Black Solidarity Day is a memorial day, created in 1969 by Panamanian-born activist, historian, playwright, . It was inspired by the fictional play “Day of Absence” by Douglas Turner Ward. It is annually observed the day before Election Day in November, the first Monday of the month. Its purpose is for African diasporic people to exercise a 24- hour moratorium from shopping or participating in other commercial activity such as using the transit system. The Pan-African ideal of the observance is to highlight racial inequality and the gap between the wealthiest of one of the most powerful nations in the world and those living in poverty.