This is a presentation I created and gave a few years back at DEOMI. It represents the ethnic observances identified and supported by the military/DoD.

1. Ethnic Observances
Hello
CAPTAIN MICHAEL ALLDAFFER
184 IW/ME
MCCONNELL AFB, WICHITA, KS. 67221

2. Objectives
• Identify the purposes for ethnic observances
• 8 ethnic observances recognized by the DoD
• Review relevant facts related to each observance
• Provide some on-line resources

3. What are the purposes?
• …to enhance cross-cultural awareness among
military members, their families, and the civilian
work force.
• …extensions of the EO education and training.
• …recognize the achievements and contributions of
specific groups in the military and our society.
• …focus is directed towards encouraging interaction
and NOT just recognition.

4. January Martin Luther King jr Holiday
February African American History Month
March Women’s History Month
April Days of Remembrance
May Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
June
July
August Women’s Equality Day
September
National Hispanic Heritage Month
October
November National Native American Heritage Month
December

5. Martin Luther King, Jr. – January
The 3rd Monday
Jan
Feb
…to honor the struggle of MLK jr for Civil Rights
in America.
Mar
Apr
1964 Won the Nobel Peace Prize
**In 1964, King became the first black American to be
May
honored as Time magazine's Man of the Year.
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Did you know?
There are over 730 US cities with streets
Oct named after MLK…to date!
Nov MLK is memorialized in a statue in
Westminster Abby, London.
Dec

6. Quiz reflection
1. What year was Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated? 4. Where did King deliver his "I Have a Dream" speech?
a. 1960 b. 1963 c. 1968 d. 1973 a. At Ebenezer Baptist Church
b. In front of the Atlanta City Hall
2. Which president signed the first major civil rights act of this c. At the Lincoln Memorial (1963)
century? d. At the Nobel Prize ceremony
a. John F. Kennedy
b. Lyndon B. Johnson 5. What foreign figure has King been compared to?
c. Richard M. Nixon a. Charles de Gaulle
d. Ronald Reagan b. Mohandas Gandhi
c. Albert Nobel
3. Which president signed the law creating the Martin Luther d. Nelson Mandela
King holiday?
a. John F. Kennedy 6. What year was the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday
b. Lyndon B. Johnson first observed?
c. Richard M. Nixon a. 1969 b. 1973 c. 1980 d. 1986
d. Ronald Reagan (1983)

7. African American History Month - February
Jan
…is dedicated to honor African Americans who contributed to America
Feb through their intelligence, sacrifice, and pioneering developments.
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Did you know?
Some names are easily recognized. George Washington Carver—Harriet Tubman—
Oct Thurgood Marshall—W. E. B. Du Bois—Jackie Robinson—Shirley Chisholm…
Nov …but who was Benjamin Banneker (1792)? (Almanac)
Who was Ida B. Wells (1880)? (Ohio and SW R.R.) 1885 she won her case
Dec Who was Daniel Hale Williams (1893)? (Surgery)

8. Women's History Month - March
Jan
…to honor American women who have
Feb made historic contributions to the growth
and strength of our nation politically,
Mar culturally, and socially.
Apr
May
Jun
What do the following products have in common?
Jul
Kevlar the elevator post it notes scotch-guard
Aug windshield wiper safety flare liquid paper Submarine telescope
an encryption code (used in WWII) sewing machine disposable diapers
Sep
Oct Did you know?
There are almost two million women veterans.
Nov 33K women served in WWI and almost 500K in WWII.
1 won the CMH (during the Civil War).
Dec 41 have won the Nobel Prize.

9. Days of Remembrance – April/May
Jan
Last Sunday in April to First Sunday in May
Feb
…our nation’s annual commemoration of the Holocaust and it is
Mar
honored as a memorial to the victims.
Apr
May The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
~Edmund Burke
Jun
It is estimated that…
Jul -11 million people were killed during the Holocaust.
-6 million of these were Jews.
Aug -2/3 Europe 1/2 world
-1.1 million were children
Sep
Oct Did you know?
1933-1945
Nov
1-4K died daily!
Dec For almost 13 years!

10. Asian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month - May
Jan
…to celebrate the cultures of Asia, Pacifica, and the Pacific Rim and all
Feb the people who make up Asian/Pacific Islander Americans.
Mar
12 million …29 different countries. Majority are from
Apr Japan, China, the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines.
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep Did you know?
--Hawaii became the 50th state in August 1959, 7 months after Alaska.
Oct
Nov --Chinese workers built the transcontinental railroad from Sacramento to Council Bluffs,
Iowa (further, faster, and they crossed TWO mountain chains).
Dec
--The famous 442nd I.R. made up of Japanese volunteers was the most decorated unit in
WWII.

11. Women's Equality Day - August 26
Jan
To commemorate the passage of the 19th amendment to the U.S.
Feb Constitution, and recognizing the continuing efforts toward full equality
Mar
for women.
Apr
May
Jun
Did you know?
Jul
New Zealand was the first country to give
Aug women suffrage (1893). The most recent
is the Bhutan (2008)
Sep
Brunei, Saudi Arabia, and the Vatican City
Oct
are among a handful who still do not allow
Nov women the right to vote!
Dec What was the first US state to give
Women the right to vote?

12. National Hispanic Heritage Month -
Jan
Feb
September 15 to October 15
Mar …to recognize the contributions of Hispanic Americans and to celebrate
Hispanic heritage and culture. Began in 1968.
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Did you know?
Aug --most Hispanics come to America from Mexico,
Cuba, and Puerto Rico
Sep
--Currently there are 48 million Hispanic Americans
Oct --Just under half live in either California or Texas.
Nov --HISPANIC represents, essentially, those countries conquered by Spaniards (remember
that Brazil was Portuguese). Spain and Spaniards are considered Caucasian.
Dec

13. National Native American Heritage Month -
Jan November
Feb …to honor and recognize the original peoples of this land.
Mar There are 504 recognized tribes, About 100 of these tribes have become extinct since
the arrival of Europeans on American soil.
Apr
May Of the 300 reservations, the largest is the Navajo Reservation, which is 16 million acres
in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Did you know?
Nov --The only surviving American at the battle of Little Big Horn was a horse named
‘Comanche’. Currently located at in the history museum
Dec
--Will Rogers was a Cherokee Indian

14. Martin Luther King jr Holiday
Martin Luther King, Jr. http://www.thekingcenter.com
African American History Month
NAACP http://www.naacp.org/
National Urban League http://www.nul.org/
Blacks in Government (BiG) http://www.bignet.org/
Women’s History Month
Federally Employed Women http://www.few.org/
Women's Hall of Fame http://www.greatwomen.org/
National Women's History Project http://www.nwhp.org/
US Army Women's Museum http://www.awm.lee.army.mil/
Day of Remembrance
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum http://www.ushmm.org/
Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Federal Asian Pacific America Council (FAPAC) https://www.fapac.org/home.aspx
Asian Pacific American Heritage Council http://www.apahc.org/
Women’s Equality Day
Diversity Management and EEO, US Department of Veterans Affairs
http://www.va.gov/dmeeo/
National Hispanic Heritage Month
National IMAGE, Inc http://www.nationalimageinc.org/
League of United Latin American Citizens http://www.lulac.org/
National Native American Heritage Month
Bureau of Indian Affairs http://www.bia.gov/
Gathering of Nations http://www.gatheringofnations.com/front.htm

15. Summary
• discussed the purposes…
• Identify the 8
• Review relevant facts
• On-line resources
*It is our job to help recognize the diverse make-up
of our military. As more learn and share…the
barriers come down and we become a stronger
fighting force!

16. This concludes my Briefing…