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The ANCA's Big Tent
http://asbarez.com/109218/the-anca%E2%80%99s-big-tent/
Thursday, April 4th, 2013
One Nation, One Struggle
BY RAFFI HAMPARIAN
Idaho resident and Korean war veteran Johnny Kazian has never met
financial professional Meri Davitian from Pasadena, California, who
herself was born in the Republic of Armenia.
Dr. Kohar Der Simonian from San Francisco, who was born and raised in
the State of Maine, is not even Facebook friends with Hriyr Dadaian, a
native son of Iowa, who currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with
his lovely wife Jacqueline. And Paul Jamushian from Fresno,
California has never had the welcome opportunity to speak to Loyola
Law School graduate Vache Thomasian who recently left his hometown of
Los Angeles to enroll at Columbia University's School of International
and Public Affairs in New York City.
These proud Armenian Americans, while not knowing each other, do know
that they share something very special in common with countless
Armenian Americans like them across our great country. They are part
of the Armenian National Committee of America's (ANCA) big tent.
The ANCA's big tent is an open arena, welcoming people of all
different political persuasions and personal histories. Young and old,
rich and poor, new-arrivals and long-time Americans. We are all
Armenian-Americans. From every corner of the earth, with ideas as
diverse as the world we live in, but united, in the ANCA's big tent.
We are bound by the common-sense principle that, from this common
ground, we can, working together, advance the Armenian Cause in the
United States.
Johnny, Meri, Kohar, Hriyr, Paul and Vache, and so many others believe
in the ANCA because our organization embraces a core principle of our
American democracy. Petitioning our government is not only a
Constitutional right but also a true moral obligation. In both word
and action, they see themselves as true citizen stakeholders in the
American enterprise. From the ANCA's national headquarters in
Washington, DC, to its regional offices and local chapters from Boise,
Idaho to Richmond, Virginia - they are part of a great grassroots
network, in the best of the American democratic tradition.
For those of you on Facebook, you may have seen that the ANCA recently
posted its policy priorities to its 40,000 friends (and many others).
This policy agenda clearly illustrates our big tent agenda, an agenda
that has united tens of thousands of Armenian Americans, mobilizing
them to take action on the core, consensus issues of concern to our
community. This is what the ANCA stands for:
- A new generation of talented, motivated, and educated Armenian
Americans, who, with the help of the ANCA's innovative Capital Gateway
Program for college graduates and the Leo Sarkisian Summer Internship
Programs for current college students, prepare individuals interested
in starting government, media, public policy, and political careers in
Washington, DC and around the nation.
- A powerful Armenian American Diaspora, confident in its identify and
influence (through ANCA voter registration drives) that, in support of
our shared views and values, undertakes broad-based, innovative,
effective, and result-oriented outreach and engagement with
government, business, academia, media, and the rest of American civil
society.
- A truthful and just resolution of the Armenian Genocide, the still
unpunished crime against humanity that nearly destroyed the entire
Christian population of the Ottoman Empire, and that, to this day,
remains denied by an unrepentant Turkish government.
- The full return, to their rightful owners, of Armenian, Greek and
all other Christian churches and other places of worship, monasteries,
schools, hospitals, monuments, relics, holy sites, and other religious
properties stolen or illegally confiscated by the Turkish government.
- Bilateral development aid and economic initiatives, in particular
trade, tax, and investment agreements and treaties, to promote a
stronger, more prosperous, and more democratic Armenia, and a more
robust U.S.-Armenia economic, political, cultural, development, and
military relationship, based on common values and shared interests.
- A secure, prosperous, and independent Republic of Nagorno Karabakh,
whose citizens deserve the same liberties that we enjoy as Americans,
including the right to live as free citizens, safe from Azerbaijani
aggression, under a democratic government of their own choosing.
- An economically sustainable Javakhk region of Georgia, and respect
and legal safeguards for the civic, human, cultural, language, and
religious rights of Georgia's sizable Armenian minority.
- U.S. support for the rights and welfare of Armenians and other
Christian minorities in the Middle East, including immediate, targeted
funding for relief and resettlement programs for Armenians and other
Christians in Syria.
Whether you are passionate about all these issues, or even just one,
the ANCA welcomes you to our big tent, and invites you to bring
friends and family with you as we grow our community and advance our
common cause. There is room for all, and a place for each and every
Armenian-American and friend of Armenia.
There is, perhaps, no better example of the ANCA's big tent approach
than the town hall meetings we have held in Nevada, Idaho and
California in the last several weeks and the many more ANCA town hall
gatherings being planned in Arizona and dozens of other states in the
weeks and months to come.
So, come on in the ANCA's big tent.
Please visit us online at www.anca.org, on facebook at
www.facebook.com/ancagrassroots or via twitter at: @anca_dc. If the
internet is not your thing, please directly contact an ANCA regional
office or the local ANCA chapter in your area.
