My cause is the Armenian cause, and the main topic at hand is us -you and me- as Armenians living in America, Americans of Armenian descent or however else you wish to place yourselves in this world. I see it as a one-time window of opportunity given to us to make sense of the life we live and the ideas we hug and things we build. My interest is to explore and record them. My columns may be very personal sometimes but are, nevertheless, documents of our story in this corner of the world, at this time in the history of Armenians in America. It is honest to the degree that my view and opinion is meant to see the world and Armenians in it as being bright, hopeful and positive.
That doesn’t mean that there are no disruptions, mistakes and blunders along the way. I see the good only because our failures can bring out the best in us if, only if, we can be open to disagreements and debate. Let’s agree to disagree.
Too many people and events make up the colorful panel of the Armenianess that gives meaning to my identity: Organizations that I belong to, committees that I serve on, events that I organize or attend. Also the art and music that I enjoy or collect. I’m always in search of a good conversation.
It’s impossible to live in Los Angeles and not be conscious of eleven schools and twenty-five (or is it 125?) churches in our midst. There’s so much to be achieved, are we succeeding?
Glendale alone is a case in study. There’s something to be said about this modern-version of Gont (as the one in Yerevan) or Bourj-Hammoud (as in Lipanan) .Whether it’s concerts at the Alex Theatre, 24-hour television programs, or one of thirty banquet halls, forty nazook bakeries, sixty groceries … there’s something funny and, shall we say, fuzzy about this place.
Turkey never fails to remind us what we must do, and Armenia, that small land of our ancestors, makes us do it – in spite of all the aggravations and frustrations that we must endure.
Our community has aged the last 15 years, but not matured. We have become prosperous, but not rich at heart. While wealth has acquired things of steel and glass, it has not been utilized appropriately to rally to the community the 85% of us that stay away, detached and disengaged. The LA Armenian community raised 25 million dollars in the year 2007 alone. How has it contributed towards the lifting of our self-esteem, pride and dignity? What has the 25 million dollars obtained for us in terms of reverence, scholarship , creativity, documentation, historiography, image-building or simply a good read?
The list is long, and I’m glad to say that most of it is jovial. Mine is a love affair with my people and I celebrate it every day. Pain and anguish and sorrow are only the predecessors of joy, comfort and triumph. There’s something uniquely Armenian in bumping into a French-born Armenian in Loumarin in a remote village in Provence, France, someone I’ve never met in my life and immediately strike a conversation in the “language of the heavens,” as if we’ve known one another for a lifetime, but somehow missed the opportunity to ask all the important question: Who are you? Where were your parents born? How did you learn to speak Armenian? What do you do? How many Armenians live in your town? In our own way, we both felt good about the uniqueness of God’s creation: us, and the Armenians of the world. Those are the moments I crave to capture, and I’m eager to write about them.
Recently at a dinner party at my home, as I announced to guests that I was returning to writing my "One Man's Opinion" columns, one of them stuck me with this question, “So who is going to read it?” Well, I thought, there’s always (umm) my family, lovers of art and culture, world travelers, people who care for Armenia, and I figure there’s also… you (yes you, out there). Not bad company, I'd say!
But most importantly, I have some capability to observe people and events, and the resemblance of an ability to phrase an opinion, and that’s good enough reason to return after all these years.
It’s good to be back!
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