The
Walk May End
But The March Continues
“The
walk may end, but the march continues.” This slogan
is written in bold and italicized letters on every page
of the March For Humanity website. Organizers of the 215-mile
and 19-day walk from Fresno, Calif. to Sacramento say
that the three months of planning and three weeks of executing
the March For Humanity required is the minimum they can
do to raise awareness about the Armenian Genocide in order
to obtain its proper recognition, and resulting restitution
and reparation.
“Similar to what our slogan
suggests, we and the Armenian youth as a collective must
create new and more powerful ways of securing justice
for the Armenian Genocide,” said Vicken Sosikian,
director of the March For Humanity. “We are currently
discussing ways to not only continue the march [for justice],
but also to grow and expand it.”
The March For Humanity was an unprecedented
Armenian Genocide event:
In conjunction with the last two
days of the walk, organizers of the March For Humanity
launched a nationwide ad campaign on April 19 and 20 on
CNN Networks. Reaching an audience of up to 8 million
Americans, the March For Humanity marked the first recorded
instance of a nationwide Armenian Genocide ad campaign.
The commercials informed viewers about the March For Humanity,
the Armenian Genocide, and guided them to the March For
Humanity official website.
The March For Humanity received media
coverage from outlets in geographical locations that normally
do not have much news to offer about the Armenian Genocide.
Newspapers and television news programs in Visalia, Fresno,
Madera, Merced, Turlock, Modesto, Lodi, Stockton, Sacramento,
San Francisco, Los Angeles, Glendale, Burbank, and other
California cities all echoed news of the March For Humanity.
Preliminary media monitoring shows that the following
media outlets covered the March For Humanity: Lodi News
Sentinel, Modesto Bee, Fresno Bee, Los Angeles Times,
Daily News, Sacramento Bee, Stockton Record, Contra Costa
Times, San Jose Mercury News, San Diego Union Tribune,
San Luis Obispo Tribune, Merced Sun Star, USA Today, Burbank
Leader, Glendale News Press, Monterey County Herald, Voice
of America, Democracy Now, ABC, CBS, NBC, UPN, and more
than 100 other internet news sources.
“An estimated 10 million Americans
have been educated about the Armenian Genocide as a result
of the news coverage generated by the March For Humanity,”
said Sosikian. “More detailed research is likely
to show that this number is even greater when our nationwide
CNN ad campaign is included. Now we must search for ways
to educate not ten but 100 million about the Genocide.”
The March For Humanity was made possible
by the flood of financial and moral support it received
starting in late January by Armenians and non-Armenians
alike. More than 500 organizations, businesses, and individuals
invested in the idea. Some people mailed in their checks,
others made their donations at the March For Humanity
website, others sponsored walkers, others delivered their
donation personally, some donated food, others water,
others their cars, some gave clothes. Some, who lived
in cities the marchers walked through, opened their doors
to the young group of devoted youth.
“The quantity of support we
received to organize the march was unseen at least by
me,” said Serouj Aprahamian, coordinator of the
March For Humanity. “Although support is still needed,
the amount we received prior to its beginning was a large
encouragement for the walkers.”
More than 11,500 different people
from 84 different countries visited the March For Humanity
website, www.marchforhumanity.org, between February 24
and April 24. More than 500 action alerts, calling on
President Bush to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide,
were completed by many non-Armenians.
“Hundreds helped make the March
For Humanity a reality. We are thankful to each and every
individual, business, and organization who contributed
in anyway to the March For Humanity,” Sosikian.
“A few such donors we would like to thank in particular
include the Armenian Relief Society, Armenian National
Committee of America, AA Cater Truck Manufacturing Company,
GBH, Homenetmen, Horizon Armenian Television, Asbarez
Armenian Daily Newspaper, Kerovision, Adin of California,
Sunworks Tanning, New Armenia Daily, Armenian Life Magazine,
Axis of Justice, and all the churches who made our marchers
feel like home every night. We would also like to thank
Mr. Kevork Aslanian, Mr. Sarkis Sarkissian, and Mrs. Vergine
Sarkissian.”
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For
more information about the March for Humanity, visit www.marchforhumanity.org
or call (818) 507-1933.
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Media
Contact:
Serouj Aprahamian (818) 507.1933
Vicken
Sosikian
(818) 419.5157
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to Press Room
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