Johnny Dang, a Vietnamese immigrant has become a highly recognized jewelry designer in hip-pop culture. At age of 22, Dang came to the United States to join his father and worked to repair jewelry. He started to work with rappers in the early 2000s. Many award-winning artists mentioned his name in their songs. There are also other Asian American jewelers who design for hip-hop artists.
Black American culture has an increasing influence in S. Korea. Hyun-Min Han, an international model and Itaewon native of a Nigerian father and South Korean mother discusses the article “Appropriation or Appreciation?” It is also important to recognize the continuous struggles that Black people in South Korean experience and how they are impacted by the structural racism there.
Black American culture has an increasing influence in S. Korea. Hyun-Min Han, an international model and Itaewon native of a Nigerian father and South Korean mother discusses the article “Appropriation or Appreciation?” It is also important to recognize the continuous struggles that Black people in South Korean experience and how they are impacted by the structural racism there.
Street culture like hip hop and streetwear has global influences including in Asia. Asian youth incorporate tastes and meanings from the street culture into fashioning their selfhood. These cultural learning experiences help youths from these cultural groups to reflect more deeply on their identities. They also help building bridges between Asian and Black peoples. At the same time, it is important to underscore that tension exists over how some Asian groups have gained large profit from Black cultural creators.
During the mid-20th century, wearing a turban was a strategy for some African Americans to escape White racism. Some African Americans wore turbans to pass as Indians so that they could have access to resources they could not have.
Winter
Black History Month
February 1 – March 1
Black History Month was created to focus attention on the contributions of African Americans to the United States. It honors all Black people from all periods of U.S. history, from the enslaved people first brought over from Africa in the early 17th century to African Americans living in the United States today.
Makha Bucha
Makha Bucha celebrates a gathering that was held between the Buddha and 1,250 of his first disciples, which, according to tradition, preceded the custom of periodic recitation of discipline by monks. It is celebrated on the full moon day of the third lunar month and during this time Buddhists go to the temple to perform merit-making activities, such as alms giving, meditation and listening to teachings.
Japanese Coming of Age day
January 10
Coming of Age Day is held annually on the second Monday of January. It is held in order to congratulate and encourage all those who have reached or will reach the age of maturity (20 years old) between April 2 of the previous year and April 1 of the current year, and to help them realize that they have become adults.
Mahatma Gandhi's Death Anniversary
January 30
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule, and to later inspire movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.
Vietnamese New Year
Final Day of Final Lunar Month – Fifth Day of First Lunar Month
This holiday is regarded as the largest and most important holiday of the year. It occurs around late January to early February. It is also an occasion for pilgrims and family reunions. They set aside the troubles of the past year and hope for a better and happier upcoming year.
Kwanzaa
December 26 - January 1
Kwanzaa is an annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast called Karamu, usually on the sixth day. It was created by activist Maulana Karenga, based on African harvest festival traditions from various parts of West and Southeast Africa.
40 Days Before Spring Casant Panchami
Vasant Panchami, also called Saraswati Puja in honor of the Hindu goddess Saraswati, is a festival that marks the preparation for the arrival of spring. The festival is celebrated by people of Dharmic religions in the Indian subcontinent and Nepal in different ways depending on the region.
Makar Sankranti
January 13 - 17
Makar Sankranti is considered as the transition day of Sun into Capricorn. Now the sun moves northwards in the Hindu calendar. It is observed each year the day Sun enters the Capricorn zodiac which corresponds with the month of January. Makar Sankranti is observed with social festivities such as colorful decorations, rural children going house to house, singing and asking for treats in some areas, fairs, dances, kite flying, bonfires and feasts.
Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
December 8
This holiday is a Catholic feast celebrating Mary's conception without sin. It is often celebrated with Catholic Mass, parades, fireworks, processions, food, and cultural festivities in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Lunar New Year
January - February
Lunar New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunar calendar. It is celebrated in many societies with Chinese influences in East and Southeast Asia. The New Year celebration is centered around removing the bad and the old, and welcoming the new and the good. It's a time to worship ancestors, exorcize evil spirits and pray for good harvest.
MLK Day
January 17
The day commemorates the life and work of Dr. King, who was a Baptist minister and prominent leader in the American civil rights movement. MLK Day is usually celebrated with marches and parades and with speeches by civil rights leaders and politicians. Individuals and organizations also undertake volunteer efforts in support of what is often called the MLK Day of Service.
Rajab Laylat al-Raghaib
Laylat al-Raghaib or Regaip Kandili, also known as the "Night of Wishes", is one of the five blessed Kandil nights in Islam. Laylat al-Raghaib marks the beginning of the "Three holy months" in the Hijri calendar. As Islamic holidays begin the night before, Laylat al-Raghaib is celebrated on the Thursday night preceding the first Friday of the month of Rajab. Followers of this tradition believe that if, on the first Thursday of Rajab, they recite a special set of prayers, they will be rewarded by the fulfillment of their wishes.
Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival is a Chinese traditional festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar Chinese calendar, during the full moon. During the Lantern Festival, children go out at night carrying paper lanterns and solve riddles on the lanterns.
