BY LAHLE WOLFE Updated November 13, 2018

Many countries adopt causes or a special interest groups to promote during a calendar month. The United States is particularly prolific at creating “national month” events to promote business interests. Showing your support of causes that are important to you is a great way to brand your business in your local community as a business with a heart.

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Which Awareness Events Are Celebrated in November?

The following events are observed calendar month-long (unless otherwise indicated) every year in November in the United States:https://d0e0ce58bad7029b3291d82536894886.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html

Aviation Month

Great opportunity for bookshops, toy stores, broadcasters, educational businesses, and travel business to feature products and service related to the aviation industry.https://d0e0ce58bad7029b3291d82536894886.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html

Good Nutrition Month

Any business that sells healthy foods, cookbooks, diet services, exercise equipment, or supplements is perfectly situated to offer coupons, freebies, and consultants. It’s a great time for potential clients to get to know you.

Hunger Awareness Month

Even in the wealthiest communities, there are people who need help with access to healthy food. Your business has an opportunity to publicly give products, raise funds, or promote the work of your local food pantry.

National AIDS Awareness Month

Fundraisers and awareness campaigns can win your business friends, particularly in the LGBTQ community.

National American Indian Heritage Month

If you’re located in an area with a strong Native American presence, consider partnering to create programs, products, fundraisers, or other offerings to honor local Native people.

National Diabetes Awareness Month

This very common disorder, is often treated with special diets and exercise. If you offer healthy food or exercise programs/products, now is a great time to reach out to the diabetes community.

National Georgia Pecan Month

Sell pecans or pecan-based foods? Celebrate your southern roots this month with offerings such as pecan pie, praline ice cream, Georgia-themed cookbooks, and more.

National Long-Term Care Awareness Month

If your business offers services or products for long-term care, this is a good time to make your community better aware of your business and the quality of your offerings.

National Novel Writing Month

Get creative with this fun celebration by offering reading and writing corners, celebrating local novelists, decorating with book covers, or otherwise making the readers and writers in your community feel welcome.

National Peanut Butter Lover’s Month

Got peanut butter? Coupons, recipes, free samples, and even history lessons are a great ways to celebrate. You might also want to donate peanut butter to your local food pantry.

National Pepper Month

Here’s a chance to get your community excited about spicy foods by celebrating different types of peppers, selling pepper plants, or offering samples of peppery foods.

National Red Ribbon Month (Anti-Drunk Driving)

Conduct public awareness-raising and fundraising events to support this important cause in your community.

Vegan Awareness Month

Many people have no idea what a vegan is or what they eat to stay alive. Help them discover the richness of the vegan diet by offering samples, coupons, recipes, books, talks, and other products and events around this increasingly popular lifestyle diet.

Some people ask: Why do we still need the Voting Rights Act? Didn’t we win that fight in 1965? The truth is, discrimination didn’t end—it adapted.

Main Points

• Historic victory: The Voting Rights Act tore down barriers like literacy tests and poll taxes that once silenced Black voices.
• Modern suppression: Today, voter ID laws, polling place closures, and gerrymandered maps still target Black communities. These tactics are quieter, but their impact is just as loud.
• Court setbacks: In 2013, the Supreme Court weakened the Act in Shelby County v. Holder, removing federal oversight. Since then, states have rushed to pass laws that make it harder for Black citizens to vote.
• Representation at stake: Without strong protections, Black voters risk losing fair representation in Congress, state legislatures, and city councils. That means less influence over schools, healthcare, housing, and justice.
• Living safeguard: The Voting Rights Act is not a relic of the past—it is a living safeguard for democracy. Every generation must defend it, because every generation faces new forms of suppression.

Closing So when we say Black Americans still need the Voting Rights Act, we are saying that democracy itself still needs it. Because until every voice is heard, until every vote counts equally, the struggle for freedom is not finished.

Did you know that on this day, November 24, 1995, Ireland ended its ban on divorce? About two-thirds of registered voters turned out and voted on the issue, with the winning vote being 50.28%.

