2018 February
Groundhog Day February 2nd
National Wear Red Day February 2nd
Valentine’s Day February 14th
Chinese New Year 16th
President’s Day February 19th
Child Passenger Safety Week 20- 27th
Black History Month
American Heart Month
Women Health Month
Cancer Prevention Month
Children’s
Dental Health Month
February
Flower
Violet
February Birthstone
Groundhog Day,
according to folklore, a groundhog's behavior can predict the weather. A sunny
day that allows the groundhog to see his shadow will send him scurrying back
into his burrow, a sign of six more weeks of winter. A cloudy and no shadow day
is a sign of spring!
Courtesy of:
Timeanddate.com
Feb 2: National Wear Red Day
The day, which was first observed in 2002, aims to bring
national attention and to raise awareness of women’s heart health. The National
Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (N.I.H.) in the U.S, Coronary Heart Disease is
the “#1 killer of women in the United States”.
People wear red as a way to bring attention to the problem of
heart disease in women. Many women wear red dresses, the identifying symbol for
the day.
Health
and WELLNESS Month
American Heart Month
and
Women’s Heart Month
Stay
healthy or start today in being a healthier you by getting your heart rate and
cholesterol level checked!
Heart
disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States.
The good news? Heart disease can often be prevented when people make
healthy choices and manage their health conditions. Communities, health
professionals, and families can work together to create opportunities for
people to make healthier choices.
How can
American Heart Month make a difference?
How
people can prevent it — both at home and in the community.
Here are
just a few ideas:
Encourage
families to make small changes, like using spices to season their food instead
of salt.
Ask
doctors and nurses to be leaders in their communities by speaking out about ways
to prevent heart disease.
Start by
knowing how many calories you should be eating and drinking water to maintain
your weight. Nutrition and calorie information on food labels is typically
based on a 2,000 calorie diet. You may need fewer or more calories depending on
several factors including age, gender, and level of physical activity.
If you
are trying not to gain weight, don’t eat more calories than you know you can
burn up every day.
Eat a variety of
nutritious foods from all the food groups.
Eat an overall healthy dietary pattern that
emphasizes:
low-fat dairy products,
Limit saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, red meat, sweets and sugar-sweetened beverages. If you choose to eat red meat, compare labels and select the
leanest cuts available.
Courtesy:
American
Heart Association
www.heart.org
healthfinder.gov
Black History Month
This is an
image of - Carter Godwin Woodson was an American
historian, author, journalist and the founder of the Association for the Study
of African American Life and History. He was one of the first scholars to study
African-American history.
An African-American writer and historian known as the 'Father of Black
History.' He penned the influential book 'The Mis-Education of the Negro.'
'Mis-Education
of the Negro' and Other Books.
Courtesy data: https://www.biography.com/people/carter-g-woodson-9536515
Great
African American Heroes
Bayard Rustin
Bayard
Rustin spent years in the background of the shadows of the great civil rights
leader of the 1960’s, despite being the man who taught, organized and led them.
Frederick Douglass
Frederick
Douglass was the most well-known Black person in America as he bravely fought
for the cause of the abolishment of slavery in the United States.
Malcolm X
Malcolm
X is one of the most influential activists in the history of the United States,
Matt Baker
Matt
Baker is often considered the first known successful African-American artist in
the comic-book industry.
Charlie Sifford
Charlie
Sifford was a pioneer in the world of golf, helping to dismantle the
“Caucasian-only clause” and opened the game of golf to generations of Black
golfers.
Willie O’Ree
Willie
O’Ree is honored by many as the “Jackie Robinson” of hockey, as he was the
first Black player in the league’s
history. But his efforts to change the culture of the game spanned many decades
beyond his playing days.
Matthew Henson
Though
ignored at the time, history has discovered the true contributions of Mathew
Henson, the co-discoverer of the North Pole, the co-discoverer of the North
Pole along with Rear Admiral Robert Perry.
Jesse Owens
More
than just a celebrated athlete, Jesse Owens took his country on his shoulders
and shocked the world winning four old medal in the 1939 Berlin Olympic Games.
Johnny Bright
Johnny
Bright was one of the greatest offensive players in college football and
Canadian Football League history but he is most widely remembered for being a
victim of one of the worst racially motivated dirty plays in collegiate sports
and the impact that it made on the game.
Wendell Scott
Wendell
Scott was a pioneer in the sport of auto racing as the first Black full-time
driver on the NASCAR circuit. Acting as a driver and his own mechanic he gained
the admiration of fans and fellow drivers through his grit and determination to
be successful in a sport deeply-entrenched in the Jim Crow south.
Maya Angelou
One
of the foremost figures of the Civil Right Movement, Maya Angelou was a true
visionary writer and performer who changed the landscape of the both the
literary, political, and cultural world, whose legacy will forever resonate
with people around the world from all nations.
Nina
Simone was one of the foremost singer/songwriters and Civil Right activists of
her generation, revolutionizing the music genre as well as the African-American
voice.
Percy Julian
Percy
Julian should be a name known to all of society for the contributions he made
to the field for the contributions he made to the field of science. His
research and development of synthetic compounds made him one of the most
significant contributors to science and health care in the 20th century.
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
Adam
Clayton Powell, Jr. loomed as a giant in the Black community of Harlem, not
only as the pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, but also as a community
activist and as the first African-American to represent New York in the United
States House of Representatives.
