Dr. Ara Khanjian at an AIPRG conference discussing public sector governance and economic efficiency

CRESCENTA VALLEY–The history of organized labor in the United States and the Armenian experience within that movement will be the topic of the first in a series of community lectures hosted by the Armenian Youth Federation’s Crescenta Valley Zartonk chapter.

The series, dubbed “Blueprint for Progress,” will kick off with a discussion by Dr. Ara Khanjian this Sunday, May 17, at 6 pm, at the Crescenta Valley Armenian Center (2633 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA, 91020).

A professor of Economics at Ventura College and a lecturer in Money and Banking at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, Khanjian currently serves on the Executive Board of the Armenian International Policy Research Group (AIPRG). He will discuss the birth and life of the labor movement in early 20th century America, focusing on its causes and ultimate consequences on future generations of workers.

The lecture will shed light on the shared Armenian-American experience during this period, focusing on the meager living circumstances of new Armenian immigrants, living in small ghettos and working as cheap labor in factories throughout the Eastern United States.

Armenian immigrants in this period came to the US looking for work or escaping massacre and the Genocide. Having left their families behind, the majority were willing to work for minimal wages and under extreme conditions so they could send money back home. Although very few Armenians in early 20th century America joined the nascent American labor movement, they were often exploited by factory owners as strikebreakers and scabs.

The intent of the AYF Zartonk “Speaker Series” is to introduce the community to issues that are on the current progressive agenda in the United States, according to Aris Hovasapian, the chairperson of the Zartonk Chapter.

Future speaker series lectures (June 28, July 26, and August 23) will focus on the civil rights movement and how prejudicial attitudes toward minorities can lead to genocide. Sustainability and the environmental situation in Armenia are also on the agenda. “We want to tie these issues, which we’ve generally ignored, to the interests of the Armenian-American community and show that our active participation in them will help us achieve our overall goals as a community,” Hovasapian said.

Visit the event’s facebook page to RSVP.

The front page of the June 7, 1945 issue of the Hairenik Weekly, based out of Watertown MA. The cover art speaks to the patriotism of Armenian-American youth during WWII

LOS ANGELES–Dan Kimber, a teacher in the Glendale Unified School District, recently authored a commentary piece in the Glendale News Press criticizing the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) for being “un-American,” implying that the organization, with deep roots in the United States, was “out of step with the professed ideals of this country.”

There are several prejudicial, offensive and disturbing points in Dan Kimber’s column, which require clarification,” said AYF Chairman Vache Thomassian, speaking to Asbarez on the matter. “The Armenian Youth Federation, for the past seven-plus decades, has served our local communities and provided a positive outlet for Armenian youth to make a difference in the United States.”

Kimber, however, disagreed in his column. Describing the organization as ethnocentric, Kimber matter-of-factly characterized a good American as one who assimilates into a homogenous citizenry, rather than celebrating cultural diversity and individual identity.

“The whole attitude seems to me to be, in a word, un-American,” Kimber said in his commentary, referring to the AYF’s mission. “I know that there will be many in this community who will disagree with me, but my gut feeling–no, make that an absolute conviction–is that the Armenian Youth Federation, or any organization for that matter that dedicates itself to a “stick to your own kind” philosophy, is out of step with the professed ideals of this country.”

“Rather than advocate for a homogenous and assimilated citizenry, Mr. Kimber should examine American history and understand that a multi-culturalist view which respects the right for all peoples to celebrate and maintain their identities, is the true American way,” added Thomassian.

The Armenian National Committee-Western Region (ANC-WR) challenged the teacher’s April 16 article, “Greet Melting Pot With Open Arms,” which questioned Armenian-American patriotism. On April 22, Vicken Sonentz-Papazian, the Chairman of the ANC-WR and an AYF alumnus, rebuked Kimber’s piece, saying it “completely mischaracterizes the origins and purpose of the organization.”

In his commentary, titled “Teacher Fails to do Homework,” Sonentz-Papazian outlined the long history of the AYF in the United States and the roles that its alumni played at important moments in American history.

“As an alumnus of the Armenian Youth Federation, I read with a sense of great consternation Dan Kimber’s woefully misplaced commentary piece, which completely mischaracterizes the origins and purpose of the organization,” Sonentz-Papazian said.

Kimber described the AYF’s dedication to community service as a type of “ethnocentric behavior” that “encourages the very kind of separateness that many in our community and in our schools are fighting against. Under the guise of cultural integrity, national pride or whatever high-sounding phrases one might summon.”

“Any organization that would write such a sentence displays not only an ignorance of what this country is all about but promotes a thinly veiled prejudice as well,” Kimber said, taking issue with the AYF’s founding mission to nurture Armenian heritage among the children of Genocide survivors living in the United States.

