How richly do you know your history? How far back can you date your ancestors? Lake Forest College senior Martha Mekaelian spoke to our class on Wednesday about hers. I was so enthralled by her vivid knowledge of her family's past in the Armenian genocide.
Martha stated that she doesn't know all of her family's story because of the separation: able bodied men were sent to concentration camps while women and children were forced to walk the deserts in Syria. She also shared that she doesn't know any of her family's history before 1915 because only 1/3 of the Armenian population survived the genocide.
AYF-YOARF is an Armenian youth program that Martha participates in. Their goals are to unite the Armenian youth diaspora and work alongside the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. They hold protests each year, asking for their past to be recognized as a genocide.
She raised an excellent point in class: her history is never taught in American schools. Is a host nation responsible for providing the education of it's cultures? How can we teach all histories? It was evident that this was an issue that bothered her. I also found it very interesting that though Martha was born in the United States, she identifies herself as Armenian. I would call myself American from Polish descent. I found it intriguing that she does not do the same.
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