January 2024 Cultural Events

January 1, 1892 – Opening of Ellis Island as an immigration gateway

Ellis Island was America’s largest and most active immigration station where over 12 million immigrants were processed between 1892 and Ellis Island’s closure in 1954. The purpose was to make sure that newcomers to the United States were legally and medically fit to enter the country.

January 1st

Emancipation Proclamation(1863)

The Emancipation Proclamation, which was originated on September 22, 1862, was signed into law by President Lincoln on January 1^st, 1863, marking 100 days from President Lincoln’s original proclamation. While many believe that the proclamation freed all slaves, the Proclamation declared that “all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” This directly connected the issue of slavery to the Civil War and only declared as free those slaves held in states not under Union control. The proclamation also allowed black soldiers to fight for the Union, which was urgently needed at the time.

The Rosewood Massacre(1923)

This horrible, multi-day event perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klan began on January 1, 1923, in what was then a predominantly black town of Rosewood, Florida. A rumor that a black man had attacked a white woman, Fanny Taylor. A mob of white citizens, including a group of about 500 Ku Klux Klan members, attempted to track down the alleged assailant in Rosewood. In doing so, they terrorized the community by shooting residents, burning buildings, and lynching and mutilating residents. Several members of the Rosewood community were murdered, and the town was burned. A grand jury found insufficient evidence to indict anyone.

1973 – Maryland becomes the first state to statutorily ban same-sex marriage. This discriminatory ban was upheld until 2013, when it was repealed following a successful referendum vote by the people of Maryland. Same-sex couples began to marry in Maryland on January 1, 2013.

January 1st

Starting January 1, 2024, there will be 30 new state laws taking effect. The State of Texas will no longer allow its publicly funded colleges and universities to have Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion or DEI offices.

January 2nd

1965 – Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Dallas County Voters League, and other local African American activists in a voting rights campaign in Selma where, in spite of repeated registration attempts by local blacks, only two percent were on the voting rolls. SCLC had chosen to focus its efforts on Selma because they anticipated that the notorious brutality of local law enforcement under Sheriff Jim Clark would attract national attention and pressure President Lyndon B. Johnson and Congress to enact new national voting rights legislation. This voter drive escalated into a nationwide protest movement.

Celebrating Congressional Milestones

D.S. Saund On January 3, 1957, Dalip Saund of California is sworn in as a U.S. Representative, becoming the first Asian-American, first Indian American, and first Sikh to serve in Congress. An immigrant from India, he became an American citizen in 1949, eventually earning a Ph.D. and being elected as a judge before serving three terms in the House. Representative Saund was vocal on issues such as communism and civil rights, including desegregation. Greatly influenced by the writings of Abraham Lincoln, Saund was a fierce supporter of the 1957 Civil Rights Bill and used his own story to advocate for its passage, “pointing out that, although being born in India did not prevent him from becoming a Member of the House of Representatives, being born black in Mississippi could have.”

image of Patsy Mink Just over eight years later, on January 4, 1965, U.S. Representative Patsy T. Mink of Hawaii is sworn in as the first Asian American woman, and first woman of color, to serve in Congress. A supporter of women’s and civil rights and an advocate for education, children and labor unions, Mink opposed the Vietnam War, supported Head Start and the Women's Educational Equity Act and was a co-author and sponsor of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, outlawing sex discrimination in any education program or activity receiving federal funding. She also co-founded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus in 1994.

January 4th

Happy Birthday, LOUIS BRAILLE! (1809-1852)

Louis Braille, a French educator, created a system of reading and writing for those who are visually impaired. Today, the system, known simply as “braille,” is the world’s most popular tactile reading and writing system. It’s largely the same today as it was when Louis Braille created it. World Braille Day is now celebrated on this day to honor the birth of braille’s inventor

January 9th

Harvey Milk (1978)

image ofHarvey Milk Harvey Milk is inaugurated as San Francisco City Supervisor, becoming the first openly gay man to be elected to a political office in California. In November, Milk and Mayor George Moscone are murdered by Dan White, who had recently resigned from his San Francisco board position and wanted Moscone to reappoint him. White later serves just over five years in prison for voluntary manslaughter.

January 13th

1958 – In the landmark case One, Inc. v. Olesen, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the First Amendment rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) magazine “One: The Homosexual Magazine.” The suit was filed after the U.S. Postal Service and FBI declared the magazine obscene material, and it marked the first time the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of homosexuals.

January 14th

Makar Sankranti orMaghi (Hindu)

Makar Sankranti marks the termination of the Winter season and the celebration of a new harvest season. It is dedicated to Lord Sun. It also refers to a specific solar day in the Hindu calendar. On this auspicious day, the sun enters the zodiac sign of Capricorn or Makar which marks the end of winter month and start of longer days. This is the beginning of the month of Magh. To recompense for the distinction that happens due to the revolution around the sun, every 80 years the day of Sankranti is deferred by one day. From the day of Makar Sankranti, the sun begins its northward journey or Uttarayan journey. Today, the festival is celebrated in many ways across the world. In some areas ofIndia, the celebration takes the form of flying kites, sharing special food, and bathing in rivers.

January 15th

Happy Birthday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.! (1929-1968)

image ofDr -Martin Luther King Jr While we are taught of Dr. King’s many achievements in the civil rights movement, it is not as often iterated that at the age of thirty-five, being the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize, he turned over the prize money, totaling $54,123 to the furtherance of the movement. This brave and righteous leader achieved significant progress for the rights of black Americans before his life was tragically cut short. Dr. King was assassinated while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, but his influence did not end there. Dr. King’s work as a proponent for peaceful justice and social equality has inspired leaders around the world perpetuating his legacy of equal rights for all

This year, Martin Luther King Jr. Day—the National holiday celebrating the birthday of this social justice and civil rights leader— this year it is observed on January 15th.

