Native American & American Indian Heritage Month

Native American Heritage Month is a time to celebrate, recognize, and inform the public about the culture, traditions, histories, art, and contributions of Native Americans/American Indians and Alaska Natives.

The month was first designated in the United States in 1990.
Such recognition, however, dates back further with state and organizational recognition of Indigenous people's days and commemorations occurring at the turn of the twentieth century. For example, Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian and co-founder of the Society of American Indians in 1911, organized American Indian Day beginning in 1915. More recently, Columbus Day, which is recognized on the second Monday of October, has been reclaimed in cities across the United States as Indigenous People's Day.

In the 2020 U.S. Census, 7.1 million individuals reported American Indian/Native American/Alaska Native heritage. The federal U.S. government recognizes 574 tribes, with additional tribes recognized by state governments across the country.

Join us this Friday, October 29th from 1-3 p.m. for the LGBTQ+ Community Connection Cohort's Open House! This is an opportunity for students interested in joining the Community Connections program to meet current participants and learn more about what it means to develop community and resilience as a member of the LGBTQ+ Community.
Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is an annual event held in November. Every year, a number of schools, communities, and cities take part in a nationwide effort to bring awareness to food insecurity and homelessness. This year’s Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week at Georgia State University will take place November 1-5, 2021.

During this week, Student Civic Engagement and collaborating partners host a collection of events designed to inspire student engagement, raise awareness, and ignite knowledge transfer among the student population on food insecurity and homelessness issues here in the Atlanta community.

By fostering a network of collaboration, education and experiences among students, community, and campus leaders the hope is to have all participants takeaway insight, knowledge and inspiration. We hope this will lead to impactful actions and involvement aimed at alleviating food insecurity and homelessness within our community.
Join MAP Ambassadors of the Multicultural Center as they explore the documentary "Dawnland." This will be a documentary viewing with a discussion around the reclamation of Native American culture after genocide.
Join us on November 8th from 12:00 - 1:30 P.M. in the Intersection Lounge for Know Your Rights! We will bring in two experienced attorneys to host a discussion on rights and the personal protection you are entitled to! Light refreshments will be served. We hope to see you there! Please RSVP to receive food.
Pop in on Wednesday, November 10th for the Multicultural Center's bi-weekly discussions about pop culture, national/global news, and/or anything related to diversity and inclusion. This peer-facilitated dialogue series provides a safe space to engage in critical thinking, explore diverse identities, and examine the world as a whole. Just bring your topics and a willingness to think critically about the world!
Do you have any experience in marketing, digital media, or advertising? Or, would you simply like to get involved with the Multicultural Center?

Apply to volunteer as part of our Marketing Street Team!

For any questions email Te'Airah Wilbert!
As a part of our Community Connections (C2) Womxn of Color Mentoring Initiative, this week, we highlight Indigenous model and land-protector, Quannah Chasinghorse (b. June 7, 2002) as our #WomxnChangingTheWorld! 

Quannah Chasinghorse is a part of an intergenerational group of Gwich'in women fighting to protect Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil rigs and wells. The group seeks to establish permanent protection for the refuge and sacred lands from oil development through congressional legislation. The group also fights for Indigenous rights and justice and justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. In 2020, she was featured in Calvin Klein's One Future #CKOne campaign, where she says, "I don't see myself as an activist; I see myself as a land protector." The Calvin Klein campaign was the launchpad for Chasinghorse's modeling career, which she never saw as feasible due to the lack of Indigenous representation in magazines and fashion shows. With her new platform, Chasinghorse has celebrated Indigenous fashion on a larger scale, amplifying Indigenous issues and causes, and promoting sustainable Indigenous brands. 

🌎 Culture & Identity: Quannah Chasinghorse-Potts was born on Navajo Nation territory in Tuba City, Arizona. Her mother is Hän Gwich'in of Eagle Village, Alaska, and her father is Sicangu-Oglala Lakota of the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Chasinghorse spent her early years in Arizona, Mongolia and New Mexico, then moved to Alaska when she was six years old. 

This week in our Social Justice Corner we are highlighting Iranian LGBT Activist Arsham Parsi!  
   
Culture & Identity: Arshan Parsi (September 20, 1981 - Present) is an Iranian LGBT human rights activist living in exile in Canada. He is the founder and head of the International Railroad for Queer Refugees. 
 
Life: Parsi was born in Shiraz, Iran. As a gay Iranian, he felt alone until at age 15 he discovered solace on the Internet. Parsi began volunteering for underground gay organizations. At age 19, he began working for the Persian Gay and Lesbian Organization and networked with doctors to provide HIV testing. During this time Parsi spent time responding to emails from suicidal gay teenagers, hoping to serve as a listening ear for them and a source of advice. The strict laws against homosexuality forced Parsi to keep his work secret from friends and family, but in March 2005, Parsi realized the police were looking for him and fled from Iran to Turkey, where he spent 13 months. Unable to return to Iran, Parsi lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 
 
Impact: In 2001, Parsi had formed a small LGBTQ group online called Rangin Kaman (Rainbow Group), which was renamed as Persian Gay and Lesbian Organization in 2004. In 2008 Parsi founded the International Railroad for Queer Refugees (IRQR) in 2008. The organization's headquarters are in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and they provide services to all self-identified Iranian LGBTQ asylum seekers worldwide.  

Scholarships, Paid Internships & Social Action – Appy NOW!
Open to all majors, Downtown and PC campuses
 
The Andrew Young School has launched a new schoolwide undergraduate initiative called the Social Action Alliance (SAA) that aims to cultivate the next generation of social change makers who will engage with some of society’s most challenging problems. The SAA welcomes students of all discipline, and likewise, multi-disciplinary instruction runs throughout its programming. 
 
Recruitment is underway with an approaching deadline of November 1st. 
 
“Hello! We are a group of graduate students in HIST 7040, a seminar focused on public history. In collaboration with the Office of Student Engagement, we are planning a range of activities for GSU students to explore local history in/around the GSU campus and downtown Atlanta. 
 
The goal is to encourage students at Georgia State to explore the landscape of campus and the larger downtown area and to increase awareness of the deeper history that surrounds all of us. We are asking for your input on these projects to gauge interest in different topics and activities that you might be interested in.”

In order to take the survey, feel free to scan the above QR code or click the link below!
Special Days This Week
November: Native American & American Indian Heritage Month

Honors the history and culture of Native Americans and indigenous people in the United States. November was officially recognized as National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month in 1990 when President George H.W. Bush signed it into Public Law.  
November 1 - November 2: El Dia de los Muertos

The Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos or Día de los Muertos) is a holiday celebrated on the 1st and 2nd of November. It originated and is mostly observed in Mexico but also in other places, especially by people of Mexican heritage elsewhere. Although associated with the Catholic celebrations of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, it has a much less solemn tone and is portrayed as a holiday of joyful celebration rather than mourning. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pay respects and to remember friends and family members who have died. These celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed.
November 3: Election Day 

The Tuesday following the first Monday in November. It can fall on or between November 2  and November 8. Election Day is the day when popular ballots are held to select public officials on local, state, and national governmental levels, including the president.  
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