Teacher Creates New Holiday to Honor Black and Indigenous Women
(Nationwide) - In a 1962
lecture in Los Angeles, California, Malcolm X said, “The most disrespected
person in America is a Black woman.” Today, a teacher and her daughter are
helping to change the view of Black women from a “disrespected state” to one of
“honor” with the establishment of “Mothers of Civilization Day.”
The idea for the new holiday was developed by
Audrey Muhammad, an educator and writer who has always taught the value of
Black History in her high school literature classes in Ohio and
California. Her daughter, Hasana Muhammad, is a junior
Computer Science major at North Carolina A & T State University, designed
the website and book for the new holiday. They are hoping that schools and colleges
will help celebrate the new holiday this year.
“Every year we honor our mothers
who gave birth to us, but we often do not think of the woman who gave birth to
humanity, which is the original woman, the Black woman,” said Mrs. Muhammad who
is the editor for Virtue Today Magazine, a positive women’s magazine. “Did you know that the oldest
bones to be found, as of this date are of a Black woman?” The bones were
found by an anthropologist named Donald Johanson and his assistant Tom Gray on
November 24, 1974 in Hadar, Ethiopia. According
to Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop, the evidence of early humans who lived between 2 and 6
million years ago come totally from Africa.
Since the bones of the earliest female were found on November 24, 1974,
that day will be used to celebrate the Mothers of Civilization Day.
The new holiday was launched
on the National Days Archives and the book describing the history behind the
new holiday will be available later this month. The
book shares the history behind "Mothers of Civilization Day," the new
holiday for Black and Indigenous women around the world. It includes comments
by Dr. Ava Muhammad from the launch event and highlights of women like Michelle
Obama, ancient Egyptian women, and many others! Mothers
of Civilization Day is a day to recognize and be thankful for the first women
on the planet, the original women, regardless of their ethnic background. Original women are women of color from
Africa, North America, South America, and Asia etc. These women have kept
traditions alive, taught customs and created a beautiful culture of love and
pride.
How do you celebrate “Mothers of Civilization
Day?” It is a day that you take the
grandmothers, mothers, sisters, and aunts and put them in a “circle of love”
and have each family member share a positive word about each woman. It is also a time for a history lesson and to
let the children know that they are looking at the first women to be on the
planet. You can do this at a family
gathering or on a Zoom. Some may even
celebrate it during that Thanksgiving weekend since many families will be
together. It is a non-religious,
non-commercialized Holiday. More
information about the day can be found on the National Archives Day website,
which now lists it as a national day at https://www.nationaldayarchives.com/day/mothers-of-civilization-day/.
The day is
gaining support since the official launch party for the event held last year on
November 24, 2021 via Zoom. Honors are
pouring in from around the country and will be featured in the first Mothers of
Civilization book, which may be pre-ordered on the website. God willing, a book
tour will soon follow hopes Mrs. Muhammad.
At any time, men and women can pay tribute to
the “Mothers of Civilization” in their lives by giving them an “honor” on the
Mothers of Civilization website: www.mothersofcivilization.org. The honor will be placed in their listing and
stay on the website forever. In this
digital world, children and grandchildren can now read about their mothers,
grandmothers, sisters etc. Virtue Today
Magazine is the media sponsor for the day. To support the day, sign up to be on
Virtue Today Magazine’s email list at www.virtuetodaymag.com. If you would like to be a part of the
upcoming “Mothers of Civilization Day,” please email themothersofcivilization@gmail.com or
call (336) 901-0122. For more
information, visit www.mothersofcivilization.org.