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homecoming podcast

The Homecoming Podcast

Dr. Thema Bryant is a licensed psychologist, ordained minister, and sacred artist. Using artistic expression, spirituality, psychology and culture, Dr. Bryant-Davis is an internationally recognized lecturer, performer, and minister.

The Homecoming Podcast with Dr. Thema is a podcast to facilitate your journey home to yourself by providing weekly inspiration and health tips. Welcome home!

read-in

National African American Read-In

The National African American Read-In (AARI) is a groundbreaking effort to encourage communities to read together, centering African American books and authors.

It was established in 1990 by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English to make literacy a significant part of Black History Month. This initiative has reached more than 6 million participants around the world.

black freedom struggle

Black Freedom Struggle

The Black Freedom Struggle is a website focused on Black Freedom, featuring select primary source documents related to critical people and events in African American history.

The intention is to support a wide range of students, as well as independent researchers and anyone interested in learning more about the foundation of ongoing racial injustice in the U.S. – and the fights against it.

Black history month

Black History Month

A collaborative project of the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and U.S. National Archives and Records Administration to pay tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.

cultural humility podcast

Cultural Humility Podcast

Join Dr. Miguel Gallardo, Director of the MA in Clinical Psychology MFT with Latinx Communities program, for the Cultural Humility Podcast.

allyship resources

Pepperdine Allyship Resources

Pepperdine Libraries is pleased to curate book displays throughout the libraries. They complement these displays with virtual bookshelves so their patrons can review the list of books from anywhere in the world. Partnering with the Office of Community Belonging, they're thrilled to share resources on allyship. View the virtual bookshelf with the link above.

National Caribbean American heritage

National Caribbean American Heritage Month

"Through the commemoration of this month, we hope to ensure that America is reminded that its greatness lies in its diversity, with Caribbean immigrants from founding father Alexander Hamilton, to journalist Malcolm Gladwell, who have shaped the American dream." 

pride

Pride

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Pride Month (LGBTQ+ Pride Month) is celebrated annually in June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots and works to achieve equal justice and equal opportunity for the LGBTQ+ community.

juneteenth

Juneteenth

On June 19, 1865, two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people were freed. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday. Today, Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. Partnering with the Office of Community Belonging, Pepperdine has set up an in-person book display in Payson Library along with a virtual bookshelf to celebrate the holiday. They have also created a Juneteenth guide for further reading.

loving day

Loving Day

People around the world observe Loving Day every year on June 12th in meaningful and personal ways. While all are welcome, it can be especially significant for interracial couples, multiracial families, mixed race and transracially adopted people, and those with similar lived experience. 

national poverty

National Poverty in America Awareness Month

Hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion, disabilities, restricted access to participation in the democratic process.

MLK federal holiday

Martin Luther King Jr., Federal Holiday

On a late summer day in 1963, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stood on the National Mall before hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who had gathered to march for freedom, justice, and equality.  On that day, Dr. King shared a dream that has continued to inspire a Nation:  To bring justice where there is injustice, freedom where there is oppression, peace where there is violence, and opportunity where there is poverty.

New year's resolutions

Making your New Year's Resolution Stick

By making your resolutions realistic, there is a greater chance that you will keep them throughout the year, incorporating healthy behavior into your everyday life.

lunar new year

Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year is a celebration of the arrival of spring and the beginning of a new year on the lunisolar calendar. It is the most important holiday in China, and it is also widely celebrated in South Korea, Vietnam, and countries with a significant overseas Chinese population. While the official dates encompassing the holiday vary by culture, those celebrating consider it the time of the year to reunite with immediate and extended family.

global family day

Global Family Day  

Celebrated every year on January 1, Global Family Day starts the new year with a positive message of unity to the world. Yes, believe it or not, we are all one! Cultures and religions across the world may be different but, the truth is, all of mankind is a large family that can survive and succeed only if united. And yes, this is a goal that can be achieved — all that is required is spreading the message of peace and unity.

international custom day

International Customs Day

International Customs Day is celebrated on January 26 every year and was initiated by the World Customs Organization (W.C.O.) in 1983. This day celebrates all the customs officials and agencies that toil day in and day out to ensure effective world trade management. The officials also ensure the smooth functioning of trade operations across international borders and put people at the very center of the transformation process.

world braille day

World Braille Day

Braille is a tactile representation of alphabetic and numerical symbols using six dots to represent each letter and number, and even musical, mathematical and scientific symbols. Braille (named after its inventor in 19th century France, Louis Braille) is used by blind and partially sighted people to read the same books and periodicals as those printed in a visual font. Braille is essential in the context of education, freedom of expression and opinion, as well as social inclusion.

Holocausts remembrance

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism and to develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides.

world religion day

World Religion Day

World Religion Day takes place each January, aiming to promote understanding and peace between all religions as well as mutual understanding and tolerance between peoples from different backgrounds.

disabilities awareness

Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

Each March, the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD), and our partners work together to create a social media campaign that highlights the many ways in which people with and without disabilities come together to form strong, diverse communities. The campaign seeks to raise awareness about the inclusion of people with developmental disabilities in all facets of community life, as well as awareness of the barriers that people with disabilities still sometimes face in connecting to the communities in which they live.

