Email from Third Judicial Circuit of Michigan

Celebrating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The Third Circuit Court Diversity Equity, and Inclusion Team’s Mission is: "We appreciate our common connection and respect our diverse and unique human experiences. We move forward as an inclusive organization as we provide accessible and equal justice."

The Court’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Team strives to ensure the values of its diverse bench, staff, and court users are acknowledged and reflected in our delivery of service as well as our work environment. As we enter the month of October, we celebrate the diversity of our staff and our community as the days get shorter and colder.

Check out some of the unique days and weeks of celebration in December below.

Happy Holidays!

HIV/AIDS Awareness Month

Approximately 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV today. Of this number, a suspected 14 percent aren’t aware of it because they haven’t been tested.

To help increase awareness, December is considered HIV/AIDS Awareness Month. This is a time to support educational campaigns, spread science-based information, and fight for accessible and affordable testing and treatment. Unlike other types of diseases, HIV/AIDS face a hefty social stigma. Much of HIV/AIDS awareness month is about defeating this stigma once and for all. One of the main ways to create awareness is to shed light on science-based facts, spreading clear, accurate information while debunking myths.

Treatment for HIV/AIDS has come a long way in the past few decades. It is possible to live a relatively normal life with an HIV/AIDS diagnosis, yet the stigma still affects many from different backgrounds. This month serves as a reminder to stand with those currently living with an HIV/AIDS diagnosis as well as to remember those who lost their lives along the way.

The metropolitan Detroit community will be raising awareness about HIV/AIDS on Friday, December 6, 2024 from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. at the World AIDS Day program, held at the Corner Ballpark-Detroit PAL Headquarters in Detroit. It will feature guest speakers, educational sessions and opportunities to show support for those affected by HIV/AIDS. It is free and open to the public. Information on HIV/AIDS testing will be available.

Source: Cake Blog (www.joincake.com)

Universal Human Rights Month

December 10 marks the 76th anniversary of one of the world's most groundbreaking global pledges: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This landmark document enshrines the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being - regardless of race, color, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

The Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris in 1948 and for the first time set out the fundamental human rights that are to be universally protected. Available in more than 500 languages, it is one of the most translated documents in the world.

A year-long initiative focusing on universality, progress and engagement, will culminate in a high-level event in December 2024, which will announce global pledges and ideas for a vision for the future of human rights. We are encouraged in December, and every day, to remember and celebrate those who have fought for human rights in the past and to also think about the ways in which we can continue to fight for them today.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was written together by people of different backgrounds with the goal of creating a basic standard for treating all human beings. It has since been used as a model for various human rights legislation. This day is known as Human Rights Day. Universal Human Rights month extends this celebration throughout the entire month of December.

Below are the first 10 of the 30 articles adopted:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Source: United Nations website (www.un.org)

Celebrating Holiday Traditions

Hanukkah

Observed starting at sundown on December 25, the Festival of Lights marks the rededication of Jerusalem's Holy Temple during the second century B.C. The eight-night celebration of Hanukkah honors the fight of the Maccabees for religious freedom and Jewish independence. Victorious, this group of warriors moved to rededicate their holy temple but had only a small amount of oil to light the menorah. Miraculously, the flame burned for eight full days.

Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa is a cultural holiday that celebrates African heritage and African-American culture. It is observed from December 26 to January 1 each year, culminating in a festive gathering known as the Karamu Ya Imani (Feast of Faith). Kwanzaa is a time for reflection, community, and the reaffirmation of cultural values and principles.

Celebrating Kwanzaa involves various rituals and customs that revolve around the lighting of seven candles, one for each day of the holiday. Each candle represents one of the Nguzo Saba principles, which are:

Umoja (Unity): To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, and nation.
Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define and name ourselves, as well as create and speak for ourselves.
Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together, making our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems and solving them together.
Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our stores, shops, and other businesses, and to profit from them together.
Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can in the way we can to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
Imani (Faith): To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Other Holiday Traditions

Attend a midnight Mass or a church or synagogue service - honor the true meaning of the holidays with family members and/or friends.
Make a snowman.
Go ice skating.
Take a drive to see holiday lights, such as at the Wayne County Lightfest along Hines Drive in Westland.
Countdown to holidays with an Advent calendar.
Watch classic holiday movies with your family
Make a gingerbread house.
Go caroling with friends or members of your church
Make paper snowflakes or other winter craft decorations
Take family plenty of family photos