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The key to ensure representation culturally, across all segments of North American society is to assist with creating a truly multicultural society. This means that North Americans from all communities feel they are represented publicly, in one cultural umbrella or another. Celebrating Everything, or more accurately, at least one major holiday or observance of different cultural communities in our country, can allow us to not only be more inclusive, but help educate and inform those who do not belong to those communities, thereby reducing ignorance, and thus bias and the roots of racism. In many ways, this makes us more cross culturally competent promoting pluralism and democracy. Celebration allows us to address ignorance and hate, through a more functional and positive way that the anxiety and stress that typically come with this kind of discussion. The goal is also to celebrate these holidays the way that these North American communities celebrate them, turning what is typically perceived as foreign into local, exotic into normal, and what is other or them into us; increasing relatability between different groups of people. To be clear, this is different than global festivals where “international cultures” can be stereotyped into how things were or are done “back home”. Rather, this is an initiative to shift thinking and practice to local intersectional identity, and what we truly consider Canadian or American, to move beyond tokenism, and to empower positive cultural and ethnic identities in all North Americans, young and old.

Our current calendar of holidays reflects Christian, or Eurocentric holidays, or at least, primary ones. The goal now is to ensure equity and representation by doing the same with other cultural groups by looking at the umbrella groups communities fall under.

The best way to do this is to start to ensure major religious or cultural holidays are acknowledged publicly by government, business, schools, the media and private organizations. Since religious holidays (not unlike Christmas and Easter) are celebrated both religiously and culturally (secularly) from people in cultural communities, it is important religious and cultural holidays are included in this calendar and are noted below.

Consultation with communities is always encouraged as it allows clarification of how these holidays and observances can be acknowledged respectfully, and fully. Should you require assistance in the application of #CelebrateEverything in your organization and community, Dr. Abdulrehman offers professional consult and education sessions on this topic. For more consultation services about #CelebrateEverything, fill out the form here.

Holidays to Include, Celebrate and Observe in a Multicultural Calendar

Religious Holidays & Religious Holidays Celebrated Culturally

The focus will be to include holidays listed below as they are not currently represented. Including different cultural aspects to already celebrated holidays is easier to do, and we do some of this already. Holidays below are where we need to place our focus to increase equity and inclusion.


Judaism

  • Rosh Hashanah
  • Yom Kippur (observed not celebrated).


Islam

  • Ramadan & Eid al Fitr (month observed, day celebrated at the end)
  • Eid al Adha


Hinduism

  • Diwali (also celebrated by Sikhs, Jains & Buddhists)


Buddhism

  • Vesak (birth of Buddha). Many Buddhists also belong to other cultural communities and celebrate their holidays, and may find inclusion in these.


Sikhism

  • Baisahki (Vasakhi)


Bahai

  • Nawruz (also celebrated culturally by Persian, Kurdish, & Afghani community).

Christianity

Communities who are not Caucasian but come from countries with a Christian heritage or culture (e.g., Latin, African, European, and Philipino communities), will be included in the current celebration of holidays such as Christmas and Easter. To be more inclusive, considering the different ways these are celebrated by cultural communities into our current practice would allow those already existent holidays to feel more inclusive (e.g., Popcorn ceremony for Ethiopian community). But because they already exist, cultural communities from Christian based countries, will already have representation.

Cultural Holidays

It will also be important to ensure representation of cultural holidays from communities that may not belong to any religious community or have intersecting identities that are very important to them.

Three that I think of that fall in that category that do not have representation in religious holidays noted above are the:

Indigenous Community

  • National Indigenous People’s day
  • National Day for Truth & Reconciliation (Orange Shirt Day)

East Asian Community

  • Lunar New Year (less inclusive term was Chinese New Year)

Black Community

  • Kwanzaa