Juneteenth is the oldest internationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States of America. Tracing back to Galveston, Texas, when Union General Gordon Granger and his troops enforced the Emancipation Proclamation and freed all remaining slaves in Texas on June 19, 1865, it wasn’t until 2021 that Juneteenth became a federal U.S. holiday.
Communities
World Ocean Day: Let’s protect our home
World Ocean Day has been celebrating the ocean on 8 June every year since 2002. We currently face one of the greatest threats ever to our blue planet and all its inhabitants: the climate crisis. It is all too clear that a healthy climate depends upon a healthy ocean. Ensuring this demands stronger local, national, and international action from both government and corporate leaders.
World Water Day: Be the change
International Women’s Day 2024
International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. For 2024, organizers are seizing the occasion to activate us all around the critical idea of inspiring inclusion.
Celebrate women’s achievement. Raise awareness about discrimination. Take action to drive gender parity. IWD belongs to everyone, everywhere. Inclusion means all IWD action is valid.
Today, I invite you to visit this site – https://www.internationalwomensday.com – where you can better understand how, together, we can forge women’s equality.
MLK Day of Service 2024
The MLK Day of Service is an opportunity for Americans to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Junior’s legacy through service and volunteerism.
Dr. King once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’”
Each year, Americans across the country answer that question by coming together on the King Holiday to serve their neighbors and communities. To learn more, please visit https://www.nationalservice.gov/mlkday.
Giving Season: Love
In the video above, in his own words, Narayanan Krishnan says, “I thought, what is the purpose of my life? What am I going to do? … And I quit my job and I started feeding all these people from 2002.” And later: “There are thousand and thousands and lots and lots of people suffering. What is the ultimate purpose of life? It’s to give. Start giving. See the joy of giving.”
Brilliant directors: Ben Strang
Filmmaker and photographer Ben Strang joined the directorial roster of one-stop cross-media production company Sarofsky in 2019. As a director of both scripted and documentary works, Ben’s stories are born from the unique locations and individuals he has encountered as an independent photojournalist for over a decade. His scripted pilot “Beast” won the SXSW Grand Jury Award for Best Independent Episodic, and his latest documentary series “A Mystery To Me” won a 2021 Cannes Lion, and was selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick, as you can see here.
Bold Leaders Invited to Champion Gender Equality via UN Women’s HeForShe Global Initiative
On International Women’s Day, UN Women’s HeForShe movement issued a global call to leaders to join the newly formed HeForShe Alliance and help accelerate progress toward gender equality.
Launched by UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson, HeForShe is a solidarity movement and an international platform that engages men and boys as allies to support the work of the women’s movement and ultimately create an equal world for all.
Read moreBold Leaders Invited to Champion Gender Equality via UN Women’s HeForShe Global Initiative
Experience the 2021 World Wildlife Day Film Showcase on 3 March
DWA principal Roger Darnell had the great honor of serving as a judge for the 2021 World Wildlife Day Film Showcase: Forests. “It is a wonderful feeling,” he said, “knowing that so many gifted storytellers and supporting organizations are dedicated to informing and educating the world on the importance of forests and conservation.”
Read moreExperience the 2021 World Wildlife Day Film Showcase on 3 March