PROVIDENCE ARF, ANC-RI REMEMBER OUR MARTYRS
By Stephen Elmasian
Armenian Weekly
Tue, Apr 27 2010
Ninety-five years have passed, and while it’s true that the remaining
survivors are few and far between, it hasn’t stopped our community from
pursuing its just cause. Below is a chronological order of the events
that took place in Rhode Island during the month of April. Most were
organized by the Providence Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)
"Kristapor" Gomideh and the Armenian National Committee (ANC) of Rhode
Island. The Armenian Martyrs Memorial Committee (AMMC) also held a
series of successful events, listed below. The Providence Gomideh
played a major role in the establishment of the AMMC 35 years ago,
and remains active in that organization.
Flag sponsorship program
As part of the 5th Annual ANC-RI "Flags over RI" Program, 54
individuals, families, and businesses-a new record-sponsored city
and town halls, along with the Rhode Island State House, in memory of
loved ones. For the 10th consecutive year, every city and town hall
in Rhode Island, along with the State House, flew the Armenian flag
on April 24 in memory of our martyrs.
Sponsors of the program chose the city or town hall of their choice,
and requested that an Armenian flag be flown in memory of a loved one.
In the fall, at the annual ANC-RI "Meet the Candidates" picnic, each
sponsor will receive a 3×5-foot flag and a citation detailing their
choice of city or town and the name of their loved one. The program
will continue with the hope of reaching 100 flag sponsors by the year
2015, the 100th anniversary of the genocide.
PBS
Thanks to a very generous gift from Aram Garabedian, the Rhode Island
community was given the opportunity to witness the Two Cats Production
of "The Armenian Genocide" on Wed., April 21 on the local PBS station,
which was presented under the name of the ANC-RI.
Flag raising ceremony
On Fri., April 23, the 11th annual ANC-RI flag raising ceremony took
place at the town hall in North Providence. This event began over
a decade ago under the leadership of then-Mayor A. Ralph Mollis,
and continues to this day under Mayor Charles Lombardi.
Each year, a resident (or residents) from the North Providence Armenian
community receives the citation from the mayor on behalf of the ANC-RI
and the Armenians living in the town. This year, Elizabeth and Edward
Kopoian were so honored.
Elected officials at the ceremony included Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts,
Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis, Providence Mayor David Cicilline,
Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, and Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian.
State Treasurer Frank Caprio and U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse sent
representatives. There were many local officials present, including
the heads of the fire and police departments, public works, town
councilmen, and the school department superintendent. State Senator
Frank Ciccone was also present.
All three Armenian churches were represented by their clergy,
who offered opening and closing prayers. They were Badveli Hagop
Mangelikian of the Armenian Euphrates Evangelical Church, Hayr Soorp
Simeon Odabashian of St. Sahag and St. Mesrob Armenian Apostolic
Church, and Rev. Gomidas Baghsarian of Sts. Vartanantz Armenian
Apostolic Church.
The crowd of close to 100 were informed of historical and current
matters of interest by Stephanie Mesrobian of the ANC-RI, who served
as the mistress of ceremonies.
Allison Ambrose, who was recently awarded the Genocide Educator of
the Year Award by the ANC-RI and AMMC, and is a teacher at North
Providence High School, was also present and recognized.
Buddy Cianci Radio Show
On Fri., April 23, two ANC-RI members, George Mangalo and Steve
Mesrobian, were guests of the Buddy Cianci Radio Show. They were on the
show for about 12 minutes and their message was clear: We will remain
steadfast until the Armenian Genocide receives its proper recognition.
The show, hosted by former Mayor Vincent Buddy Cianci, is the most
listened to talk radio show in Rhode Island. Cianci, who is well
aware of the genocide, has championed the cause for decades, first
as mayor of the city of Providence and now as a radio host. This
marked the third consecutive year the Armenian Genocide received
radio time in Rhode Island, successfully getting the message out to
the non-Armenian public.
Film and lecture
On Sat., April 24, the Providence ARF was the host to a packed house
following services at Sts. Vartanantz Church. The event began with
the showing of "The River Ran Red" by Michael Hagopian, followed by
a brief lecture from Prof. Catherine Sama, the head of the Italian
program at the University of Rhode Island. Sama spoke about her efforts
in getting her students more aware of what happened to Armenians at
the turn of the last century.
Mangalo, Mesrobian and Steve Elmasian brought messages from the
ANC-RI to the community. The program began and ended with blessings
from the pastor of Sts. Vartanantz Church, Father Gomidas Baghsarian.
ARF to show ‘Voices from Community’
On Sun., May 2 following church services, the Providence ARF will show
"Voices from the Community," a video of two survivors who have since
passed away. The video was made by Providence AYF-YOARF Juniors who
interviewed Persape Bedrosian and Sarah Leylegian, asking them to
share the stories of the genocide. Following the video, there will be
a panel discussion with George Aghjayan and Levon Attarian regarding
land reparations.
***
The entire month of April had one successful event after another in
Rhode Island, commemorating the 95th anniversary of the genocide. They
were organized by ARF- and ANC-affiliated organizations, or
non-affiliated organizations in which the ARF and ANC plays an
active role.
On Sat., April 10, two cars carrying Providence "Varantian" AYF members
headed to New York City for a demonstration with other members from
the region. That same day, there was a fundraiser dinner at St.
