Providence ARF, ANC-RI Remember Our Martyrs

By Stephen Elmasian

Ninety-five years have passed, and while it’s true that the remaining survivors are few and far between, it hasn’t stopped our community from pursuing its just cause. Below is a chronological order of the events that took place in Rhode Island during the month of April. Most were organized by the Providence Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) “Kristapor” Gomideh and the Armenian National Committee (ANC) of Rhode Island. The Armenian Martyrs Memorial Committee (AMMC) also held a series of successful events, listed below. The Providence Gomideh played a major role in the establishment of the AMMC 35 years ago, and remains active in that organization.

Flag sponsorship program

As part of the 5^th Annual ANC-RI “Flags over RI” Program, 54 individuals, families, and businesses—a new record—sponsored city and town halls, along with the Rhode Island State House, in memory of loved ones. For the 10^th consecutive year, every city and town hall in Rhode Island, along with the State House, flew the Armenian flag on April 24 in memory of our martyrs.

Sponsors of the program chose the city or town hall of their choice, and requested that an Armenian flag be flown in memory of a loved one. In the fall, at the annual ANC-RI “Meet the Candidates” picnic, each sponsor will receive a 3×5-foot flag and a citation detailing their choice of city or town and the name of their loved one. The program will continue with the hope of reaching 100 flag sponsors by the year 2015, the 100^th anniversary of the genocide.

PBS

Thanks to a very generous gift from Aram Garabedian, the Rhode Island community was given the opportunity to witness the Two Cats Production of “The Armenian Genocide” on Wed., April 21 on the local PBS station, which was presented under the name of the ANC-RI.

Flag raising ceremony

On Fri., April 23, the 11^th annual ANC-RI flag raising ceremony took place at the town hall in North Providence. This event began over a decade ago under the leadership of then-Mayor A. Ralph Mollis, and continues to this day under Mayor Charles Lombardi.

Each year, a resident (or residents) from the North Providence Armenian community receives the citation from the mayor on behalf of the ANC-RI and the Armenians living in the town. This year, Elizabeth and Edward Kopoian were so honored.

Elected officials at the ceremony included Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts, Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis, Providence Mayor David Cicilline, Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, and Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian.

State Treasurer Frank Caprio and U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse sent representatives. There were many local officials present, including the heads of the fire and police departments, public works, town councilmen, and the school department superintendent. State Senator Frank Ciccone was also present.

All three Armenian churches were represented by their clergy, who offered opening and closing prayers. They were Badveli Hagop Mangelikian of the Armenian Euphrates Evangelical Church, Hayr Soorp Simeon Odabashian of St. Sahag and St. Mesrob Armenian Apostolic Church, and Rev. Gomidas Baghsarian of Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Apostolic Church.

The crowd of close to 100 were informed of historical and current matters of interest by Stephanie Mesrobian of the ANC-RI, who served as the mistress of ceremonies.

Allison Ambrose, who was recently awarded the Genocide Educator of the Year Award by the ANC-RI and AMMC, and is a teacher at North Providence High School, was also present and recognized.

Buddy Cianci Radio Show

On Fri., April 23, two ANC-RI members, George Mangalo and Steve Mesrobian, were guests of the Buddy Cianci Radio Show. They were on the show for about 12 minutes and their message was clear: We will remain steadfast until the Armenian Genocide receives its proper recognition.

The show, hosted by former Mayor Vincent Buddy Cianci, is the most listened to talk radio show in Rhode Island. Cianci, who is well aware of the genocide, has championed the cause for decades, first as mayor of the city of Providence and now as a radio host. This marked the third consecutive year the Armenian Genocide received radio time in Rhode Island, successfully getting the message out to the non-Armenian public.

Film and lecture

On Sat., April 24, the Providence ARF was the host to a packed house following services at Sts. Vartanantz Church. The event began with the showing of “The River Ran Red” by Michael Hagopian, followed by a brief lecture from Prof. Catherine Sama, the head of the Italian program at the University of Rhode Island. Sama spoke about her efforts in getting her students more aware of what happened to Armenians at the turn of the last century.

Mangalo, Mesrobian and Steve Elmasian brought messages from the ANC-RI to the community. The program began and ended with blessings from the pastor of Sts. Vartanantz Church, Father Gomidas Baghsarian.

ARF to show ‘Voices from Community’

On Sun., May 2 following church services, the Providence ARF will show “Voices from the Community,” a video of two survivors who have since passed away. The video was made by Providence AYF-YOARF Juniors who interviewed Persape Bedrosian and Sarah Leylegian, asking them to share the stories of the genocide. Following the video, there will be a panel discussion with George Aghjayan and Levon Attarian regarding land reparations.

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The entire month of April had one successful event after another in Rhode Island, commemorating the 95^th anniversary of the genocide. They were organized by ARF- and ANC-affiliated organizations, or non-affiliated organizations in which the ARF and ANC plays an active role.

On Sat., April 10, two cars carrying Providence “Varantian” AYF members headed to New York City for a demonstration with other members from the region. That same day, there was a fundraiser dinner at St. Sahag and St. Mesrob Armenian Apostolic Church organized by the AMMC.

