Category: 2018

It is with great sorrow the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Western US Central Committee announced the passing of Mher Chekerdemian, one of its veteran members, who passed away on July 5 in Fresno, Calif.

For decades Chekerdemian has been an active member of the ARF, occupying leadership positing in the party and community organizations, including serving on the ARF Western US Central Committee. He was leading figure in the advancement of the Armenian-American community life in Fresno.

The Central Committee extends its heartfelt condolences to Chekerdemian’s family, relatives and fellow ARF members.

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

Last weekend, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation of the Western US held its 52nd Convention. This meeting occurs every other year. It reviews and evaluates the organization’s activities of the preceding two years and adopts the outline of the next two year’s activities.

It had been 24 years since I had the honor of participating in this meeting as a delegate. I was representing Burbank’s ARF unit, named Aghpalian after the famous revolutionary, organizer, and minister of the first Armenian republic. The biggest and best change I noticed a quarter century on was the much larger percentage of women among both the delegates and those attending in an advisory/consultative capacity.

Since the ARF has always been more than just a political party, more than just a revolutionary group, more than just another Diasporan organization; since it has been a central ideological entity attracting the largest number of free thinking Armenians; since it therefore serves as the organizational focus for a family of associations/institutions/societies serving various of our nation’s needs; these groups were also represented and contributed to the discourse and analysis grounding the resolutions adopted to guide operations for the next two years.

This convention addressed a lot of internal organizational issues impacting and about all levels of the organization, even though this particular meeting’s scope was formally limited to local and regional issues, not worldwide Armenian ones. These naturally bubble up periodically in any organization, especially a political one such as the ARF. The discussions were passionate, but didn’t degenerate into meaningless exchanges as can sometimes happen. The conclusions were also well reasoned and their wording took a lot of time to craft, requiring extensive efforts by the resolutions committee charged with the task.

Of course nothing is perfect. It was fascinating to observe how human nature played out. In a room full of almost 100 people, all largely in agreement about most issues, otherwise small, even miniscule, differences of opinion and approach somehow came to loom large. Later, during central committee elections, things were also heated. But, that’s the nature of the beast known as elections, isn’t it? The result was positive, with a good mix of old and new, another small step forward for the organization. The other factor that made the whole convention difficult was the shortened time allotted to it since I had last participated. We confront so many challenges as a nation and community that a somewhat longer time frame must be considered.

Numerous resolutions were adopted, but the ones that stand out for me were those about Western Armenia, reaffirming a statement of demands crafted four years ago and renewed ever since, emphasizing the importance of all-encompassing (in terms of community organizations) April 24th activities, and raising the level of activity on the Azerbaijan front to address the massive anti-Armenian efforts of that country.

As the ARF in the U.S. west of the Mississippi river embarks on the next biennium of the ongoing journey of the Armenian nation’s life and struggles, the input, the participation, the support, and yes, even constructive criticism of all concerned is welcomed. Your engagement assures a better collective future for all of us Diasporans, homeland dwellers (including the scattered remnants in Western Armenia), and even nations and countries neighboring the Armenian highlands.

Showings of The Promise and Intent to Destroy Signal Ankara’s Weakening Grip over U.S. Policy on the Armenian Genocide; Mark Progress toward Federalizing American Remembrance of this Crime

WASHINGTON—In a sign of Turkey’s diminishing capacity to enforce its longstanding Armenian Genocide gag-rule across the U.S. government, the Smithsonian – America’s leading cultural and historical institution – screened two high profile films about this crime – The Promise and its companion documentary Intent to Destroy – as part of this summer’s landmark Folklife Festival on the National Mall.

“In the Smithsonian Folklife Festival’s showing of The Promise we see the power of art to break down barriers – including the wall that the U.S. government has, for far too long, erected against honest remembrance of the Armenian Genocide,” said Oscar winner Terry George, director of The Promise. “With this screening – at America’s premier cultural celebration – we’re beginning to see that wall crumble. That’s a good thing. And I’m proud to have been part of it.”

“It’s a thrill to see my documentary, Intent to Destroy, and also Terry George’s The Promise screened at the Smithsonian’s Folklife Festival – particularly given the long and troubling record of the U.S. government’s lack of recognition of the Armenian Genocide, including pressuring Hollywood to block the production of movies about this human rights atrocity – dating back to the 1930s and Forty Days of Musa Dagh,” said Joe Berlinger, Oscar nominated director of Intent to Destroy. “It’s in the light of this history that I attach particular value to the Smithsonian’s principled leadership on this issue. I am hopeful that this progress will contribute to the U.S. government officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide so that all Americans can officially condemn and properly commemorate this crime against all humanity.”

“We join with human rights advocates, humanitarians, Armenians, and friends of Armenia from around the world in thanking the Smithsonian Institution for taking an unprecedented step and including The Promise and Intent to Destroy in this year’s Folklife Festival,” said Eric Esrailian, producer of both films. “We are honored to see these two films – each a powerful work of art in its own right – play such a meaningful role in our progress toward the full federalization of American remembrance of the Armenian Genocide.”

The Promise was shown on Friday, June 29th and Intent to Destroy was screened on Thursday, July 5th, both as part of the Smithsonian Folklife FestivalArmenia: Creating Home program’s Cultures of Survival series. Among the themes explored by Cultures of Survival – through narrative sessions, presentations, and film – is the central role of culture in helping people survive and thrive through and beyond genocide, war crimes, and other violence. Sessions include: “Armenians in America,” “Making Meaning: Economic and Healing Power of Craft,” “Giving Voice: Language and Cultural Survival,” “Sounding Memory: Music & Migration,” and “Tastes of Home: Food Enterprises.”

The 2018 Folklife Festival annually draws millions of on-site and on-line visitors to the National Mall.  The screenings were prominently presented in the Festival’s online and print materials.

The Promise and Intent to Destroy were made possible through the generosity of the late Kirk Kerkorian, the leadership of producer Eric Esrailian, and their talented cast, crews, and supporters around the world.

The ANCA Endowment’s #KeepThePromise initiative serves as a major sponsor of the 2018 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.