Pongal
January 15
Pongal is a multi-day Hindu harvest festival celebrated by Tamils in India and Sri Lanka. It is observed at the start of the month Tai according to the Tamil solar calendar, and this is typically about January 14. It is dedicated to the Hindu sun god, the Surya. The three days of the Pongal festival are called Bhogi Pongal, Surya Pongal and Maattu Pongal. Some Tamils celebrate a fourth day of Pongal as Kaanum Pongal.
Christmas
December 25
A Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Every year, Filipinos from around the world mark September 1 as the beginning of the countdown to Christmas. This countdown, which spans from September to December, otherwise known as the "Ber months", is one of the most important traditions that make the world's earliest and longest timespan of a Christmas season.
Spring
Good Friday
Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, is the day on which Christians annually observe the commemoration of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Many Christians spend Good Friday in fasting, prayer, repentance, and meditation on the agony and suffering of Christ.
Ramadan Chaand Raat
Chaand Raat is a time of celebration when families and friends gather in open areas at the end of the last day of Ramadan to spot the new moon, which signals the arrival of the Islamic month of Shawwal and the day of Eid. Once the moon is sighted, people wish each other Chaand Raat Mubarak or Eid Mubarak. Women and girls decorate their hands with mehndi and people prepare desserts for the next day of Eid and do last rounds of shopping.
Songkran
April 13
Songkran is the Thai New Year’s holiday and always falls on April 13. It is a celebration that embraces goodwill, love, compassion. and thankfulness, using water as the means of expression. The word Songkran derives from Sanskrit meaning to move or step forward. The holiday was traditionally marked by visiting family members and pouring water over Buddha statues. Throwing water is meant to wash away bad luck from the previous year.
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting prayer, reflection and community. A commemoration of Muhammad's first revelation, the annual observance of Ramadan is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam and lasts twenty-nine to thirty days, from one sighting of the crescent moon to the next. Fasting from dawn to sunset is obligatory for all adult Muslims who are not ill, traveling, elderly, breastfeeding, diabetic, or menstruating.
Shawwal
Eid al-Fitr is the earlier of the two official holidays celebrated within Islam. The religious holiday is celebrated by Muslims worldwide because it marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan.
Holi
Holi is a popular ancient Hindu festival, also known as the Festival of Spring, the Festival of Colors or the Festival of Love. The festival celebrates the eternal and divine love of Radha Krishna. It also signifies the triumph of good over evil. Holi celebrates the arrival of spring, the end of winter, the blossoming of love and for many, it is a festive day to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair broken relationships.
Lao New years
April
Lao New Year is a widely celebrated festival in Laos. The festival is also celebrated by the Lao in Australia, Canada, France, the UK and the US. Lao New Year takes place in April, the hottest time of the year in Laos, which is also the start of the monsoon season. Traditions during this time involve water, sand, animals, flowers, music, and dance.
Tibetan New Years
Losar, also known as Tibetan New Year, is a festival in Tibetan Buddhism. The holiday is celebrated on various dates depending on location and tradition. The holiday is a new year's festival, celebrated on the first day of the lunisolar Tibetan calendar, which corresponds to a date in February or March in the Gregorian calendar.
Children's Day
May 5
Children's Day is celebrated every year on the 5th of May in Korea. As the name suggests, it is a holiday dedicated to the little ones and is a national holiday, when schools and most businesses are closed to give families a chance to spend time together.
Visakha Bucha
May 6
This is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia as well as Tibet and Mongolia. The festival commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of Gautama Buddha in Theravada, Tibetan Buddhism and Navayana.
Qingming Festival
April 3 - 5
The Qingming festival or Ching Ming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day in English is a traditional Chinese festival observed by the Han Chinese of mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and by the ethnic Chinese of Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Panama. During this festival Chinese people traditionally visit ancestral tombs to sweep them.
March to April Rama Navami
Rama Navami is a Hindu festival that celebrates the birthday of Rama, the seventh avatar of the deity Vishnu. Rama is particularly important in the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. This festival is a part of the Chaitra Navaratri in the spring, and falls on the ninth day of the bright half of Chaitra, the first month in the Hindu calendar. This typically occurs in the months of March or April by the Gregorian calendar.
March Day of Silence
Also known as Nyepi, it is a day of silence, fasting and meditation for the Balinese. The day following Nyepi is also celebrated as New Year's Day. On this day, the youth of Bali in the village of Sesetan in South Bali practice the ceremony of Omed-omedan or 'The Kissing Ritual' to celebrate the new year.
Summer
Dhū al-Ḥijja Eid al-Adha
Eid al-Adha is the second and the bigger of the two main holidays celebrated in Islam. It honors the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as an act of obedience to Allah's command. Before Ibrahim could sacrifice his son, however, Allah provided him with a lamb which he was supposed to kill in his son's place because of his willingness to sacrifice his own son in the name of God. In commemoration of this intervention, animals are ritually sacrificed. Part of their meat is consumed by the family which offers the animal, while the rest of the meat is distributed to the poor and the needy. Sweets and gifts are given, and extended family members are typically visited and welcomed.