The following day, on April 11, the Providence ARS “Ani” Chapter hosted a blood drive for the Rhode Island Food Bank. This year, 23 people gave of their time and blood in memory of the martyrs to help those in need. That same afternoon, the Providence Hamazkayin Chapter and the Armenian Cultural Association of Rhode Island sponsored a spectacular performance of “The Georgetown Boys” by the New Jersey Hamazkayin to a crowd of 250 people. (Special thanks to Martha Aramian who sponsored the event.)

April 17 saw the grand opening of an art display in the Feinstein Center at the University of Rhode Island, located in downtown Providence. The curator of the event, Berge Zobian, displayed the artwork of artists from all over the world. The event included a moving message from Levon Attarian while a slideshow played in the background. “Shame on any Armenian that feels this is too political an issue to get involved in as we move beyond recognizing the genocide to the next step of demanding reparations from Turkey,” Attarian said. Pauline Getzoyan of the ANC and Esther Kalajian of the AMMC—who have worked tirelessly with the Rhode Island Board of Education to get an Armenian Genocide curriculum to all levels of secondary school—presented the annual Genocide Educator of the Year Award to Allison Ambrose of North Providence High. Armen Garo, an actor and lieutenant in the East Providence Police Department, performed an awe-inspiring one-act play. He played the part of a Jewish man who wondered why the Armenian story never got its just due. The art exhibit is open and available to the public throughout the entire month of April.

On, Tues., April 20, the annual Youth Day organized by the Armenian Martyrs Memorial Committee took place at St. Sahag and St. Mesrob Armenian Church. This event was brought back after a short hiatus and hopefully is here to stay. Youth from all three Armenian churches are taught about a wide range of subjects and get to interact with each other for a day.

On Saturday morning, April 24, the Martyrs Monument, located at the entrance of North Burial Ground in Providence, was cleaned up by 25 volunteers. One hundred red and white geraniums were planted in preparation of the event, which was to take place following church services the following day.

On Sun., April 25 at 12:30 p.m., the annual event at the Martyrs Monument was moved indoors to Egavian Auditorium at St. Sahag and St. Mesrob Armenian Church due to inclement weather. A crowd of well over 400 gathered to pay their respects. The Homenetmen Scouts presented the flags and escorted the organizations presenting wreaths to the front of the room. The following organizations presented wreaths: The Providence Homenetmen Scouts, the Providence “Varantian” AYF Chapter, the Armenian Christian Youth Organization of America-Providence Chapter, the ARS “Arax” Chapter, and the Providence ARF “Kristapor” Gomideh. Badveli Mgo Mekredjian of the Armenian Euphrates Evangelical Church provided the opening prayer. Mistress of ceremonies Melanie Zeitounian welcomed the large crowd and introduced the long list of elected officials present. The list included Senator Jack Reed; Senator Sheldon Whitehouse; Congressman James Langevin; Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis; Attorney General Patrick Lynch; Treasurer Frank Caprio; Providence Mayor David Cicilline; Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian; State Representatives Peter Kilmartin, Steven Costantino, and Al Gemma; Providence Councilmen John Lombardi and Nicholas Narducci; and North Providence Councilman Paul Caranci. Candidate for governor, Lincoln Chafee; for attorney general, Joe Fernandez; and for mayor of Providence, Angel Tavares, were also in attendance, along with Aram Garabedian, a State Senator of Rhode Island from 2000-02, and Martha Aramian, a recipient of the ANCA’s Vahan Cardashian Award. Messages were given by Reed, Whitehouse, Langevin, Cicilline, and Garabedian. All were brief yet very poignant calling on Turkey and the United States to give the genocide its proper recognition.

Guest speaker Dikran Kaligian gave a speech this community hasn’t been witness to since the days of Arthur Gregian. He talked of the need to reform the State Department and the entire Executive Branch of the U.S. government, which is being held hostage by the government of Turkey; and of Turkey’s stranglehold on Armenia and their efforts to get the U.S. to put Karabagh back in the hands of Azerbaijan. With federal officials present, he reminded them that Turkey should not be getting away with blackmailing or threatening this country, and suggested the U.S. consider closing the base in southern Turkey and moving it to friendlier places like Armenia or Greece. Kaligian referenced the fact that while the ARF may come across as radicals or bad guys, they should be commended for their efforts in continuing to fight for what is right. He also made the crowd aware of the enormous amounts of funds the Turkish lobby spends on denying the truth. The crowd interrupted his speech numerous times with loud applause and gave him a lengthy standing ovation at the end of his talk.

The event concluded with a closing prayer from Hayr Soorp Simeon Odabashian of St. Sahag and St. Mesrob Armenian Church. Der Hayr Gomidas Baghsarian of Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Church and Badveli Hagop Manjelikian of the Armenian Euphrates Evangelical Church were also present representing their church communities.

Stephen Elmasian is co-chair of the ANC-RI and a member of the Providence “Kristapor” Gomideh.