“The same organization that Mr. Kimber insidiously describes as ethnocentric, sent over 1000 servicemen and women to battle during World War II, is the same organization that sets out annual projects to clean and beautify the streets of Los Angeles and is the same organization which has an annual scholarship program for graduating high school students to financial assist their education,” Thomassian noted.

The teacher’s commentary came two weeks after more than 300 volunteers from the Armenian Youth Federation spent an entire day combing the streets of Hollywood, picking up trash, planting new trees, and removing graffiti as part of the organization’s 6th Annual Little Armenia Beautification Project.

Earlier that month the organization teamed with the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center to mobilize its members throughout Southern California to donate their blood during a Red Cross blood drive, overwhelming the hospital with donors and support.

The AYF was established in 1933 in Boston, on the heels of the Armenian Genocide. In those years, its founder, General Garegin Njdeh “turned his attention from fighting successive campaigns against the Turkish and then communist invaders to saving a desperate and scattered nation, half of which was held captive under Soviet rule, the other half attempting to deal with the trauma of annihilation, the assimilation of Armenian youth truly represented a step closer to extinction,” Sonentz-Papazian explained in his response to Kimber..

Sonentz-Papazian noted that it was Njdeh, who in that same year, “nurtured and advised” one founding member, Col. Harry Sachaklian, who served “with distinction as a military aide to then-Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe.”

“In fact, 40 members of the organization died during World War II, having served our nation with distinction in Okinawa, Normandy and at the Battle of the Bulge,” Sonentz-Papazian said, noting that another alumnus, Sue Sarafian, was assigned to the highly sensitive post of personal secretary to Eisenhower.

Since its inception, Papazian continued, the AYF’s members “have successfully balanced their devotion to the preservation of their heritage with their service and sacrifice to the growth of America. The organization’s membership, he continued, has always been “ready, willing and more than able to both serve America while preserving their proud Armenian heritage.”

“Perhaps if Kimber did his homework he would not have found the simple yet profound words about the federation and assimilation so threatening and ‘un-American,’” Sonentz-Papazian’s commentary concluded. “Kimber owes the Armenian Youth Federation, and specifically his young student who reached out to him, an apology and perhaps he should hit the books before broaching such a sensitive topic next time around.”

“This type of xenophobic attitude should be done away with, especially among those who purport to educate our youth,” Thomassian said, echoing Sonentz-Papazian’s concerns.

On April 23, 2009, Kimber apologized to the AYF for his previous remarks and elaborated on his position after “receiving more than 50 responses” from what he described as the “good people in our community.” His response appeared in a piece titled, “Revising a Couple of Columns.”

“And now about last week’s column. I received more than 50 responses from the good people in our community, more than any column I have written in the past six years. The subject was assimilation, and the object was a sentence that I came across in writing a student recommendation that read like a mission statement from the Armenian Youth Federation. I have since learned, and probably should have researched before I wrote the article, that the federation has done a world of good for more than 70 years and did not deserve this slap for one (however misguided) sentence. My apologies to the Armenian Youth Federation,” he said.

The Armenian National Committee – Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANC-WR promotes awareness of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

The Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) was founded in 1933. Since then, it has grown to become the largest and most influential Armenian American youth organization with chapters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the world. The group actively strives to advance the social, political, educational and cultural awareness of all Armenian-American youth. For more information on the AYF, visit www.ayfwest.org

BY ARMEN KARAPETYAN

TORRANCE, South Bay–For the past three years, Torrance High School has been giving students in the South Bay area a unique opportunity to peer into the history of the Armenian Genocide through presentations from local members of the Armenian Youth Federation.

This year, members of the South Bay’s AYF “Potorig” chapter visited the high school on April 20 to present to some 800 students on the denial of the Armenian Genocide and how Turkey’s ability to escape culpability for its crime continues to fuel the cycle of genocide.

The annual educationals began after Marine Karapetyan, a member of the Potorig Chapter, approached her alma mater with a simple proposal to help the school teach its students about the evils of genocide. Since then her AYF chapter has been actively working with the school administration to organize its April 24 commemorative events.

“Our chapter is small but we have a responsibility to raise awareness within our community of the global and modern repercussions of the Armenian Genocide,” Karapetyan said. “What better way to educate the community then through its schools.”

This passion and drive to help educate others on the history of their people has not gone unappreciated at the school, where many in the faculty have expressed their eagerness to organize more presentations on the topic of genocide.

“I think it’s an issue that not enough people and certainly not enough high school students know enough about it,” said the school’s activities director, Eric Spotts. “It’s a great topic to tie in and increase awareness for young people and even teachers. I think there are some teachers who hopefully got something out of this presentation as well.”

Speaking to six separate class periods throughout the day, “Potorig” members covered the gamut of issues related to the Armenian Genocide, from the historic presence of the Armenian people on the Armenian Plateau to their struggle for civil rights in the Ottoman Empire and how their movement for change was met by massacres, deportations and annihilation.