Hank Aaron
Hank
Aaron is acknowledged as one of the greatest hitters to every play in Major
League Baseball …
Sam
Lacy was a pioneer in the field of sports reporting, giving a voice to the
hopes, thoughts and dreams of Black athletes and fans across the United States.
Wendell Smith
Wendell
Smith was a pioneer in the field of sports, acting as the voice of Black
America in fighting against segregation in Major League Baseball.
Rosa Parks
Many
remember Rosa Parks simply as a woman who refused to give up her seat on a bus
but her contributions to and role in Black History can not be
understated or under-appreciated.
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah
Winfrey has lived the American Dream, overcoming hardship and diversity to
become one of the largest media figures in the world.
Satchel Paige
Satchel
Paige is remembered with fondness as one of the greatest pitchers to ever play
the game.
Marian Anderson
Marian
Anderson was one of the greatest singers of the 20th Century, but it was her dignity
in the face of racial prejudice which confirmed her legacy in the United
States.
Bessie Coleman
Bessie
Coleman was a pioneer and innovator in the field of aviation, both as an
African-American and as a woman….
Bass Reeves
Bass
Reeves is a legend of the west, one of the first Black lawmen in the region and
one of the first Black heroes of the era.
Josephine Baker
Josephine
Baker is a name that is synonymous with the 1920s cultural high life. She lived
in a time of immense social, political and cultural change and was at the
forefront of the “jazz baby” movement in the US and Europe, with her immensely
colorful performances, provocative costumes and very distinctive singing voice.
However, for all we recognize in her
achievements as a much loved entertainer we forget about the other side to her
life and everything she did in her capacity as a civil rights activist and
campaigner during her later years.
The
story of Doris Miller has been glamorized in motion pictures, but few know the
real story of the Black cook who became a hero during the attack on Pearl
Harbor.
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.
Benjamin
O. Davis, Jr. is remembered for many things: Being the first Black Air Force
General, leading the Tuskegee Airmen flight squadron and standing up to the
military establishment in advancing the cause of Black soldiers. More than
that, he is a symbol of the ability of a Black man to preserver through
obstacles on the path towards excellence.
Joe Louis
Joe
Louis, as much as anyone from his era, carried the hopes and dreams of the
Black race on his shoulders and became the first Black hero for the whole
United States.
Larry
Doby is forever viewed as number two, the second Black player and the second
Black manager in modern Major League Baseball but this should not obscure his
Hall of Fame career nor the struggles he endured.
Langston Hughes
Langston
Hughes was one of the most celebrated and respected writers/poets of the Harlem
Renaissance and was a fore bearer of great authors of the Black Experience.
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood
Marshall is known as the first Black Justice of the United States Supreme Court
but he is really defined by his work as a civil rights lawyer which redefined
life in the United States.
William Hastie
William
Hastie had one of the most distinguished careers as an earlier Black political
pioneer but today remains unknown to most Americans. As a politician, an
educator and a jurist, Hastie made inroads and left a legacy that is hard to
match in history.
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt
Chamberlain is universally recognized as one of the greatest basketball players
in history, but he may well be the most under-rated players in history.
Harriet Tubman
Perhaps
one of the most amazing and inspirational figures to spring up not only in
African American culture but in world terms is that of Harriet Tubman. She
dedicated herself to the liberation and freedom of her people from the tyranny
that was slavery, putting her own life on the line in order to do it. This
is her unique story.
Jackie Robinson
Jackie
Robinson is known as the man who broke the color line in baseball but his
accomplishment on and off the field left
a legacy that few have come close to matching.
Elijah McCoy
Although
the name Elijah McCoy may be a mystery to most people, the scale of his ingenuity
and the quality of his creations have created a level of distinction which
bears his name.
Jan Matzeliger
Often
the greatest inventions are those which simplify necessary tasks. Such is the
case with Jan Matzeliger, the man who made it possible for ordinary people to
purchase shoes.
Lewis Latimer
Lewis
Latimer is considered one of the ten most important Black inventors of all
time, not only for the sheer number of inventions produced and patents secured
but also for the degree of importance for his most famous discovery.
Fred Jones
Fred
McKinley Jones is certainly one of the most significant Black inventors ever
based on the sheer number of inventions he developed as well as their variety.
Lloyd Hall
Lloyd
Hall made significant contributions to society by developing new methods
of food preservation and sterilization which eliminated spoilage and health
hazards and enhanced efficiency and profitability for food suppliers.
Charles Drew
Charles
Drew was one of those exceptional individuals who seemed to excel at everything
he did and would go on to become great pioneer in the field of medicine.
George Washington Carver
George
Washington Carver was born in 1860 in Diamond Grove, Missouri and in spite of
earlier issues would advance to become
one of the most commemorated and highly regarded scientists in United States
history. His significant discoveries and methods allowed farmers through the
South and Midwest to become successful and profitable.
Courtesy data: http://www.greatblackheroes.com/
Valentine’s Day
February 14, 2018
President’s
Day
Monday February 19th
Trivia:
Can
you name the oldest living president?
The oldest living U.S. president is
George H. W. Bush, born June 12, 1924 (age 93 years). The second
oldest, Jimmy Carter, has the
distinction of having the longest post-presidency in U.S. history, currently at
37 years, 16 days.
Courtesy
data: en-Wikipedia
