On 15 April every year, all professional baseball teams in America celebrate Jackie Robinson Day, in honour of the player who “broke the color bar”, becoming the first African-American player in Major League Baseball. In post-WWII U.S.A., professional baseball, like so many other things, was segregated. African-Americans could only play in the Negro Leagues, not … Continue reading “Celebrating Jackie Robinson Day”
The Black Lives Matter movement has been awarded the Sweden’s Olof Palme civil-rights prize, and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The Olof Palme Prize was created in memory of the Swedish Prime minister and human-rights advocate who was assassinated in 1986. Its jury noted that although Black Lives Matter was founded in … Continue reading “Black Lives Matter Honoured”
Since 1988, British charity Comic Relief has been encouraging people to don a clown’s red nose and “do something funny for money”. Red Nose Day is back on Friday 19 March and this time, it’s plastic free! In 2019, for the last Red Nose Day, Comic Relief received hundreds of letters from children and schools … Continue reading “Red Nose Day is Back!”
The St Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin was one of the first victims of the COVID pandemic last year and it’s been cancelled again this year for the same reason. But never fear! Let’s face it, most of us were not going to get to Dublin to celebrate Paddy’s Day on 17 March, but we … Continue reading “St Patrick’s Festival 2021”
St Patrick’s Day, 17 March, is the Irish national day. But there are many communities of Irish origin around the world and on St Paddy’s Day, everyone is Irish! There is a large Irish community in the U.S. and the parades in Chicago and New York are famous. The Chicago River, and the Liffey in … Continue reading “Happy St Patrick’s!”
World Book Day is on 4 March this year. In the UK, schoolchildren receive a £1 book token they can spend on a selection of books chosen for the day. The authors have recorded ten-minute readings great for classroom use. Here’s a selection. The readings are part of a project to share stories by recording … Continue reading “Ten-Minute Stories for World Book Day”
1 March is St David’s Day, the Welsh national day. Since Wales is famous for its music and particularly its male voice choirs, what better way to celebrate than with a video of the national anthem sung by modern choir Only Men Aloud? The anthem, “Land of my Fathers” (Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau), was written … Continue reading “Celebrating Wales”
February 2021 sees the 200th anniversary of the untimely death of British Romantic poet John Keats. The author of “Ode to a Grecian Urn”, “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” and “To Autumn”, died of tuberculosis at the age of 25, convinced his literary career was a failure. Yet his poems became some of the best … Continue reading “Romantic Poetry: John Keats 200”
It’s changed names and format several times since 1924, but February is the month when schools, cultural institutions and the general public celebrate the African-Americans whose stories have often been left out of official history books. The celebration of black history is credited to Dr Carter G. Woodson, an African-American historian with a doctorate from … Continue reading “February is Black History Month”
When it was announced that its famous Mardi Gras parades were being cancelled because of Covid restrictions, New Orleans residents decided to find new ways to honour the tradition. Mardi Gras celebrations are an important part of Louisiana’s French heritage, and normally attract tourists from around the world. Mardi Gras kicks off King Day (Twelfth … Continue reading “Making Mardi Gras Covid-Safe in New Orleans”
