Will You Stand With Me?

What kind of society do we live in?
Where a fly gets more attention?
Than when a genocide gets resurrected?
And bombs a
School?!
Church?!
City?!
People!
People!
People! 

I’ve been watching the news
Vice Presidential Debate
Mike Pence and Kamala Harris
Going back and forth
And all of a sudden, a fly lands on
Mike Pence’s head.
The next day, that fly is more famous than
TikTok. 

THIS JUST IN:
Did you know about the war that my people are fighting right as we speak?
Do you know that it can be history repeating itself into another Armenian Genocide?
And here’s the thing-
I’m white passing but Middle Eastern but people deny my heritage until they shame me for speaking my native tongue
In America.
The land of the “free”.
A country that’s built on Genocide. 

I was talking to my friend about the Black Lives Matter movement.
She is a Black, Queer woman.
Feeling burnt out and overwhelmed
From the images on the media.  
Another human life gone. 

Now I feel exactly like she did.
Burnt out and overwhelmed
From the images on the media.
Another human life gone. 

There’s a thread that connects us
A lifelong history of colonization.
Your people and mine know it well.
Our lives are woven within it. 

Politics is a dirty game.
And we get tangled up in the crossfire.
Your people and mine.
But you’re so caught up in the
Echo chamber of American politics
And you don’t see what’s happening to my people. 

They’re bombing
Schools
Churches
Cities
People!
People!
People!
You only see what you want to see
Because that’s what they want to show you.

I went to Armenia two years ago for the first time.
It was the first time seeing this country I’d grown up knowing.
It was the first time seeing Armenian words all around me
Instead of just at Saturday School,
Where I learned the language, the history, and the culture. 

I felt connected as soon as that plane landed.
Like there was a piece missing my entire life
Until right at that moment.
I felt at home even though I’d never been there before.

ARMENIA WANTS PEACE.

Protect our language.
Protect our history.
Protect our culture.
The Truth will be told.
If not by you
By me
And by my children.
And by their children’s children.

We need to work
In Solidarity with each other.
So that everyone is
Liberated. 

But right now, we’re not focusing on what’s important. 

We’ve seen a fly land
On someone’s head before. 

But we haven’t seen people fly,
Touch the sky, and Roar. 

We’ve all seen it before.
Violence.
I won’t be silenced.  

No justice! No Peace!
ոչ արդարություն, ոչ խաղաղություն! (Voch ardarutyun, Voch khaghaghutyun!)
No justice! No Peace!
ոչ արդարություն, ոչ խաղաղություն!  (Voch ardarutyun, Voch khaghaghutyun!)
No justice! No Peace!
ոչ արդարություն, ոչ խաղաղություն!  (Voch ardarutyun, Voch khaghaghutyun!)

Will you stand with me?

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Stephanie Mangioglu

Stephanie Mangioglu is a theatre music director currently based in New Jersey. She is a proud Armenian, dedicating her life to preserving her Armenian identity within the greater community.

Latest posts by Stephanie Mangioglu (see all)

• Will You Stand With Me? - October 21, 2020