Ywca’s Stand Against Racism

"Stand Against Racism" is a call made by the YWCA and the Western Diocese reacted by bringing its story and message to this Glendale gathering.  The discussion on racism was led by panelists Fr. Vazken Movsesian of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church, Rev. Sherri James of UP Church, Rev. Todd Leonard of Glendale City Church, Shant Sahakian Glendale Unified School District Board of Education and Dannielle Johnson, CEO, Founder of Donut Socialite. The event was moderated by Tara Peterson, Executive Director of the Glendale YWCA. 

In his comments, Fr. Vazken discussed bigotry and racisms as the building blocks upon which horrific atrocities such as Genocide are executed. "Last week we  through countless events where local politicians made promises to stop Genocide. Very noble. But think about it for a moment: Genocide doesn't start all at once. It's the narrow-minded prejudices, the intolerance, the hate-speech and the small acts of violence that end up being the building blocks to full blown out atrocities committed against humanity. Now these are things that each of us can control and can eliminate!" 

The event took place at the Glendale YWCA on April 30. Local leaders and residents attended and participated in a healthy and sincere discussion on this difficult topic.

Following the event, Tara Peterson, Executive Director of the YWCA said, "I am so thankful for the participation and insightful comments during our first annual stand Against Racism event. Personally, this event has left me feeling even more hopeful that we can all find a common ground from which to dialogue and learn from each other. We looked closely at individual and institutional attitudes and behaviors that either promote or discourage racial appreciation. We planted roots yesterday and made commitments to continuing that work on a daily basis!"