April 24: Armenian Genocide Memorial Day

Ancient Armenian graves. Image by Anna Romanova via Pexels.com

Today, April 24th, marks 𝗔𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝘆, an annual day of remembrance for the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. This tragic chapter in history saw the systematic mass killings and starvation of approximately 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, motivated by ethnic and religious intolerance.

The Promise Institute was founded in honor of those who perished, to work towards a world in which such atrocities are never repeated. As our founder Eric Esrailian has said:

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘨𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴.”

At times we feel powerless, confronted by the massacre of people in Gaza, Sudan, DRC, Haiti, Myanmar and so many other places around the world. But our long-term commitment to education, research and action for change remains.

Let us take a moment to remember, to learn from history, and to stand with those who continue to face persecution today.