Raffi Hamparian is a member of the national Board of Directors for the
Armenian National Committee of America.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
http://asbarez.com/109218/the-anca%E2%80%99s-big-tent/
Thursday, April 4th, 2013
One Nation, One Struggle
BY RAFFI HAMPARIAN
Idaho resident and Korean war veteran Johnny Kazian has never met
financial professional Meri Davitian from Pasadena, California, who
herself was born in the Republic of Armenia.
Dr. Kohar Der Simonian from San Francisco, who was born and raised in
the State of Maine, is not even Facebook friends with Hriyr Dadaian, a
native son of Iowa, who currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with
his lovely wife Jacqueline. And Paul Jamushian from Fresno,
California has never had the welcome opportunity to speak to Loyola
Law School graduate Vache Thomasian who recently left his hometown of
Los Angeles to enroll at Columbia University's School of International
and Public Affairs in New York City.
These proud Armenian Americans, while not knowing each other, do know
that they share something very special in common with countless
Armenian Americans like them across our great country. They are part
of the Armenian National Committee of America's (ANCA) big tent.
The ANCA's big tent is an open arena, welcoming people of all
different political persuasions and personal histories. Young and old,
rich and poor, new-arrivals and long-time Americans. We are all
Armenian-Americans. From every corner of the earth, with ideas as
diverse as the world we live in, but united, in the ANCA's big tent.
We are bound by the common-sense principle that, from this common
ground, we can, working together, advance the Armenian Cause in the
United States.
Johnny, Meri, Kohar, Hriyr, Paul and Vache, and so many others believe
in the ANCA because our organization embraces a core principle of our
American democracy. Petitioning our government is not only a
Constitutional right but also a true moral obligation. In both word
and action, they see themselves as true citizen stakeholders in the
American enterprise. From the ANCA's national headquarters in
Washington, DC, to its regional offices and local chapters from Boise,
Idaho to Richmond, Virginia - they are part of a great grassroots
network, in the best of the American democratic tradition.
For those of you on Facebook, you may have seen that the ANCA recently
posted its policy priorities to its 40,000 friends (and many others).
This policy agenda clearly illustrates our big tent agenda, an agenda
that has united tens of thousands of Armenian Americans, mobilizing
them to take action on the core, consensus issues of concern to our
community. This is what the ANCA stands for:
- A new generation of talented, motivated, and educated Armenian
Americans, who, with the help of the ANCA's innovative Capital Gateway
Program for college graduates and the Leo Sarkisian Summer Internship
Programs for current college students, prepare individuals interested
in starting government, media, public policy, and political careers in
Washington, DC and around the nation.
- A powerful Armenian American Diaspora, confident in its identify and
influence (through ANCA voter registration drives) that, in support of
our shared views and values, undertakes broad-based, innovative,
effective, and result-oriented outreach and engagement with
government, business, academia, media, and the rest of American civil
society.
- A truthful and just resolution of the Armenian Genocide, the still
unpunished crime against humanity that nearly destroyed the entire
Christian population of the Ottoman Empire, and that, to this day,
remains denied by an unrepentant Turkish government.
- The full return, to their rightful owners, of Armenian, Greek and
all other Christian churches and other places of worship, monasteries,
schools, hospitals, monuments, relics, holy sites, and other religious
properties stolen or illegally confiscated by the Turkish government.
- Bilateral development aid and economic initiatives, in particular
trade, tax, and investment agreements and treaties, to promote a
stronger, more prosperous, and more democratic Armenia, and a more
robust U.S.-Armenia economic, political, cultural, development, and
military relationship, based on common values and shared interests.
- A secure, prosperous, and independent Republic of Nagorno Karabakh,
whose citizens deserve the same liberties that we enjoy as Americans,
including the right to live as free citizens, safe from Azerbaijani
aggression, under a democratic government of their own choosing.
- An economically sustainable Javakhk region of Georgia, and respect
and legal safeguards for the civic, human, cultural, language, and
religious rights of Georgia's sizable Armenian minority.
- U.S. support for the rights and welfare of Armenians and other
Christian minorities in the Middle East, including immediate, targeted
funding for relief and resettlement programs for Armenians and other
Christians in Syria.
Whether you are passionate about all these issues, or even just one,
the ANCA welcomes you to our big tent, and invites you to bring
friends and family with you as we grow our community and advance our
common cause. There is room for all, and a place for each and every
Armenian-American and friend of Armenia.
There is, perhaps, no better example of the ANCA's big tent approach
than the town hall meetings we have held in Nevada, Idaho and
California in the last several weeks and the many more ANCA town hall
gatherings being planned in Arizona and dozens of other states in the
weeks and months to come.
So, come on in the ANCA's big tent.
Please visit us online at www.anca.org, on facebook at
www.facebook.com/ancagrassroots or via twitter at: @anca_dc. If the
internet is not your thing, please directly contact an ANCA regional
office or the local ANCA chapter in your area.
Raffi Hamparian is a member of the national Board of Directors for the
Armenian National Committee of America.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress