AUSTIN, Texas — On Saturday, April 18, about one thousand Armenian-Americans and their supporters marched from the First Methodist Church Family Life Center to the State Capitol. Many residents from Houston and Dallas also participated in the walk.
The Austin Peace March and Rally, organized by Texas Armenians on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, recently announced the keynote speakers for the historic gathering at the south steps of the State Capitol in Austin.
“The mission of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of Texas is to educate and raise awareness in Texas of the Armenian Genocide and, 100 years later, to stand against cultural genocide and persecution the world over,” said Mihran Aroian, chairman of the committee. “Most Armenians in Texas are descendants of survivors of the Armenian Genocide. Our mission here is to use this event to speak out against genocide, hatred, prejudice, and ethnic annihilation.”
The program at the Peace March featured keynote speakers, Khatchig Mouradian and Emily Sample.
Mouradian is coordinator of the Armenian Genocide Program at the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Genocide scholar Emily Sample is the assistant director of the Education at Holocaust Museum Houston.