Did You Know? New Hampshire was the last state in the country to observe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It became official in the year 2000.

January 20th

2021 – Kamala D. Harris is sworn in as the first female, first Black, and first Asian American Vice President of the United States. Serving with President Joe Biden, the former U.S. Senator from California is the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father and is sworn in by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Sotomayor, the Court's first female Latina Justice. In 2019, Harris, tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard became the first Asian Americans to run for president on the Democrat ticket (Gabbard has Pacific Islander heritage).

January 21st

World Religion Day banner Observed in over 80 countries, the aim of World Religion Day is to foster interfaith understanding and harmony by emphasizing the common elements underlying all religions. World Religion Day is observed on the third Sunday in January each year. In 2024, it falls on January 21st. The date may vary slightly from year to year, but the purpose remains the same: promoting unity and understanding among people of different faiths. On this day, communities of different faiths have the opportunity to get together and listen to each other, as well as celebrate the differences and commonalities that the delicate intermingling of culture and religion brings. There are approximately 4,200 religions around the world. While many people live their lives without religion, faith in a higher being or power works for the majority of people. Whatever the reasons, we are all for the idea of people being unified despite differences, and celebrating them.

Angel Island (1910)

The immigration station, Angel Island, opens in California’s San Francisco Bay, serving as the country’s major port of entry for Asian immigrants. While the exact number is unknown, estimates suggest that between 1910 and 1940, the station processed up to one million Asian and other immigrants, including 250,000 Chinese and 150,000 Japanese. Known as the “Ellis Island of the West” and located 6 miles off San Francisco’s coast, the island was a military reserve during the Civil War. Immigrants without proper documentation were quarantined there for days to years in a “prison-like environment,” according to the National Parks Service. Closed in 1940, it is now a California state park.

January 22nd

Roe v. Wade (1973)

In its landmark 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court declares that the Constitution protects a woman’s legal right to an abortion. Roe v. Wade was the subject to many challenges over the years. Sadly, on June 24, 2022 the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in a 6-3 decision. Justice Samuel Alito wrote the decision, while Clarence Thomas, and three appointees of previous pro-life President Donald Trump, namely, Justice Neil Gorsuch, Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined in the decision. Chief Justice Roberts concurred and publicly defended the Court’s ruling. The Trump appointees joined in the decision despite their claims at confirmation hearings that Roe v. Wade was the law of the land. Justices Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan filed a 66-page dissenting opinion of the Court’s Dobbs decision which dismantled 50 years of legal protection and paved the way for individual state to curtail or outright ban abortion rights. As anticipated, some states have in fact outlawed abortion in all circumstances and have gone so far as to criminalize any efforts by people or doctors to help women get abortions in states where abortion protection remains.

January 23rd

1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to graduate from medical school and become a doctor in the United States. Born in Bristol, England, she graduated from Geneva College in New York with the highest grades in her entire class. Blackwell championed the participation of women in the medical profession and ultimately opened her own medical college for women. In 1857, she, along with two other female doctors, established the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children to provide care and treatment to poor patients, as well as to provide medical training for women. Dr. Blackwell’s hospital lives on today as New York–Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital.

1964 – The 24th Amendment is Ratified. On August 27, 1962, the House passed the 24th Amendment, outlawing the poll tax as a voting requirement in federal elections, by a vote of 295 to 86. At the time, five states maintained poll taxes which disproportionately affected African American voters: Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas. The poll tax exemplified “Jim Crow” laws, developed in the post-Reconstruction South, which aimed to disenfranchise black voters and institute segregation. On January 23, 1964, the 24th Amendment became part of the Constitution when South Dakota ratified it. Two years after its ratification in 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court, invoking the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause, in Harper v. Virginia Board of Electors, extended the prohibition of poll taxes to state elections.

January 24th

2013: The U.S. Military Removes Ban Against Women Serving in Combat Positions

While the number of women serving in combat positions and officer positions remains significantly lower than the number of men serving in similar positions, there have been increases in women holding these positions in every branch of the military. The Air Force has the best female representation of all branches, while the Marines and Special Forces Units have the lowest representation of females. There are 613 female Marines, while none of the traditional Special Operations components have been integrated.

January 25th

Mahayana New Year (Buddhism)

Celebrated this year on January 25th by Buddhists around the world to reflect on the past and cleanse oneself from prior year's unskillful or unwholesome choices, making a fresh start. The term “Mahayana” encompasses Buddhist ideologies and philosophies. Mahayana is one of the two main branches of Buddhism and is mostly practiced in Northeast Asia — China, Japan, Tibet, Taiwan, Mongolia, and Korea. Each region has its own customs and traditions for practicing Mahayana Buddhism. The Buddhist New Year depends on the country of origin or ethnic background of the people. In Mahayana countries the new year starts on the first full moon day in January. Some other Mahayana Buddhists observe the celebration on January 1st alongside the Gregorian New Year. The goal is to become a better version of yourself by learning from past mistakes. The celebration is often marked with decorating and cleaning homes, buying gifts for others, hosting grand feasts and having fireworks after midnight.

2021 – President Joe Biden signs an executive order repealing the 2019 Trump-era ban on most transgender Americans joining the military. “This is reinstating a position that the previous commanders and, as well as the secretaries, have supported. And what I’m doing is enabling all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform,” Biden said, speaking from the Oval Office just before signing the executive order.

January 27th

International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

The UN General Assembly designated this day the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism.