Cultural Calendaring
Does your area have large ethnic communities who don’t live by a Christian-Gregorian calendar? Do you drive by a Mosque, Synagogue, or cultural center?
Consider dates outside the Western/Christian traditions when you hold meetings, schedule tests, or plan other events.
How to do it:
Not all communities observe the Gregorian calendar. This includes Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and people from certain nations. Religious and cultural observances often follow older calendars even for people who live day-to-day Western (Gregorian) lives.
Other important dates invite acknowledgement that rarely comes, like Juneteenth and Yom HaShoah. Show inclusivity by taking other group’s important dates into consideration when scheduling events, and acknowledge holidays or important historic dates with respect. Become familiar with the rhythms of other cultures’ lives.
Apple and Google publish dates for a wide array of communities, and will allow you to turn them on and off so you can have an “uncluttered” view of your own schedule. If you avoid those calendars, add the most important dates (start with ones you’ve heard of) manually. Be aware non-Gregorian calendars may shift each year (both Jewish and Muslim calendars do, in different ways), so you can’t ‘set and forget’ manual scheduling. Don’t hit “repeat every year.” Instead add an annual reminder to schedule the dates again.
Keep an eye out for upcoming events. If they require fasting, abstaining from work, or are important family holidays, avoid scheduling important meetings, school tests and so forth. Remind others to check calendars for local communities before scheduling too. You can also post greetings on social media to help spread awareness and help neighbors feel cared for.
