DEI

Upcoming Important Dates:

• Dec 25: Christmas
• Dec 26- Jan 8: Kwanzaa

December is a time set aside by many to celebrate a variety of traditions and enjoy time with family, friends and community. The APC DEI committee wishes you all a winter break filled with peace, love and yummy traditions.
 
Christmas, a Christian holiday honoring the birth of Jesus, has evolved into a worldwide religious and secular celebration, incorporating many pre-Christian and pagan traditions into the festivities. You can learn more about it here.
 
Created in 1966 by Maulana Ron Karenga, Kwanzaa is an African American and Pan-African holiday that celebrates history, values, family, community and culture. The ideas and concepts of Kwanzaa are expressed in the Swahili language, one of the most widely spoken languages in Africa. There is much more to discover here.
 
If you’d like to be a part of the upcoming celebrations in 2024, such as Black Excellence Month and Lunar New Year, please contact the DEIB committee here. And follow us on Instagram and Facebook!

Upcoming Important Dates:

• Dec 10               Human Rights Day
• Dec 7-15            Hanukkah
• Dec 25               Christmas
• Dec 26- Jan 8    Kwanza

The month of December is a time set aside by many to celebrate a variety of traditions and enjoy time with family, friends and community. If you have some information you feel is important for the DEI committee to share about a celebration you partake in, please let us know. 
 
Hanukkah (Chanukah) is the Jewish eight-day, wintertime “festival of lights,” celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, special prayers and fried foods. The Hebrew word Chanukah means “dedication,” and is thus named because it celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple. More information can be found here.

Contact the DEIB committee here. And follow us on Instagram and Facebook!

Upcoming Important Dates:

• Dec 10               Human Rights Day
• Dec 7-15            Hanukkah
• Dec 25               Christmas
• Dec 26- Jan 8    Kwanza

The month of December is a time set aside by many to celebrate a variety of traditions and enjoy time with family, friends and community. If you have some information you feel is important for the DEI committee to share about a celebration you partake in, please let us know. 
 
Hanukkah (Chanukah) is the Jewish eight-day, wintertime “festival of lights,” celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, special prayers and fried foods. The Hebrew word Chanukah means “dedication,” and is thus named because it celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple. More information can be found here.
 
Dec 10, 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of one of the world’s most groundbreaking global pledges: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This landmark document enshrines the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, color, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. The Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on Dec 10 1948 and set out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected. Available in more than 500 languages, it is the most translated document in the world. You can read it and learn more about this special day here.

Contact the DEIB committee here. And follow us on Instagram and Facebook!

Upcoming Important Dates:

• Dec 3                 International Day of Persons with Disabilities
• Dec 10               Human Rights Day
• Dec 7-15            Hanukkah
• Dec 25               Christmas
• Dec 26- Jan 8    Kwanza

We hope you had a wonderful week off that included time spent with family and friends. The DEI committee is grateful for our school that strives to include ALL in Acalanes Community Always. Our goal is to ensure that we are not excluding anyone, so if you feel we have forgotten something or someone, please reach out. We will looking for help in the coming months to celebrate our many cultures and holidays.
 
Parents, please remind your students that Marge Grow-Eppard, a Miwok/Me-Wuk Tribal Elder of California will be visiting Acalanes on Friday, Dec 1 to talk with students during academy.
 
The annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons was proclaimed in 1992 by United Nations General Assembly resolution 47/3. It aims to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development, and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. Please click here to learn more. You can also learn about The Curb–Cut Effect and how teachers, parents and leaders can change how they approach projects that benefit all of us in this wonderful YouTube video. 

Contact the DEIB committee here. And follow us on Instagram and Facebook!

Upcoming Important Dates
November     Native American Heritage Month
Nov 12-18     United Against Hate Week
Nov 20          Transgender Day of Remembrance
 
As we move toward our season of gratitude, we would like to pay respect to the people who have lived on and stewarded the lands in and around Lafayette. These include the Ohlone, Miwok, Yokut, Karkin, Saklan, and at least four other tribes. If you would like to learn more about some of them through the eyes of East Bay Regional Parks, please click here. The Lafayette Library has also put together a book list to learn more as well. Click here for more information.

United Against Hate Week (Nov 12-18) is a call for local civic action to stop the hate and implicit biases that are a dangerous threat to the safety and civility of our neighborhoods, towns and cities. United Against Hate Week emerged from a United Against Hate poster campaign created by Bay Area cities in response to white supremacist rallies in Berkeley and San Francisco in 2017. The original 13 communities were convened in 2018 by Not In Our Town, a national anti-hate organization and partner in the LA vs Hate campaign, and committed to an annual week of action and awareness. Since inception, United Against Hate Week has spread to over 200+ communities. Learn more at www.unitedagainsthateweek.org.

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The vigil commemorated all the transgender people lost to violence since Rita Hester’s death, and began an important tradition that has become the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. You can learn more and find out how to get involved here.

Upcoming important dates:
Nov 11          Veterans Day
Nov 12          Diwali
Nov 12-18     United Against Hate Week
 
Veterans Day is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on Nov 11 to honor military veterans of the United States Armed Forces (who were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable). It coincides with other holidays including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, which are commemorated in other countries to mark the anniversary of the end of World War I. Major hostilities of World War I formally ended at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. At the urging of major US veteran organizations, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954. You can learn more here.

