59 Days of Independence

As promised, I would make a post about the 59 Days of Independence project, a project created by Heather Layton and Brian Bailey to celebrate Independence Days all over the world. Like with the US Independence Day, these days generally celebrate freedom from British rule. I say generally, because the celebration I participated in was for South Africa's Freedom Day, commemorating their first post-apartheid election and the election of Nelson Mandela. South Africa has its own Independence Day that originated in the 1930s, but Freedom Day is an important day.

How the project works is you can pick an Independence Day that is not for your native country (list in the info page)and find a way to celebrate. It can be big or small. You can make a shirt featuring a country's flag, cook dishes native to that country, educate a classroom of children about the country, you can do pretty much anything. Then post photos to the 59 Days of Independence Facebook page and they will be boosted to that country. People from that particular country will see your post. This is a global project with people from all over the world participating. You can also contact Heather and Brian at hlayton@mail.rochester.edu if you're interesting.

I know I've taken jabs at Facebook here in the past, and I'm still a critic, but I know that they're still the top network. Projects like this one would be more difficult to pull off without Facebook. Aside from my issues with the pay system, boosting posts to specific locations to show people you're thinking about them is a wonderful idea. Especially with the world getting smaller. It's also a great way to take a stand and support your fellow human beings.

If you're interested, First Unitarian celebrated by singing the South African national anthem while South Africa's flag was unfurled. It was truly a joyous occasion.