Sancha Bucha
July
This is a Theravada Buddhist festival which typically takes place in July, on the full moon of the month of Āsādha. It is one of Theravada Buddhism's most important festivals, celebrating as it does the Buddha's first sermon, the "Sermon in the Deer Park" at Sarnath, in which he set out to his five former associates the doctrine that had come to him following his enlightenment. The day is observed by donating offerings to temples and listening to sermons.
Loving Day
June 12
Loving Day is the anniversary of a historic court decision for interracial marriage. Every year on June 12th, it's a global day of visibility, education, and community.
Obon
August 13 - 15
Obon is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. It has been celebrated with a traditional dance, known as Bon Odori.
Ninoy Aquino Day
August 21
This holiday commemorates the assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr. in 1983. His assassination led to the downfall of the dictator and kleptocrat president of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos on February 25, 1986, through the People Power Revolution.
Juneteenth
June 19
Known to some as the country's “second Independence Day,” Juneteenth celebrates the freedom of enslaved people in the United States at the end of the Civil War. For more than 150 years, African American communities across the country have observed this holiday.
Dragon Boat Festival
The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday which occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, which corresponds to late May or early June in the Gregorian calendar. A notable part of celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival is making and eating zongzi with family members and friends. People traditionally wrap zongzi in leaves of reed, bamboo, forming a pyramid shape.
Ghost Festival
The Ghost Festival, also known as the Zhongyuan Festival, is a traditional Taoist and Buddhist festival held in certain East Asian countries. According to the Chinese calendar, the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month.
Vietnamese Family Day
June 28
On this day families from all around the country gather to celebrate, whether it be at home or at festivals downtown. It also helps to reinforce Vietnamese traditions of filial piety and provide time for families to spend time together.
Muharram Ashura
Ashura is an important Islamic day that occurs on the tenth day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic lunar calendar. It is recommended to fast on the day of Ashura based on narrations attributed to Muhammad. The fast is celebrated in order to commemorate the day when Moses and his followers were saved from Pharaoh by God by creating a path in the Red Sea.
Marine Day
Third Monday of July
Marine Day, also known as "Ocean Day" or "Sea Day", is a Japanese national holiday usually celebrated on the third Monday in July. The purpose of the holiday is to give thanks for the ocean's bounty and to consider the importance of the ocean to Japan as a maritime nation.
Autumn
Durga Puja
September - October
Durga Puja is an annual Hindu festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which reveres and pays homage to the Hindu goddess Durga and is also celebrated because of Durga's victory over Mahishasur. Durga Puja, is a ten-day festival of which the last five are of the most significance. The festival epitomizes the victory of good over evil, though it is also in part a harvest festival celebrating the goddess as the motherly power behind all of life and creation
Rabi' al-awwal Mawlid
Mawlid is the observance of the birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Mawlid is celebrated in a carnival manner, large street processions are held and homes or mosques are decorated. Charity and food is distributed, and stories about the life of Muhammad are narrated with recitation of poetry by children.
Boat Racing Festival
Boat Racing Festivals take place in many towns and villages across Lao during October. The specific days of the races may vary from location to location. The public holiday may also change depending on what day of the week, Boun Ok Phansa, the last day of Buddhist Lent, falls on. In the days before the races, the boats are cleaned and given offerings as they are considered sacred items.
Japanese Respect for the Elderly Day
September 17 - 19
On this holiday, people return home to visit and pay respect to the elders. Some people volunteer in neighborhoods by making and distributing free lunch boxes to older citizens. Entertainments are sometimes provided by teenagers and children with various performances. Special television programs are also featured by Japanese media on this holiday.
The Luang Festival
Monks and laypeople from all over Laos congregate to celebrate the occasion with three days of religious ceremony followed by a week of festivities, day and night. The procession of laypeople begins at Wat Si Muang in the city center and proceeds to That Luang to make offerings to the monks in order to accumulate merit for rebirth into a better life.
Navaratri
September - October
Navaratri is a biannual and one of the most revered Hindu festivals observed in the honor of Mother Goddess Durga. It spans over nine nights (and ten days), first in the month of Chaitra and again in the month of Sharada. It is observed for different reasons and celebrated differently in various parts of the Hindu Indian cultural sphere.
Diwali
Diwali is a festival of lights and one of the major festivals celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and some Buddhists. Diwali symbolizes the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. Celebrants will prepare for Diwali by cleaning, renovating, and decorating their homes and workplaces with diyas and rangolis. In the southern hemisphere, Diwali occurs in Spring.
All Saints Day
Filipinos observe this day by visiting family graves, repairing and cleaning tombs, and offering prayers, flowers, food, and candles. Many return to their native provinces for this, making it an occasion for reunions with extended family.
All Souls Day
All Souls' Day, also known as the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed and the Day of the Dead, is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed. Many All Souls' Day traditions are associated with popular notions about purgatory. Bell tolling is meant to comfort those being cleansed. Lighting candles serves to kindle a light for the poor souls languishing in the darkness.
Mooncake Festival
It is one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture. The history of the Mid-Autumn Festival dates back over 3,000 years. The festival is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar with a full moon at night, corresponding to mid-September to early October of the Gregorian calendar.