Casimir Pulaski Day

We use Columbus Day as an entry point to talking about the slave trade because we get to learn about his role in starting it, and from there we're able to move into more complex conversations about what was slavery, what is its legacy, how do we remember those who survived slaves, and how did they shape America? So that's our f- entry point that is a tangible day on the calendar that we can point to, so that's something that I use annually.

And we talk about other holidays, St. Patrick's Day, Pulaski Day we have in Chicago, because all of these days are days that were given to immigrants, ethnic groups that are white now but weren't at the time, and those holidays kind of helped make them white.

Um, and then we kind of parlay into talking about Juneteenth, which is our real Black Independence Day.

And so we use current events to use our historical knowledge, to use our literary analysis skills, our writing abilities, the things that they learn in my class, to challenge the current system.

and we had offices in California and, you know, Boston and all over the place.

And my kids were off for Casimir Pulaski Day.

Yeah.

And they were like, what are

you talking about? Like, Casimir Pulaski Day.

Isn't everybody off school for Casimir Pulaski Day?

No one is off.

Only the state of Illinois.

Well, I was at, uh...

My friend Brian is, uh, really proud of his Chicago heritage and he had a Casimir Pulaski Day party every year-

Mm-hmm

... up until COVID.

God damn.

Casimir Pulaski Day is a song named after a holiday that most people outside of Illinois haven't heard of unless you've got some Polish background.

It's a song about a friend dying and feeling like faith isn't really giving you an answer.

The holiday celebrates a Polish cavalry officer who apparently was a big deal in the Revolutionary War.