Pasadena-area Armenian Americans shine light on legacy of genocide, resilience of survivors
Posted on April. 26. 2024
The Pasadena Armenian Coalition hosted an Armenian Genocide Commemorative Event on Sunday, April 21, Pasadena Star-News reports.
The event, at the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Monument at Memorial Park, paid tribute to the resiliency of survivors of the Armenian Genocide. It commemorated the more than 1.5 people who lost their lives 109 years ago during the World War I human catastrophe in the Ottoman Empire.
For the Pasadena group, this year’s theme was “Resilience in the Face of Genocide — Then and Now.”
It was intended to draw the public’s attention to the Armenian community’s continued demands that the Republic of Turkey “properly” acknowledge its crimes against the Armenian population.
The event also highlighted how failure to acknowledge and punish genocide may result in it happening again, organizers said.
It was a solemn commemoration, with the broadcast of testimonials of Armenian Genocide survivors. It also included poems and songs sung by students of local Armenian schools.
The Pasadena Armenian Coalition, a 30-member coalition consisting of every Armenian non-profit organization within Pasadena, seeks to promote cultural awareness of the history and contributions of the Armenian-American community across the San Gabriel Valley community.