Get our events calendar and our web site updates e-mailed to you monthly for free. Sign up on our new email updates page!
Submit your events through our Submission Zone.
Is your organization planning a diversity conference? List it on this page and reach your targeted audience! Contact orders@diversitycentral.com.
Have a seminar or workshop coming up? Email us to find out how you can advertise your conference, seminar, or workshop here.
May Multicultural Celebrations Calendar
May 1 Beltane (Wicca and Pagan) - This day is a greeting of summer. It takes its name from the Celtic God Bel who mates with the Earth Goddess on this day. It was a midsummer fertility festival in Celtic paganism, and modern celebrations consist of Maypole dances are presently held. May 2 Yom Hashoah (Jewish) - This Holocaust Memorial Day has been designated by Israel's Knesset, or Parliament, as a memorial to the six million Jews killed by the Nazis in their program of mass extermination of all Jews in Germany and the countries under German occupation. May 5 Cinco de Mayo (Mexico) - On the morning of May 5, 1862, under General Ignacio Zaragoza, five thousand ill-equipped Mestizo and Zapotec Indians defeated the French army in what came to be known as the Batalla de Puebla, which later was called Cinco de Mayo. Although the Mexican army was eventually defeated, it came to represent a symbol of Mexican unity and patriotism. This holiday tends to be celebrated more among Chicanos than Mexicans, and is a time for fun and dance and celebrated through parades, mariachi music, folklorico dancing, and other types of festive activities. May 6 Amadeo Giannini (1870-1941) (Italian American) - One of the most creative and successful financiers of the early twentieth century, Giannini founded the Bank of Italy in San Francisco as a bank for small businessmen. His innovations, which included branch banking and home mortgages with monthly payments, brought him tremendous success. When he resigned as chairman of the board in 1945, his bank, renamed Bank of America, was the largest commercial bank in the world. Giannini also founded Transamerican Corporation, one of the nation's largest business conglomerates. May 17 Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) - On this date the Supreme Court unanimously issued its historic decision holding that segregation in public education was a denial of the right to equal protection under the law. This decision directed the lower courts to oversee the desegregation of the nation's schools "with all deliberate speed." This decision, which established the principal that segregation is unconstitutional, formed the legal basis for the civil rights movement of the late 1950s and 1960s. May 18 Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) (Polish) - Pope John Paul II was the first Polish pope and the first non-Italian pope since the Dutch pope, Adrian VI, who served from 1522-1523. The second longest serving pope, John Paul II was fluent in nine languages and traveled more than any pope in history, visiting more than one hundred countries. He is credited with hastening the fall of communism in Poland and other Eastern bloc countries and as a great champion of the poor and underprivileged. May 19 Wesak (Buddhist) - The most important Buddhist festival, Wesak celebrates the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha as one event. Different cultures observe this day with different customs; for example, Sri Lankans light lanterns, Vietnamese purchase captive animals and release them, and Koreans host a lantern parade. May 20 Independence Day (Cuba) - This day commemorates the proclamation of the Cuban Republic in 1902, whereby Cuba declared its independence from the United States, which had occupied the country since the Spanish- American War of 1898. In 1902 the Cuban people elected Tomas Estrada Palma as the first president of the Republic of Cuba. May 22 Harvey Milk (1930-1978) (American) - Harvey Milk was the first openly gay city supervisor of San Francisco, serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He and San Francisco's mayor, George Moscone, were shot to death by a former city supervisor. May 25 African Liberation Day (International) - This has been a day of celebration of the many achievements and victories of African people worldwide and a rededication to their current struggle for freedom, justice and unity. It is marked by parades and rallies in Africa and the U.S. May 26 Memorial Day observed (United States) - Originally a day of remembrance for those who died in the Union in the Civil War, this national holiday, observed on the last Monday in May, it now honors those who gave their lives in all wars. (A number of southern states also have designated days for honoring the Confederate dead.) Many American families observe Memorial Day as a time for paying respects to deceased family members. May 29 Ascension of Baha'u'llah (Baha'i) - This observance commemorates the anniversary of the death of the founder of Baha'i faith in 1892. The Bahí'í Faith is a religion founded by Bahí'u'llíh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. Their writings accentuate the essential equality of human beings and the abolition of prejudice. The event is observed at the actual time of his passing at three a.m. May 30 Feast of the Sacred heart (Roman Catholic) - This holy day, also known as the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, is observed in the Roman Catholic Church nineteen days after Pentecost and eight days after the Feast of Corpus Christi. The Mass is similar to that celebrated on Good Friday, and many devotional exercises are observed. Sources:
Multicultural Resources Calendar, Diversity Resources, Inc. 2008 and
World Diversity Calendar, 2008
Also see our Heritage Month Page
Submit your events through our Submission Zone.
Home | Diversity Store | Diversity Events | Jobs | Consultants | Submissions | Customer Service | Search the Site
© 2008 The GilDeane Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Information on this site may not be reproduced in part or in full in any form without written permission from The GilDeane Group, Inc. 13751 Lake City Way NE, Suite 210, Seattle, Washington, 98125-8612.
