A Reason To Celebrate…A Reason To Be Inspired

Whenever I am excited about our accomplishments in the western diaspora, I think about the irony of our success given how the diaspora was created. The infrastructure of our American diaspora began prior to the genocide but became a permanent reality as a result of that evil event. Armenians had migrated before 1915 primarily as a result of earlier oppression or for economic opportunities. My paternal grandfather came to these shores in 1913 as a young unmarried man sent here by his father to earn money and avoid the instability of pre-world war western Armenia. It was always his intent, like thousands of others, to return to the homeland. He never saw his parents again. Eventually, he joined the Armenian Legion, fought in the Levant and helped liberate our Cilicia. He found his siblings, met my future grandmother and returned to this country when we were abandoned by the French in 1920. These stories, repeated thousands of times, became the full establishment of the American diaspora. For the ultra-nationalist racist Turks, it was their belief that those who escaped would be unable to re-establish their sense of community or pass our faith and heritage to succeeding generations. Scattered to the wind, the remnants of a murdered nation would dissipate into humanity. The timeline of our history ending was their horrific objective. 

Well, we know how that worked out. They failed miserably. Our “greatest generation,” without wealth and education, gifted us a miracle. We not only survived, but began to thrive four generations later. Communities have been functioning for decades with a focus on education, culture, faith and philanthropy. Problems? Yes. Challenges? Of course. But we have carried the cause of justice, and since 1989, have turned our collective attention to Armenia and Artsakh while sustaining the infrastructure and challenges of our diaspora. We all appreciate our heritage in the privacy of our families, but it is only through participation in the greater communities of the diaspora that we gain a full appreciation for our journey.