“We were hoping the students would appreciate our presentation and the significance of it if they were introduced to the people and the culture of Armenia,” said Karapetyan, noting how an understanding of where the Armenian people came from and where they were in their historical and cultural development at the time of the genocide helps place the true destruction of the killings into perspective.

Throughout this year, members from the Potorig chapter have been organizing presentations on the Genocide at local highs chools and colleges. Recently, they presented to students at the University of Southern California studying to become history teachers.

“What we accomplished during these presentations is only an example of what can be done at every school,” said Hasmig Karagozian, Potorig’s chairwoman.

As Obama Seeks To Stop Genocide in Darfur, Calls Intensify for Affirmation of Turkey’s Genocide of Armenians

LOS ANGELES – The United States has the best chance in a generation to help end the cycle of genocide and recommit the world to the noble and necessary cause of a future without genocide. Inspired by this fierce urgency of now, thousands across the state of California will rally at the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles (6300 Wilshire Boulevard) on Friday April 24 at 4pm to call for an end to over a century of race murder, fueled by Turkey’s ongoing denial of its genocide against the Armenian people.

Last year, nearly 15,000 activists converged on the Turkish Consulate amid intensified activity by the Turkish government to prevent the U.S. House of Representatives from recognizing the Genocide.

“We as Armenian-Americans know that our nation should properly recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide, and all subsequent genocides,” said Vache Thomassian, the chairman of the AYF. “Now, more than ever, we have to rise above political expedience and take a moral stance against genocide ‘s and I firmly believe Barack Obama has the integrity to be the leader that does so.”

This year’s demonstration converges with global expectations pertaining to President Obama’s numerous campaign pledges reaffirm the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide.  Earlier this month, President Obama traveled to Turkey and stated, “My views are on the record and I have not changed views,” when asked in a press conference about his promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide.  The President also referenced the Armenian Genocide in his speech to the Turkish Parliament where he stated, “History, unresolved, can be a heavy weight. Each country must work through its past. And reckoning with the past can help us seize a better future.”

As a Senator and as a presidential candidate, President Obama was a strong advocate of proper Armenian Genocide recognition and swift action to stop the Darfur Genocide. During his 2008 campaign for the White House, Obama repeatedly pledged to “respond forcefully to all genocides,” including the one currently raging in Darfur.

“Genocide, sadly, persists to this day, and threatens our common security and common humanity. Tragically, we are witnessing in Sudan many of the same brutal tactics’sdisplacement, starvation, and mass slaughter’sthat were used by the Ottoman authorities against defenseless Armenians back in 1915,” Obama said in the statement. “America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides. I intend to be that President.”

Previous Presidents have wavered in their commitments to accurately recognize the genocide in their annual statements on April 24.  This year, activists across the U.S. are expecting the President to break that trend and bring a long overdue change to U.S. policy on genocide.

Two weeks ahead of the annual commemoration of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, President Obama commemorated the 15th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda by urging the United States and its world partners to deepen their commitment to ending the cycle of genocide begun in 1915.

Activists will draw attention to Turkey’s expanding multimillion dollar campaign to erase all memory and culpability of its crime against the Armenian people and how it has spawned a string of genocides, from the Nazi Holocaust to the worsening humanitarian situation in Darfur.

Organized by the Armenian Youth Federation, this year’s protest comes a month after U.S. legislators introduced a resolution calling on the U.S. president to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide.

The demonstration will also take place against the backdrop of a series of anti-genocide events organized throughout the U.S. and around the world during Genocide Prevention Month.

In Washington DC, human rights activists will be participating in three full days of Congressional visits to demand U.S. action against the genocide in Darfur and support for the adoption of the Armenian Genocide Resolution. The annual grassroots advocacy campaign, from April 22-24th, is being organized by the Armenian National Committee of America and the Genocide Intervention Network.

Earlier this month the ANCA launched a nationwide effort to urge concrete action by the U.S. government in fully recognizing the Armenian Genocide end finally ending the genocide in Darfur.

Echoing Martin Luther King’s famous remarks at the Lincoln Memorial in August, 1963, the ANCA’s “Fierce Urgency of NOW” campaign has been mobilizing anti-genocide activists across the country to visit www.anca.org/change to learn how the atrocities in Darfur fit into the cycle of genocide that started with the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923.

The website provides simple ways for citizens to call on President Obama to show “unstinting resolve” in the effort to stop the Darfur Genocide and end U.S. complicity in Turkey’s international campaign of genocide denial.

In 1915 the Ottoman Turkish government set out to annihilate the indigenous Armenian population inhabiting the lands under its dominion. Between 1915-1923, the government executed a systematic campaign to exterminate the Armenian people and remove them from their historic homeland. The Armenian Genocide, recognized as the first genocide of the 20th century by historians the world over, resulted in the death of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians and the loss of millions of dollars in property and land now under occupation by the Republic of Turkey.