Armenian Diaspora

In the early morning hours last Wednesday, I set off on a more than 800-mile road trip across California and into Oregon to finally quench the years-long thirst I felt for Portland, a city that has often given me an inkling that it could feel just like home, even from far away. After soaking in a landscape bursting with creativity, natural beauty, awe-inspiring art and zines - as well as more cyclists than I've seen in any other city I've visited - Portland, or “Stumptown” as it is so affectionately called, was as comforting as I had imagined.

On the heels of the 96th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, more than 1,000 members of the Armenian Diaspora gathered Sunday at St. Mary's Apostolic Church to commemorate their community's historic struggles, and celebrate their cultural successes. The event, titled “One Voice, One Cause,” was organized by the Armenian Youth Federation and featured Harout Pamboujkian — one of the most celebrated musicians in the Armenian community — as well as DJ Bei Ru, whose vintage vinyl sampling fused with hip-hop, funk and soul have earned him widespread recognition.

Four years after launching the district's first Armenian heritage program at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, Glendale Unified officials on Wednesday welcomed Armenia's Minister of Diaspora Affairs Hranush Hakobyan to the site. “I am absolutely thrilled and impressed with how our kids in such a short period can be perfectly fluent in both languages, Armenian and English,” Hakobyan said through a translator. Hakobyan toured classrooms where students, many wearing traditional Armenian clothing, greeted her with songs, poems and small gifts.

ANI AMIRKHANIAN I am in mourning. Today, Armenians around the world mourn the loss of 1.5 million innocent lives. It is a day of remembrance for all those who were tortured, raped, murdered and stripped of their human rights. The Armenian Genocide is the most unacknowledged genocide in history. It is considered by historians to be the first genocide in the 20th century, yet it is the least recognized. The United States has yet to accept the events of the genocide that unfolded 89 years ago. But why is it that an Armenian Diaspora has existed throughout the nation's history -- with an estimated 60% of the 8 million Armenians worldwide living outside Armenia -- and there is no detailed historical sketch of the atrocities committed by the Ottoman Turks in history textbooks?

There's no denying that if you live in or around Glendale, you probably know more about the inner workings of Armenian culture than most people - whether you'd like to or not. Thanks to 30 years of steady immigration, the city has become home to the second largest concentration of Armenians outside of Armenia, but lest you think that the Armenian American identity begins and ends with the Jewel City, you're mistaken. Either due to tragic circumstance or an innate nomadic nature, Armenians have been a part of the American landscape for centuries.

Last month, a handful of military doctors walked into the extravagant Harsnakar restaurant located in the outskirts of the Armenian capital of Yerevan and never managed to walk out. A violent fight over dress codes, allegedly with the restaurant's security guards, put all of them into the hospital with severe injuries. On June 29, Maj. Vahe Avetyan died after the beating, and an uproar across the country broke out. But civil society wasn't just outraged at the unnecessary death of a service man, the tragedy gave way for an awakening that sought to call the end to oligarchy, which runs rampant in the country.