November 2022
National Caregivers Month, Native American Heritage Month, and Transgender Awareness Week.
During November
During National Family Caregivers Month, it’s important to discuss the central role governments play in supporting caregivers. The COVID-19 pandemic added both clarity and urgency to create more comprehensive and equitable paid family and medical leave policies nationwide. Cite the values of community and economic opportunity.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Telling a Story About Families and Opportunity.
- Hashtags: #NationalCaregiversMonth; #CaregiverAnd
Native American Heritage Month comes on the heels of Indigenous Peoples’ Day and presents an opportunity to emphasize how we must celebrate and honor — not erase — the past, present, and future of Native peoples in the United States. Discuss the values of voice and economic opportunity.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Celebrating Indigenous Resilience, Resistance, and Creativity, ‘We Are All Related’, and Native Artists: Shifting Our National Script.
- Hashtags: #NativesVote; #NAHeritage
ACA Open Enrollment Begins
Open enrollment for health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act starts Nov. 1 and will end on Jan. 15 (enroll by Dec. 15 for coverage to start on Jan. 1). November will be an important month for discussing the importance of access to healthcare by citing the value of economic opportunity.
- Enrollment resources: HealthCare.gov “Apply & enroll in 2023 coverage today”
- Hashtags: #ACA; #GetCovered
November 1
Today is Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). While many associate this holiday with Mexican traditions, festivals to honor and celebrate deceased family members are celebrated in a diverse range of nations worldwide, from Latin America to Haiti to the Philippines. This hook presents not only an opportunity to celebrate cultural traditions but has also been used to demand government agencies be held accountable for deaths in U.S. custody. Cite the values of voice and community when discussing this day.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s 5 Tips for Talking About Border Communities Without Talking about a Wall.
- Hashtags: #diadelosmuertos; #DetentionDeaths; #DayoftheDead
The Carlisle Indian School opened in Carlisle, Pennsylvania on Nov. 1, 1879. It was the first boarding school of many that the federal government set up to forcefully assimilate Native children into white culture after taking them from their families. When discussing the United States’ history of Indian schools, cite the values of economic opportunity, community, and voice.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Celebrating Indigenous Resilience, Resistance, and Creativity, ‘We Are All Related‘ and Taking Action & Responding to the Attacks on Honest and Inclusive Education
- Hashtag: #NAHeritage; #NativesVote
November 2
On this day in 2013, 19-year-old Renisha McBride was shot and killed for asking for help after a car crash in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. The homeowner said that he thought his home was being broken into after he heard her knocking on his door early in the morning. Discuss the anniversary of McBride’s death by citing the values of safety and equity.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s What does safety really mean in America? and Ten Lessons for Talking About Race, Racism and Racial Justice.
- Hashtag: #RenishaMcBride; #BlackLivesMatter; #racialjustice
November 8
Across the country, voters will also go to the polls to cast their ballots on Election Day. After the Supreme Court gutted key protections of the Voting Rights Act, many states are finding new ways to disenfranchise voters. Cite the values of voice and community when talking about Election Day.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Supreme Court Decision Requires Good Trouble to Defend Voting Rights
- Hashtags: #govote; #togetherwevote; #blacknovember
November 9
On Nov. 9, 1989 the Berlin Wall fell. The anniversary is an opportunity to discuss militarization at the U.S. southern border and pivot to an affirmative vision of what it looks like to protect human rights and invest in creating economic opportunity in border communities. Cite the values of safety and community.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Five Tips for Talking About Border Communities Without Talking about a Wall.
- Hashtag: #NewBorderVision; #WorldwithoutWalls
November 10
On Nov. 10, 1969, the public television children’s show, Sesame Street, first aired. At the time, it was the most racially diverse children’s show ever on TV. As one of the actors, Loretta Moore Long, noted, Sesame Street “seeks to bolster the Black and minority child’s self-respect and to portray the multi-ethnic, multicultural world into which both majority and minority child are growing.” Use this anniversary to talk about the need for inclusion and intersectionality in television programs. Cite the values of voice, equity, and community.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Power of Pop: Media Analysis of Representations of Immigrants in Popular TV Shows and Ten Lessons for Talking About Race, Racism and Racial Justice
- Hashtag: #ThisIsMyStreet
November 12 – 20
Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is sponsored each year by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness. The event is an annual opportunity for people to come together and draw attention to the problems of hunger and homelessness. When talking about homelessness this week, cite the values of community and economic opportunity.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Narrative Shift: From The War on Poverty to “Ending Welfare as We Know It”, Talking About Poverty & Economic Opportunity Today: Three Core Pillars, Shifting the Narrative on Poverty, Perceptions about Poverty and Homelessness and Talking About Economic Justice.
