Hi All,

Today, we have a holiday that our union fought for in the new contract. This holiday is more than just a day off. It is held on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, which is held in remembrance of the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Genocide Remembrance Day is a day to reflect on all the genocides that have been committed in the hope that one day we will end genocide. Our hearts go out to all the victims of genocide and their families.

Genocide is an extension of war. As everyone knows, Martin Luther King Jr., a true believer in nonviolence, took a strong stance against the Vietnam War. King once said, “It is not enough to say, ‘We must not wage war.’ It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the positive affirmation of peace.” The positive affirmation of peace requires us to recognize the humanity of all peoples, which would make genocide impossible. I hope our children can know a world where genocide and war are things of the past.

One of our faculty members, Dr. Kay Mouradian, asked me to share a documentary she created about her mother, a survivor of the Armenian Genocide. Below is a link to her 25-minute documentary, “My Mother’s Voice” (password: momsvoice) The documentary was designed for history classes, and the National Committee for Social Studies has endorsed it. Her story is all too common to many groups worldwide, but I hope that one day, it will be a history to remember and not a present-day condition. Thank you all for what you do to make this a better world. Ending genocide would be a true Wednesday Win.

My Mother’s Voice Documentary

In Unity,

A. James Mckeever PhD

AFT 1521 Faculty Guild President