A Different April This Year Has Opportunity

It happens every year. Winter appears with varying degrees of impact. With spring, hope returns, especially in the seasonal states, as dormant trees and grass emerge with green grandeur. April is a particularly special month for Armenians as it represents our global commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. It is a very vocal and public time. Ecumenical services with other denominations and commemorations with the community dominate the calendar. Academic symposiums on nearly every major university campus examine the major aspects of this defining event. Demonstrations with thousands of Armenians from all generations and backgrounds take place in Yerevan and the streets of the Diaspora. Activists engage in political advocacy to promote acknowledgement, education and recognition. In the last several years, public forums have increasingly focused on reparations and the definition of justice. It recalls a tragic event that has universally bonded Armenians forever. We work year-round, but April is a special time. It is our time to be with each other in any of the variety of processes that have emerged in our 21st-century life.