Innovation and technology for gender equality

Innovation and technology for gender equality

The United Nations Observance of IWD, under the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”, recognizes and celebrates the women and girls who are championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education. The observance will explore the impact of the digital gender gap on widening economic and social inequalities, and it will also spotlight the importance of protecting the rights of women and girls in digital spaces and addressing online and ICT-facilitated gender-based violence.

World Day of Muslim Culture, Peace, Dialogue and Film

World Day of Muslim Culture, Peace, Dialogue and Film

Is an annual observance held on March 11 all over the world, which has taken place for the past 13 years. This day was created in 2010 by Javed Mohammed, a writer and producer from California. The main aim of the celebration is to share and discuss Muslim culture to create a link and understanding across faiths and to promote a better knowledge of Muslim culture.

Greek-American Heritage Month

Greek-American Heritage Month

NJSACC celebrates the culture, accomplishments and experiences of Greek people during Greek-American Heritage Month in March.

pi day

Pi Day

Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th (3/14) around the world. Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately 3.14159. Pi Day is an annual opportunity for math enthusiasts to recite the infinite digits of Pi, talk to their friends about math, and eat pie.

equal pay

Equal Pay Day

According to the National Committee on Pay Equity, “This date symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year." Equal Pay Day was originated by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) in 1996 as a public awareness event to illustrate the gap between men's and women's wages. (It was originally called ‘National Pay Inequity Awareness Day’ and changed to Equal Pay Day in 1998.)

equal gender diversity

Sexual and Gender Diversity in March

March is an important month for celebrating sexual and gender diversity. Many of us are already aware of Women’s History Month. March is also regarded as Gender Equality Month, which serves as a call to celebrate the history, contributions, and wellness of community members who are impacted by gender-based bias and oppression. We honor and uplift the livelihoods of all femmes, transgender and non-binary people, and women and girls this month and year-round.

St. Urho

Celebrating St. Urho

It's not just the Irish who throw a party this time of year. Across the US, small groups of Finnish Americans are celebrating St Urho's Day, which falls on 16 March.

St. Patty

St. Patrick’s Day 

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated annually on March 17, the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. St. Patrick’s Day 2023 will take place on Friday, March 17. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. On St. Patrick’s Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon.

Irish American heritage month

Irish American Heritage Month

In March, the National Archives celebrates the contributions of Irish Americans in our nation’s history during Irish American Heritage Month. 

Naw-Ruz

Baha’i New Year, Naw-Ruz

You would think that the world’s people would celebrate this day—and it turns out they do. Called Naw-Ruz, Nowruz or New Year’s by Zoroastrians, Alewites, Sufis, some Muslims, and Baha’is, this secular holiday has been observed around the world for more than three thousand years. (In Farsi, the Persian language, Naw-Ruz means “new year” or “new day.”) Naw-Ruz probably originated with Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra), the monotheistic messenger who founded Zoroastrianism ten centuries before Christ.

ethnic equality

Ethnic Equality Month

Ethnic Equality Month is celebrated in February every year. It is a period to recognize the similarities all people have, yet acknowledge, appreciate and respect the differences in all of us. So no matter what race you are, or what ethnicity you belong to, everyone is equal and deserves equal rights and equal opportunities. Ethnic Equality Month is a good time to reflect and challenge ourselves, as a group and individually. It brings to light the unfortunate biases that still exist in our society, how far we’ve come in achieving equality, and what each one of us can do to contribute to something the world should be striving to achieve; social equality and justice.

ramadan

Ramadan 2023

The Islamic calendar follows the phases of the moon, commonly known as the lunar cycle. As a result, the Holy month of Ramadan falls approximately 10 days earlier each year in the Gregorian calendar. The Ramadan start date for 2023 is expected to begin on Wednesday 22 March, following the sighting of the moon over Mecca. Lasting for 30 days, Ramadan will end on Friday 21 April, with the celebratory days of Eid al-Fitr starting on Saturday 22 April or Sunday 23 April.

purim

Purim

Purim (Heb. פּוּרִים) is one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar. It commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination.

transatlantic slave trade

Outreach Programme on the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery

The Outreach Programme on the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery was established in 2007 with the adoption of General Assembly resolution 62/122. The Programme raises awareness of the history of the transatlantic slave trade, its impact on the modern world, and its legacies, including racism and prejudice. Over the years, the Programme has established a global network of partners, including from educational institutions and civil society, and developed resources and initiatives to educate the public about this dark chapter of history and promote action against racism.

international women's day

International Women's Day

Collective action and shared ownership for driving gender parity is what makes International Women's Day impactful. Gloria Steinem, world-renowned feminist, journalist and activist once explained "The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights." So make International Women's Day your day and do what you can to truly make a positive difference for women.

Justice

Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice

Despite significant progress, structural inequality based on gender, race, class, disability, and ethnicity persists around the world and is compounded and complicated by today’s challenges. Gender-based violence—rooted in patriarchy and laws, policies, and cultural norms aimed at curtailing rights—inflicts deep, lasting physical, psychological, and economic damage. People of color are disproportionately policed and incarcerated. Immigrants and LGBTQ+ people are targeted simply because of who they are.