- Hashtag: #hhweek
November 13 – 19
Transgender Awareness Week raises the visibility of transgender and gender non-conforming people in order to address the issues faced by the community. When discussing transgender concerns, be sure to refer to the values of voice, safety, and community.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Ten Tips for Putting Intersectionality into Practice
- Hashtags: #TransWeek
November 13
On Nov. 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down segregation on Montgomery buses (Browder v. Gayle) and ordered Alabama to desegregate all public buses. Less than a year before, activist Rosa Parks was arrested for violating bus segregation laws by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. Her action launched a boycott of the buses that lasted for months. Fred Gray filed a lawsuit challenging bus segregation in federal district court on behalf of four Black women who had faced discrimination. Use this anniversary to discuss the values of voice and equity.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Talking About the Attacks on Critical Race Theory, Critical Race Theory on TikTok, a Student Perspective, and Ten Lessons for Talking About Race, Racism and Racial Justice
- Hashtag: #BrowderVGayle
November 14
On this day in 1960, six-year-old Ruby Bridges integrated her New Orleans elementary school. She was escorted by four federal marshals and was met by a white mob who screamed insults and slurs. The historic impacts of redlining mean that true school integration is still an issue in neighborhoods nationwide. In the context of ongoing educational inequity and attacks on critical race theory, use this anniversary to discuss the need for real school integration and an honest reckoning with our nation’s history. Cite the values of equity, economic opportunity, and community.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Taking Action & Responding to the Attacks on Honest and Inclusive Education; Talking About the Attacks on Critical Race Theory, Critical Race Theory on TikTok, a Student Perspective, and Ten Lessons for Talking About Race, Racism and Racial Justice.
- Hashtag: #RubyBridges
November 20
Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance / Resilience, honoring those killed by anti-trans violence, which overwhelmingly targets Black and Latinx trans women and femmes. In 2014, the Audre Lorde Project founded Trans Day of Resilience to celebrate the power of the living trans family. When talking about these issues, cite the values of voice and equality.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Ten Tips for Putting Intersectionality into Practice.
- Hashtags: #TDOR; #TransDayofRemembrance; #TransDayofResilience
On Nov. 20, 1969, Native American activists landed on and occupied Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay. They called themselves “Indians of All Tribes” and issued a proclamation, “We Hold the Rock.” The protest lasted for 19 months until the protest was forcibly ended by the U.S. government. Cite this anniversary as part of Native American History Month by using the values of voice and equity.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s ‘We Are All Related.
- Hashtag: #NAHeritage
November 22
On this day in 2014, police shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio for carrying a toy gun. He died the next day. Discuss the anniversary of his death by citing the values of safety and equity.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Beyond Policing: Supporting Defund the Police, Narrative Shift and the Campaign to End Racial Profiling, Implicit Bias and the Limitations of Video Footage in Tackling Police Brutality; What does safety really mean in America? and Ten Lessons for Talking About Race, Racism and Racial Justice
- Hashtag: #TamirRice; #BlackLivesMatter; #racialjustice
Thanksgiving Weekend
Thanksgiving is often a time when tough or awkward conversations arise around the dinner table. Use these tools to keep your conversations focused on values.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s Five Tips for Surviving Holiday Conversations; Talking About Justice and Equity Through Sports; and The Social Justice Phrase Guide.
- Hashtags: #Thanksgiving; #thankstaking; #NationalDayofMourning
The Friday after Thanksgiving is often dubbed “Black Friday” because consumer spending puts retailers’ revenues “in the black.” As a counter to big business, the day after has been declared “Small Business Saturday.” Use these hooks to share the Shop Your Values campaign run by the Main Street Alliance that supports small businesses that are actively advocating for economic and racial justice across the country. Also see Give Women Your Money: A Shoppable Spreadsheet for women-lead businesses and Color of Change’s Black Business Green Book.
- Hashtags: #blackfriday; #shopyourvalues
November 25
On this day in 2002, the Department of Homeland Security was founded when President George Bush signed the Homeland Security Act into law, more than a year after the September 11th attacks. This bold government restructuring reframed immigration as a national security issue. Use this anniversary to discuss the legacy of DHS agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. Cite the values of safety, economic opportunity, and community when discussing this anniversary.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s 4 Tips to Keep the Border Conversation on What Really Matters and Five Tips for Talking About Border Communities Without Talking about a Wall.
- Hashtags: #FamiliesBelongTogether; #EndFamilyDetention; #AbolishICE.
November 30
Shirley Chisholm was born on this day in 1924. Chisolm was the first Black woman elected to Congress. Cite the values of Voice and Equality when talking about this day.
- Messaging and communication tools: The Opportunity Agenda’s This White Feminist Knows that “Race-Silent” Policies are Insufficient and Part of the Problem.
- Hashtags: #ShirleyChisholm; #UnboughtUnbossed
