Here's What's Happening ~ Feb. 17th

Who Shall I Be Day
Who Shall I Be Day is a holiday created by Thomas and Ruth Roy of Wellcat Holidays. Who Shall I Be Day is the day to decide who you want to be rather than listening to all the voices telling you who they think you should be. FYI ~ Who Shall I Be Day is the holiday formerly known as My Way Day - kind of like The Artist Formerly Known As Prince who, by the way, is someone who has undeniably chosen for himself whom he shall be.

NAACP Image Awards 
The NAACP Image Awards is an awards show similar to the Oscars and The Grammy's. It is a multi-cultural awards show put on by The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The NAACP Image Awards Show honors outstanding performances and accomplishments by people of color in the movie, television, and music industries, as well as the literary field. It also focuses on individuals or groups (African American or non-African American) that promote understanding and awareness of racial and social issues through their creative endeavors.

This year's show will air on NBC and will be hosted by actress, Sanaa Lathan and actor, Anthony Mackie.

National PTA Founders Day
By the mid 1890's, the Industrial Revolution in the United States was in full swing. A tragic and disturbing component of the Industrial age was the practice of using child labor in factories, mines, and in the streets of the cities. Manufacturers could pay children less than adult workers and get almost the same amount of work out of them because there was little strength needed to operate an industrial machine. Children were forced to work eight or more hours a day. They could not attend school, they were paid poorly, many of them went hungry, and many children were maimed or killed in industrial accidents.

Two women, Phoebe Apperson Hearst and Alice McLellan Birney, were deeply concerned about the welfare of the nation's children and felt something needed to be done to rescue them from these dire circumstances and to help them get adequate food and education. After continued efforts in grassroots forums across the country, finally, on February 17, 1897, a meeting was held where these two women introduced their ideas to a group of over 2,000 people. On that day, the ball began rolling and eventually became what we now know as the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), the oldest and largest volunteer association working exclusively on behalf of all children and youth.

PTA Founder's Day also honors Selena Sloan Butler, an Atlanta, Georgia community leader and teacher dedicated to the advancement of child welfare and education. She founded her own school's Parent Teacher Association, as well as the Georgia State Parent Teacher Association, and, in 1926, she founded the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers to address the special needs of children in segregated schools.

Random Acts of Kindness Day
We are in the midst of Random Acts of Kindness Week, which goes from Feb. 13-19, 2012 and, to be honest, I'm not sure that there even is a Random Acts of Kindness Day anymore, because I think the day has been swallowed up into the week long observance but, if you haven't practiced any random acts of kindness yet this week, the 17th would definitely be a great day to start. Check out the great ideas at the Random Act of Kindness Week website.

World Human Spirit Day
Every year on February 17th, at 3:00 p.m. USA Eastern Standard Time, the world comes together in spirit and mind during a 2 minute moment of silent meditation to celebrate the connection between all people.  Link