January 2023 NATIONAL SLAVERY AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING PREVENTION MONTH
1	New Year's Day
	World Day of Peace
	Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
	Emancipation Proclamation signed (U.S.),1863
3	Greta Thunberg, b. 2003: Swedish environmentalist
4	Feast of St. Elizabeth Seton, 1774-1821: First native-born American saint and patroness of Catholic school education in the U.S, known as the foundress of the parochial school system in the U.S.
5	Feast of St. John Neumann, 1811-1852: Patron of Catholic education, sick children and immigrants; emigrated from Bohemia to Philadelphia.
6	Feast of the Epiphany (Día de los Reyes), special feast of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus and the day on which the sisters renew their vows.
	Birthday of Jacobo Timerman, 1923-1999: Argentine journalist and author imprisoned and tortured for reporting the atrocities of the Dirty War. He is best known for his memoir, “Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number’’
7	Birthday of Sadako Sasaki, 1943- 1955: Japanese girl who was two years old when the atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, later developed leukemia, and folded 1,000 origami cranes for peace; she is a symbol of the innocent victims of war.
	Birthday of Vann Nath, 1946-2011: Activist and noted Cambodian artist who survived the Khmer Rouge's torture and execution center by painting portraits of its brutal leaders.
	Birthday of Brian Haw, 1949- 2011: British protester and peace campaigner who lived for almost ten years in a peace camp in London’s Parliament Square.
8	Birthday of Emily Green Balch, 1867-1961: American economist, sociologist, and pacificist who was awarded the Peace Prize in 1946 for her lifelong work for disarmament and peace.
	Birthday of A.J. Muste, 1885-1967: Dutch-born American pacifist best remembered for his work in the labor, civil rights, and anti- war movements
	Birthday of Rigoberta Menchú Tum, b. 1959, Guatemalan indigenous human rights activist awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992.
9	Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
	Birthday of Joan Chandos Báez, b. 1941, American folk singer, songwriter, and activist whose music often includes songs of protest and social justice.
11	Detainment of first prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, 2002
	National Human Trafficking Awareness Day
	Start of the "Bread and Roses" labor strike in Lawrence, MA, 1912
12	Earthquake in Haiti, 2010, This natural disaster killed over 200,000 and left 2.3 million homeless.
14	Birthday of Martin Niemöller, 1892-1984: German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor, best known for his statement "First they came..."
15	Birthday of Venerable Cornelia Connelly, Foundress of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus (1809-1879)
	Birthday of Etty Hillesum, 1993:1914, Jewish woman whose letters and diaries, kept between 1941 and 1943, describe life in Amsterdam during the German occupation.
	Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.,1929-1968: Assassinated in Memphis, TN April 4th.
16	National Religious Freedom Day
	Celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
18-25	Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
20	Birthday of Ernesto Cardenal Martinez, 1925-2020: Liberation theologian, poet, and founder of the primitivist art community in the Solentiname Islands
	March for Life
22	Chinese New Year
23	World Leprosy Day
24	Feast of St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church and patron of journalists and writers
	Birthday of Henri J.M. Nouwen, 1932-1996: Dutch-born Catholic priest, author, spiritual thinker, and a synthesist who advanced the "theology of the heart."
25	Birthday of Hazel M. Johnson, 1935-2011: Considered the mother of environmental justice by many, Johnson advocated to clean up toxic waste and pollution in her southeast Chicago community of Altgeld Gardens.
26	Birthday of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, b.1930: Retired auxiliary bishop of the Detroit archdiocese, founding member of Pax Christi USA, and a leading voice for peace, justice, and civil rights.
	Birthday of Mary Evelyn (Mev) Puleo, 1963-1996: An American photojournalist and Alumna of St. Louis University who, through her art, became an activist for the poor and disenfranchised.
27	International Holocaust Remembrance Day
	Birthday of Mairead Maguire, b.1944, Nobel Peace laureate, peace activist from Northern Ireland.
	Feast of St. Angela Merici, 1474-1540: Foundress of the Company of St. Ursula (Ursuline Sisters) in 1535.
28	Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, Patron of all universities and student.
29	National Catholic Schools Week until Feb. 4 (U.S.)
30	Birthday of Saul Alinsky, 1909-1972: American community organizer and writer and is generally considered to be the founder of modern community organizing
31	Birthday of Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O.,1915-1968: an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion, a pioneer in Buddhist-Christian dialogue.
	Birthday of Sister Megan Rice, S.H.C.J., 1930-2021: Anti-nuclear activist, member of the Transform Now Plowshares group, known for breaking into the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, TN