U.S. Cities Honor May 24 as Eritrean Independence Day

Updated: May 26, 1:03 PM EST

Over the past few weeks, a number of North American cities have recognized May 24 as Eritrean Independence Day in honor of their Eritrean constituencies. This trend first started last year in Seattle, when the honorable mayor Mike McGinn declared May 24 as Eritrean Independence Day and encouraged Seattleites of all backgrounds to attend their festivities.

So far, the mayor of Seattle, Washington D.C., San Jose, Toronto, Charlotte, Las Vegas, and Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland and Cincinnati have declared May 24 as Eritrean Independence Day. ~~Surprisingly, Oakland and San Francisco, two cities with large Eritrean populations, have yet to issue similar proclamations.~~

While these proclamations may not mean a lot to in the grand scheme of things, it certainly does increase public awareness about the country's 30 years of armed struggle, which was arguably, one of the greatest and most successful revolutions in modern history.

On that note, happy Independence Day to Eritreans and friends of Eritrea!

North American Cities that Recognize May 24 as Eritrean Independence Day

City_____	Mayor_____	Status	City's_Eri_Pop.__
Seattle	Mike McGinn	Recognized	5,500
Washington D.C.	Vincent Gray	Recognized	18,000
San Jose	Chuck Reed	Recognized	1,500
Toronto	Rob Ford	Recognized	8,000
Charlotte	Anthony Foxx	Recognized	2,000
Las Vegas	Carolyn Goodman	Recognized	1,000
Chicago	Rahm Emanuel	Recognized	1,000
San Francisco	Edwin Lee	Recognized	2,000
Oakland	Jean Quan	Recognized	6,000
Cincinnati	Mark Mallory	Recognized	400
Source: Madote\|