Diwali, or Dipawali, is India’s biggest and most important holiday of the year. This year, it is celebrated on Sunday, Nov 12. The festival gets its name from the row (avali) of clay lamps (deepa) that Indians light outside their homes to symbolize the inner light that protects from spiritual darkness. This festival is as important to Hindus as the Christmas holiday is to Christians. Over the centuries, Diwali has become a national festival that’s also enjoyed by non-Hindu communities. You can learn more about Diwali here.
 
If you would like to learn more about the DEIB committee please contact us. Please follow us! We post activities and opportunities happening around the Bay Area.  
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November is National Native American Heritage month. And some important upcoming dates include:

• Oct 31-Nov 2     Dia de los Muertos
• Nov 11               Veterans Day
• Nov 12               Diwali
• Nov 12-18          United Against Hate Week

The Day of the Dead (el Día de los Muertos), is a Mexican holiday when families welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives for a brief reunion that includes food, drink and celebration. A blend of Mesoamerican ritual, European religion and Spanish culture, the holiday is celebrated each year from Oct 31-Nov 2. While Tuesday, Oct 31 is Halloween, Thursday, Nov 2 is All Souls Day or the Day of the Dead. According to tradition, the gates of heaven are opened at midnight on Oct 31 and the spirits of children can rejoin their families for 24 hours. The spirits of adults can do the same on Nov 2. For more information click here.
 
If you would like to learn more about the DEIB committee please contact us. Our next meeting is Sunday, Nov 5. And please follow us! We post activities and opportunities happening around the Bay Area.  

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook

Filipino heritage month is all of October. The month of October was chosen to commemorate the arrival of the first Filipinos who landed in what is now Morro Bay, California on Oct 18, 1587. It is also the birth month of Filipino American labor leader Larry Itliong. You can learn more by clicking on the links below. You can support locally owned Filipino businesses this month and throughout the year by visiting The Hideout and Venture Goods in Lafayette and Town Bakery in Moraga.

Filipino American History Month – Wikipedia,
Larry Itliong (U.S. National Park Service)
About Filipino American History Month – FANHS
FANHS Museum
Filipino American History Month Virtual Events – Visions In Education
Why We Celebrate Filipino American History Month | HuffPost Impact
TGIF – Thank God I’m Filipino
 
On Friday, Oct 27, there is a Dia De Los Muertos Dance Concert at St. Mary’s College from 8-10pm presented by Baile Folklorico Guadalupano and SMC Dance Company. All are welcome! You can read more about it here.
 
If you would like to learn more about the DEIB committee please contact us. Our next meeting is Sunday, Nov 5. And please follow us! We post activities and opportunities happening around the Bay Area.  
Instagram and Facebook

October is LGBTQ History month, an annual, month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer history. The month, meant to highlight and celebrate the history and achievements of LGBTQ people, was founded in 1994 by Rodney Wilson, a social studies teacher in Missouri who wanted to address the failure of textbooks to address LGBTQ issues. October was chosen because it built on existing traditions such as National Coming Out Day (Oct 11) and the anniversaries of the first two LGBTQ marches in Washington in 1979 and 1987. Each year, a growing number of educators find ways to bring LGBTQ history into their curricula, opening up a dialogue that will hopefully lead to a deeper exploration of LGBTQ themes throughout the school year.  If you are interested in learning more, here are resources that you might find useful:

• Timeline of events @ Glsen
• San Francisco LGBTQ history museum

Please join us on Tuesday, Oct 17 for a presentation with Alberto Ledesma in the Acalanes library at 7pm*. All parents and students in the district are invited. Alberto Ledesma, Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at UC Berkeley, will share his experience as an undocumented immigrant to “hyper documents” university professor, and more. Check out his book Diary of aReluctant Dreamer.
 
*Members of the DEI committee will be gathering prior to the presentation in the front quad at 6:40pm for a meet and greet. Please join us to connect and build a more robust parent community. Open to all parents and caregivers!
 
On Friday, Oct 23, there is also a Dia De Los Muertos Dance Concert at St. Mary’s College from 8-10pm presented by Baile Folklorico Guadalupano and SMC Dance Company. All are welcome! You can read more about it here.
 
If you would like to learn more about the DEIB committee please contact us. Our next meeting is Sunday, Nov 5. And please follow us! We post activities and opportunities happening around the Bay Area.  
Instagram and Facebook

There are several groups to recognize in the month of October. It is the second half of National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Arts and Humanities month, Filipino Heritage Month, LGBT History Month and National Disability Awareness Month. Indigenous People’s Day will be celebrated on Oct 9 and National Coming Out Day is Oct 11. We will have information on many of these topics in the coming newsletters, so keep an eye out!
 
Please join us on Tuesday, Oct 17 for a presentation with Alberto Ledesma in the Acalanes library at 7pm**. All parents and students in the district are invited. Alberto Ledesma, Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at UC Berkeley, will share his experience as an undocumented immigrant to “hyper documents” university professor, and more. Check out his book Diary of a ReluctantDreamer.
 
**Members of the DEI committee will be gathering prior to the presentation in the front quad at 6:40pm for a meet and greet. Please join us to connect and build a more robust parent community. Open to all parents and caregivers!
 
On Friday, Oct 23, there is also a Dia De Los Muertos Dance Concert at St. Mary’s College from 8-10pm presented by Baile Folklorico Guadalupano and SMC Dance Company. All are welcome! You can read more about it here.
 
If you would like to learn more about the DEIB committee please contact us. Our next meeting is Sunday, Nov 5. And please follow us! We post activities and opportunities happening around the Bay Area.  
Instagram and Facebook