Source: factsite.com

1615 – French King Louis XIII married Ann of Austria. They were both 14 years old.

1859 – Charles Darwin, a British naturalist, published “On the Origin of Species.” It was the paper in which he explained his theory of evolution through the process of natural selection.

1863 – During the Civil War, the battle for Lookout Mountain began in Tennessee.

1871 – The National Rifle Association was incorporated in the U.S. 

1874 – Joseph F. Glidden was granted a patent for a barbed fencing material.

1903 – Clyde J. Coleman received the patent for an electric self-starter for an automobile.

1940 – Nazis closed off the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, Poland. Over the next three years the population dropped from 350,000 to 70,000 due to starvation, disease and deportations to concentration camps.

1944 – During World War II, the first raid against the Japanese capital of Tokyo was made by land-based U.S. bombers.

1947 – The “Hollywood 10,” were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about alleged Communist influence in their industry.

1947 – John Steinbeck’s novel “The Pearl” was published for the first time.

1963 – Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald live on national television.

1969 – Apollo 12 landed safely in the Pacific Ocean bringing an end to the second manned mission to the moon. 

1983 – The Palestine Liberation Organization released six Israeli prisoners in exchange for the release of 4,500 Palestinians and Lebanese held by the Israelis.

1985 – In Malta, Egyptian commandos stormed an Egyptian jetliner. 60 people died in the raid.

1987 – The U.S. and the Soviet Union agreed to scrap short- and medium-range missiles. It was the first superpower treaty to eliminate an entire class of nuclear weapons.

1989 – Czechoslovakia’s hard-line party leadership resigned after more than a week of protests against its policies.

1992 – In China, a domestic jetliner crashed, killing 141 people.

1993 – The U.S. Congress gave its final approval to the Brady handgun control bill. 

1995 – In Ireland, the voters narrowly approved a constitutional amendment legalizing divorce.

1996 – Rusty Wallace won the first NASCAR event to be held in Japan.

1996 – Barry Sanders (Detroit Lions) set an NFL record when he recorded his eighth straight 1,000-yard season.

1998 – AOL (America Online) announced a deal for their purchase of Netscape for $4.21 billion.

 

Updated on January 13, 2020 ~ Mary Bellis

John Lee Love (September 26, 1889?-December 26, 1931) was a Black inventor who developed the portable pencil sharpener, which he patented in 1897.

Not much is known about his life but he is remembered for two inventions, the other being a plasterer’s hawk, which works much like an artist’s palette for a plasterer or mason. In the pantheon of African American inventors, Love is remembered for devising small things to make life easier.

Fast Facts: John Lee Love

• Known For: Inventor of the Love pencil sharpener
• Born: September 26, 1889? in Fall River, Massachusetts
• Died: December 26, 1931 Charlotte, North Carolina
• Early Life
• John Lee Love is believed to have been born on September 26, 1889, though another account lists his birth year as sometime between 1865 and 1877 during Reconstruction, which would have put his place of birth in the South. Not much else is known about Love’s early days, including whether he had any formal schooling or what prompted him to tinker with and improve certain everyday objects.
• We do know that he worked almost his entire life as a carpenter in Fall River, Massachusetts and that he patented his first invention, an improved plasterer’s hawk, on July 9, 1895 (U.S. Patent No. 542,419).

First Invention

The plasterer’s hawk traditionally had been a flat, square wooden board, about nine inches long on each side, with a handle — basically, a post-like grip — that is perpendicular to the board and attached to its bottom. By putting the plaster, mortar, or (later) stucco on top of the board, the plasterer or mason could access it quickly and easily with the tool being used to apply it. The new design functioned much like an artist’s palette.

As a carpenter, Love was likely well acquainted with the use of plaster and mortar. He believed that the hawks in use at the time were too bulky to be portable. His innovation was to design a hawk with a detachable handle and a foldable board made of aluminum, which must have been a lot easier to clean than wood.

On November 23, 1897, Love patented the pencil sharpener

Source: blackpast.org , blackfacts.com , thoughtco.com