Proverbs and Expressions by Susan Kadian Gopigian Captures Diasporan Experience

Kadian Gopigian’s answer needs to be shared with every Armenian from Delray to early Armenian neighborhoods in Fresno, Boston, Chicago, Racine, Granite City, Cleveland, Worcester, Watertown and New York. What unfolded in Delray, Kadian Gopigian etched into her gift to future generations in tracing their family history from the ancestral homeland to the New World.

In words which cloak every living Armenian across North America, a teary-eyed Kadian Gopigian said “I’m haunted by the experiences of my family members who lived through this and those who perished as victims of the 1915 genocide. We the children and grandchildren are their voices that though buried in the desert sand of Der Zor Desert. . . It’s as if their soundless voices rise up and remind me never to forget.”

Kadian Gopigian warmly said that “my love for Armenian folklore stems from my exposure to those immigrants.”

She also describes how West Jefferson was the hub of Delray — like Main Street USA. And Armenians toiled at Ford’s Rouge Plant, GM’s Ternstedt-Fleetwood plants, and Solvay Process and Zug Island in raising their families. In her opening prologue on the Delray community, she informs readers that the old Village of Delray was annexed to Detroit in 1905 after being named Delray. In 1930 the southwest section of Detroit boasted a population of 23,000 residents according to the federal census. In 2016 it was down to 2,763.

In addition to the hundreds of Armenian proverbs and expressions, Kadian Gopigian seeped into her masterpiece some folklore and oral Armenian history. It has been said proverbs are part of a people’s social glue.

The top quality book also features pictorial scenes of Delray landmarks from the Armenian Zavarian Hall, Delray Community Center to McMillan and Cary schools and a host of other scenes including Southwestern High School.