Moments Captured in Time: Photography from Armenia and the Diaspora

Expressing yourself is probably one of the most important things you can do in your life. Photography is magic. Since it started about 200 years ago it still hasn’t left us. Mediums like film and music owe a lot of their method to photography. For me personally, I love capturing moments, things that move, things that need to stand still to be more appreciated. To me photography is all about the details.

Channeling a United Community: H.Res 252 and Beyond

As another April comes and goes, and we mourn the loss of our ancestors almost a century ago, we again look toward recognition. States, counties, cities and municipalities will pass resolutions in their legislative bodies acknowledging truth, paying homage to social justice and international human rights. Rallies will assemble, protests will emerge and we will unite with our brothers and sisters around the world demanding that the Republic of Turkey accept guilt for its atrocities beginning in 1915. Such has been the case for decades and we have made inroads in our battle for justice. With that said, there are still many milestones toward recognition which the Armenian community is still looking to accomplish.

Men in Black in Little Armenia

In 1915, over 1.5 million Armenians were removed from their homes and subsequently massacred by the Ottoman Turks in what is known as the Aghed (catastrophe) or the Armenian genocide. Each year, April 24 is the day when Armenians around the world remember the death of their ancestors under the brutal hand of the Ottoman Turkish government. The year is 2007, this year, the cloudless sky and warm California weather made for an apt setting to commemorate April 24 in Los Angeles’ Little Armenia. Thousands of Armenians prepared to meet near the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Hobart Street for a commemorative march across town.

Culture: The Indestructible Bridge

The horrendous crimes of genocide committed by the Ottoman Government against the Armenians in 1915 will forever be a bitter truth in Armenian history, but it does not identify us as a people. We have much to celebrate in our few thousand years of existence and, most importantly, we must feel proud to have survived through what I hope was the worst of it. However, our existence today does not mean that our fight for survival is unnecessary; on the contrary, every day we are fighting for the survival of our language, our faith, our homeland, and especially the survival of our future.

What Georgia Can Learn from the US Census

In anticipation of the 2010 Census, a large effort is being made in the U.S. to reach out to the Armenian population and make sure they mark themselves as Armenians. According to U.S. federal law, if there is a large enough number of an ethnic group in a region, than that ethnic group is entitled to a certain level of representation within its locality. The U.S. Census counts all citizens—including illegal aliens—who pay their taxes and, thus, deserve basic rights in local issues. The government is also mandated to accommodate to the linguistic needs of large ethnic groups, through things such as bilingual education and translation.

Անապատի Օրագրից

Հմուտ էր դահիճը.
Լավ էր մտածել, շատ էր փորձարկել, անվերջ երազել,
Թե ինչպես է պետք վերջ դնել կյանքի այնպես, որ մինչեւ հոգին մարմինը լքի, անվերջ գալարվի,
Որ մինչեւ մարմինն իր վերջին շունչը փչի, ապրած կյանքի ամեն մեկ պահի շունչը անիծի,
Որ մինչեւ աչքին երեւացող վերջին պատկերը խամրի, անվերջ անիծի իրեն ծնողին:

My Dream, Armenia

This struggle…It keeps me awake at nights. It courses through my veins; it kicks at my beating heart ruthlessly. It lights an inferno in my soul and my body smolders under it. It wracks my mind and my emotions, for what is the place of an Armenian-American living in America? We struggle and fight from seas abroad so that our homeland off in the horizon will remain untouched and prosperous, without any hindrance. Yet when have we asked ourselves the question, “Will I ever live in my homeland again?”

When Genocide Turns into Suicide

When I was first asked to write a guest column for Haytoug that addressed the issue of a “white genocide” and the perceived evils of assimilation, I was tempted to write this entire piece in Kra’par (Classical Armenian). After all, it is my humble opinion that if you do not know how to read Kra’par, then you’re not a “real Armenian.” Then I thought to write it in Armenian but I couldn’t decide what language to water our mother tongue down with – Turkish? Arabic? Russian? Farsi perhaps? But then I thought, “The one language that we all can or should understand is English .” – plus, I don’t know how to use an Armenian keyboard or anything that resembles one. So using the King’s English, let’s address the issue of Armenian assimilation and the “jermag chart.” (I hope I’m not the only one who sees the irony in that.)

Canons Against Self Slaughter

For as bright and innovative as the Ittahadists, Nazis and Hutus were in the murder, slaying, raping of peoples, races, religions etc, etc. They really could have turned our very own omniscient and all-knowing deity for harbingers of holocaust. In the passage above we see «Ուր էիր աստուած» himself getting a little more proactive and asking King Saul to head out in the desert and make Paul Pot look passive. This sacrosanct yarn is an example of a greater problem when it comes to nationalist topics, a complacent tendency to leave the “sacred” unquestioned.

Alexis Ohanian Gains Perspective in Yerevan

Reddit is the brainchild of Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, who started the site fresh out of college in 2005. When I first googled Reddit and read this, like any good Armenian, my eye was immediately drawn to the –ian, and I felt proud that I could add another name to my list of brainy Armenians. So when I found out that Alexis Ohanian would be in Yerevan (where I live) for a few months, I knew I had to track him down and talk to him.

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