Category: Social Awareness

Thanking God for a bountiful harvest is not unkown in other parts of the world, there are a number of religions and countries that celebrate harvest related festivals. They are observered with different names and some during differnt seasons but all have the underlying theme of being thankful for abundance and prosperity.

Chung Ch’ui is also a three day long harvest festival celebrated in China on the full moon day of the eighth Chinese month which was believed to be the birthday of the moon. The specialty of the festival was its round and yellow ‘moon cakes’ with an image of rabbit on them. Their feast featured roasted pigs and first fruits of the harvest. A legend says that anyone who sees flowers falling from the moon on this day is blessed with a good fortune. An interesting anecdote to these moon cakes narrates that at the times when Chinese were surrounded by enemies, their women used these moon cakes to deliver secret messages in the name of their rituals and thus, helped the men to win back their liberty.

The Jewish Thanksgiving is known as Succoth. It starts on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Tishri, usually held in September and October lasting for seven days. The festival goes back to the period where the Hebrews would go through the wilderness on their voyage to Israel. During this time they lived in booths, which the open living space is called succah, where they gathered to worship and to share. Today the modern Jewish community continues to build Sukkots where they hold their festival.

The Indian, Thanksgiving id known as Pongal. Pongal is a popular harvest festival in South India named after a sweet rice dish. Pongal stars on January 14th and last three days. On the first day they offer pongal to Bhogi or Indran, the rain gods. On the second day pongal is offered to Surya, the sun. On the third day, they celebrate the cattle for all the hard work they done that year. The main activity includes the entire village having a feast that everyone brings food from their harvest.

Everybody shares their thanksgiving in a different way, but they also share it with their friends and family. So this Thanksgiving, think of all the other ways thanksgiving is celebrated and maybe share them with the rest of your family.

In 2007, Ashley Baker, a then-associate editor at Glamour Magazine, spoke to a group of 40 lawyers in Manhattan about the “dos and don’ts” of corporate fashion. When Baker got the slide showing a black woman with an Afro, it read “just say no to the fro”…and outrage ensued.

Natural hair, braids, twists, and dreadlocks were traditionally considered unemployable based on antiquated beliefs. Many natural hair wearers have felt the brunt of conservative employers who disapprove of “ethnic” hair. What is hiding under the guise of natural hair wear? Is it more about how well maintained your natural hair is or solely about hair being natural?

Many say we have progressed, is Corporate America is starting to accept natural hair? Or are there still some environments that consider natural hair to be taboo?

How much do you know about recycling?

Recycling is the process of taking a product at the end of its useful “life” and using all or part of it to make another useful product. The internationally recognized symbol for recycling includes three hours moving in a triangle. Each arrow represents a different phase of the recycling process: collection, re-manufacture, and resale.

You may have known most of that but did you know:

• Each year American throw away 25,000,000,000 Styrofoam (an un-recyclable material) cups, enough every year to circle the earth 436 times?
• Glass never wears out — it can be recycled forever. We save over a ton of resources for every ton of glass recycled.
• When you toss out one aluminum can you waste as much energy as if you’d filled the same can half-full of gasoline and poured it into the ground?
• Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 mature trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil, and 4,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity — enough energy to power the average American home for five months.
• For every1 ton of plastic that is recycled we save the equivalent of 2 people’s energy use for 1 year, the amount of water used by 1 person in 2 months’ time and almost 2000 pounds of oil.

November 15 is the only nationally recognized day dedicated to promoting recycling programs in this country. Help to spread the word to family, friends, and your community.

Find ways to get involved in your community recycling programs by visiting http://earth911.com/america-recycles-day/.

Love Our Planet,

Jane