HIP-HOP, RAP CONVEYS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO YOUNG
By Rick Coca
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
April 24 2008
101-year-old genocide survivor Ghazaros Kademian of Zeytoon,… (John
Lazar / Staff Photographer)"12"GLENDALE – As a woman’s haunting
voice sings in Armenian about the need for hope and lost lands,
Armin Hariri raps:
We gather around/We light our candles in crowds/These tears land on
the ground/Each year standing so proud.
"We were taught about the genocide early on," said Hariri, who as
rap artist R-Mean penned "Open Wounds," a genocide-theme tune that
has become popular with Armenian young people.
"Hip-hop and rap have become the voice of the youth. … It’s more
interesting to them than long speeches by old people."
With bass-heavy rap and rock songs, YouTube videos and
social-networking Internet sites, a new generation of Armenians is
discovering unique ways of expressing the horrors they say their
ancestors endured during the Ottoman Empire’s brutal reign.
And today, with Armenians all over the world commemorating the day in
1915 when roughly 300 Armenian leaders were killed by Turkish forces –
which they believe led to the extermination of 1.5million Armenian
men, women and children through 1922 – the stories of the Armenian
Genocide still resonate, they say.
"It gives you goose bumps because you go, `Wow, this really
happened. It was real,"’ said Ramela Ohanian, 18, a Hoover High School
student, about Hariri’s rap song. "It’s very chilling."
Armenians and their supporters in Los Angeles will be out in force
today in front of the Turkish Consulate, demanding recognition of
the genocide and reparations.
For its part, the Turkish government has long denied that a genocide
occurred, saying that any lives lost, while "tragic," were part of
a civil war.
On Wednesday, an official with the Turkish Consulate would not say
how many Armenian people lost their lives during that conflict,
but he disputed the claims made by Armenians.
"One and a half million is a highly exaggerated number," said Batu
Kesmen, vice council of the Turkish consulate general.
Armenian-Americans had their hopes dashed in October, when after
the House of Representatives appeared poised to vote on condemning
Turkey for the genocide, the issue was abandoned after pressure from
the White House and Turkey, with Turkey’s position as a key military
U.S. ally in the Middle East in jeopardy.
"Turkey is of the view that parliament, elected bodies and other
political institutions are not the appropriate forum to debate and
pass judgment on this disputed period of history," Kesmen said.
Like their parents and grandparents before them, for young Armenians,
the lack of progress on the recognition front is difficult to swallow.
Some have answered back through music, with artists such as R-Mean and,
to a larger extent, System of a Down, a Glendale-based rock band made
up of four Armenian-Americans who brought their people’s plight to the
masses through songs, advocacy and the 2006 documentary "Screamers."
Vigen Sayadian, the founder of the fourth annual Armenian Genocide
Commemoration Concert – which is at 8 tonight at the Derby in Los
Feliz – said a bounty of artistic expression has come out of the
tragic events of 1915.
"There’s just a plethora of talent now," he said. "It needs to be
recognized, just like the genocide needs to be recognized."
Besides artistic expression, some Armenians have gone to the Internet
to get the word out. At YouTube.com, there are more than 2,000 hits
for "Armenian Genocide," although some aim to debunk its existence.
With 4,000 "friends" on his MySpace page, Art Gazaian provides links to
events and rallies commemorating the genocide and other related events.
The 23-year-old Hollywood man also uses his page to highlight the work
of hip-hop songs that focus on that dark period in Armenian history.
"It’s a better way to deliver your message," he said. "Kids nowadays
don’t like to watch documentaries, so I think the best way to deliver
your message is music."
And while some young people of Armenian heritage are using newer
technologies and music to express their views, others are sticking
to more traditional means.
With about 500 people in attendance Tuesday at Glendale High School,
students from Armenian clubs throughout the school district read
poems, performed skits, danced and sang traditional songs at the
Eighth Annual Armenian Genocide Remembrance Program.
"If we forget, it’s going to happen again and again," said Andranik
Ghevandyan, 18, a student at Glendale High who read an excerpt from
Armenian writer William Saroyan’s work. "Like what’s going on in
Darfur, it’s not just for Armenians."
Dressed in a dark suit and red tie, 10-year-old Vagharshak Grigoryan
moved the crowd with a stirring performance in Armenian of a father
speaking to his child on his deathbed.
"I don’t have anything to give you, so I’m going to give you Mount
Ararat," said Grigoryan, referring to what many consider the most
important geographic symbol of Armenian identity. "Keep it in your
heart for life – as you would keep your father’s house, your homeland."