New Holidays at Aspire: Juneteenth & Indigenous Peoples Day 

The Aspire Living & Learning Calendar has two new holidays on it: Juneteenth and Indigenous Peoples Day. These holidays reflect Aspire’s mission of empowerment and commitment to diverse voices in our community. 

Juneteenth has been celebrated since the late 1800s and commemorates the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. Juneteenth is celebrated annually on the 19th of June. Traditions include parties, rodeos street fairs, cookouts,  family reunions, and contests. Juneteenth also focuses on education and self-improvement, with public reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, singing traditional songs, reading works by African-American writers, and prayer services.
For more information, see: https://www.juneteenth.com/index.html 

Indigenous Peoples Day reimagines Columbus Day from a celebration of colonialism to an opportunity to embrace the full experience of indigenous peoples in the Americas, both in the past and today. It is celebrated across the United States on the second Monday in October. First celebrated in the U.S. in 1992, the emerging traditions of this day focus on honoring Native American peoples by commemorating their histories and cultures, as well as their continued presence as sovereign peoples. 
For more information, see https://illuminatives.org/about-us/