the 26th as Women’s Equality Day.
August 30: Raksha Bandhan is a Hindu holiday commemorating the loving kinship between a brother and sister. “Raksha” means “protection” in Hindi and symbolizes the longing a sister must be protected by her brother. During the celebration, a sister ties a string around her brother’s (or brother-figure’s) wrist and asks him to protect her. The brother usually gives the sister a gift and agrees to protect her for life.
August 31: Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi, or Vinayaka Chaviti is a Hindu festival celebrating the arrival of Lord Ganesh to earth from Kailash Parvat with his mother Goddess Parvati/Gauri. The festival is marked with the installation of Lord Ganesh’s clay murtis privately in homes and publicly on elaborate pandals (temporary stages).