Sahag and St. Mesrob Armenian Apostolic Church organized by the AMMC.
The following day, on April 11, the Providence ARS "Ani" Chapter
hosted a blood drive for the Rhode Island Food Bank. This year, 23
people gave of their time and blood in memory of the martyrs to help
those in need. That same afternoon, the Providence Hamazkayin Chapter
and the Armenian Cultural Association of Rhode Island sponsored a
spectacular performance of "The Georgetown Boys" by the New Jersey
Hamazkayin to a crowd of 250 people. (Special thanks to Martha Aramian
who sponsored the event.)
April 17 saw the grand opening of an art display in the Feinstein
Center at the University of Rhode Island, located in downtown
Providence. The curator of the event, Berge Zobian, displayed the
artwork of artists from all over the world. The event included a
moving message from Levon Attarian while a slideshow played in the
background. "Shame on any Armenian that feels this is too political
an issue to get involved in as we move beyond recognizing the genocide
to the next step of demanding reparations from Turkey," Attarian said.
Pauline Getzoyan of the ANC and Esther Kalajian of the AMMC-who
have worked tirelessly with the Rhode Island Board of Education
to get an Armenian Genocide curriculum to all levels of secondary
school-presented the annual Genocide Educator of the Year Award to
Allison Ambrose of North Providence High. Armen Garo, an actor and
lieutenant in the East Providence Police Department, performed an
awe-inspiring one-act play. He played the part of a Jewish man who
wondered why the Armenian story never got its just due. The art
exhibit is open and available to the public throughout the entire
month of April.
On, Tues., April 20, the annual Youth Day organized by the Armenian
Martyrs Memorial Committee took place at St. Sahag and St. Mesrob
Armenian Church. This event was brought back after a short hiatus and
hopefully is here to stay. Youth from all three Armenian churches
are taught about a wide range of subjects and get to interact with
each other for a day.
On Saturday morning, April 24, the Martyrs Monument, located at the
entrance of North Burial Ground in Providence, was cleaned up by
25 volunteers. One hundred red and white geraniums were planted in
preparation of the event, which was to take place following church
services the following day.
On Sun., April 25 at 12:30 p.m., the annual event at the Martyrs
Monument was moved indoors to Egavian Auditorium at St. Sahag and St.
Mesrob Armenian Church due to inclement weather. A crowd of well over
400 gathered to pay their respects. The Homenetmen Scouts presented
the flags and escorted the organizations presenting wreaths to the
front of the room. The following organizations presented wreaths: The
Providence Homenetmen Scouts, the Providence "Varantian" AYF Chapter,
the Armenian Christian Youth Organization of America-Providence
Chapter, the ARS "Arax" Chapter, and the Providence ARF "Kristapor"
Gomideh. Badveli Mgo Mekredjian of the Armenian Euphrates Evangelical
Church provided the opening prayer. Mistress of ceremonies Melanie
Zeitounian welcomed the large crowd and introduced the long list
of elected officials present. The list included Senator Jack Reed;
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse; Congressman James Langevin; Secretary
of State A. Ralph Mollis; Attorney General Patrick Lynch; Treasurer
Frank Caprio; Providence Mayor David Cicilline; Warwick Mayor Scott
Avedisian; State Representatives Peter Kilmartin, Steven Costantino,
and Al Gemma; Providence Councilmen John Lombardi and Nicholas
Narducci; and North Providence Councilman Paul Caranci. Candidate for
governor, Lincoln Chafee; for attorney general, Joe Fernandez; and for
mayor of Providence, Angel Tavares, were also in attendance, along
with Aram Garabedian, a State Senator of Rhode Island from 2000-02,
and Martha Aramian, a recipient of the ANCA’s Vahan Cardashian Award.
Messages were given by Reed, Whitehouse, Langevin, Cicilline, and
Garabedian. All were brief yet very poignant calling on Turkey and
the United States to give the genocide its proper recognition.
Guest speaker Dikran Kaligian gave a speech this community hasn’t
been witness to since the days of Arthur Gregian. He talked of the
need to reform the State Department and the entire Executive Branch of
the U.S. government, which is being held hostage by the government of
Turkey; and of Turkey’s stranglehold on Armenia and their efforts to
get the U.S. to put Karabagh back in the hands of Azerbaijan. With
federal officials present, he reminded them that Turkey should
not be getting away with blackmailing or threatening this country,
and suggested the U.S. consider closing the base in southern Turkey
and moving it to friendlier places like Armenia or Greece. Kaligian
referenced the fact that while the ARF may come across as radicals or
bad guys, they should be commended for their efforts in continuing to
fight for what is right. He also made the crowd aware of the enormous
amounts of funds the Turkish lobby spends on denying the truth. The
crowd interrupted his speech numerous times with loud applause and
gave him a lengthy standing ovation at the end of his talk.
The event concluded with a closing prayer from Hayr Soorp Simeon
Odabashian of St. Sahag and St. Mesrob Armenian Church. Der Hayr
Gomidas Baghsarian of Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Church and Badveli
Hagop Manjelikian of the Armenian Euphrates Evangelical Church were
also present representing their church communities.
Stephen Elmasian is co-chair of the ANC-RI and a member of the
Providence "Kristapor" Gomideh.