April 18, 2014
Posted by: Phil Breedlove, General, USAF, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, Commander, U.S. European Command
March 11, 2014
April 17, 2014March 11, 2014
It’s hard to fathom that groups of armed men in masks suddenly sprang forward from the population in eastern Ukraine and systematically began to occupy government facilities. It’s hard to fathom because it’s simply not true. What is happening in eastern Ukraine is a military operation that is well planned and organized and we assess that it is being carried out at the direction of Russia.
President Barack Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime Minister David Cameron, President François Hollande, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and many others have publicly stated their belief that Russian forces are behind the events in Ukraine. I would like to provide some observations from our analytical experts to help explain why I strongly agree with these world leaders.
- The pro-Russian “activists” in eastern Ukraine exhibit tell-tale military training and equipment and work together in a way that is consistent with troops who are part of a long-standing unit, not spontaneously stood up from a local militia.
- The weapon handling discipline and professional behavior of these forces is consistent with a trained military force. Rifle muzzles are pointed down, fingers not on triggers, but rather laid across trigger mechanisms.
- Coordinated use of tear gas and stun grenades against targeted buildings indicates a level of training that exceeds a recently formed militia.
- Video of these forces at checkpoints shows they are attentive, on their feet, focused on their security tasks, and under control of an apparent leader. This contrasts with typical militia or mob checkpoints, where it’s common to see people sitting, smoking, and so forth.
- The way these forces target government buildings, hit them in coordinated strikes and quickly secure the surrounding area with roadblocks and barricades is similar to what we’ve seen in Crimea. Again, indicative of a professional military force, acting under direction and leadership, not a spontaneous militia.
- Finally, the weapons and equipment they carry are primarily Russian army issue. This is not the kind of equipment that civilians would be likely to be able to get their hands on in large numbers.
In my blog last month I spoke about the importance of identifying the Russian troops in Crimea. Today, the Russian president has finally admitted that Russian troops were there after denying it repeatedly early on. Also today he claimed that the idea of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine was “rubbish.” I would ask that you keep this in mind as you consider your answer to the question “Who are the men behind the masks in eastern Ukraine, today?”
I would also urge you to research this topic on your own and read a few of these examples:
1. You Tube Shatters Russian Lies About Troops In Ukraine: Putin Denies Truth To Obama
2. Putin acknowledges Russian military serviceman were in Crimea
3. Ukraine submits proof of Russian covert action
4. The Science of Unmasking Russian Forces in Ukraine
April 14, 2014
Ukraine: Choosing Diplomacy Over Aggression
Posted by usembassykyiv under Human Rights, Ukraine | Tags: media, military, pro-Russian groups, protest, Russia, Secretary Kerry, Ukraine |Leave a Comment
Posted by: Douglas Frantz, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
April 13, 2014
Читати українською
April 13, 2014
Читати українською
Pro-Russian Demonstrators Beat an Activist in Kharkiv, Ukraine on April 13, 2014, (c) AP Photo
This was no peaceful spring weekend for
Ukraine. Coordinated, well-armed Russian-backed militants attacked
government buildings in a professional operation in six cities in
eastern regions. Many of the attackers were carrying Russian-origin
weapons and outfitted in bulletproof vests and camouflage uniforms with
insignia removed.
Observers on the ground saw that the events
were carefully planned and orchestrated. In Kharkiv, as pro-Russian
groups neared pro-Ukrainian protesters, women, children, and medics
moved away, leaving only well-armed young men to approach the
pro-Ukrainian protestors. These people were looking for a fight. The
pro-Russian “demonstration” was in fact a bloody attack on peaceful,
pro-unity demonstrators.
The attacks occurred simultaneously in
multiple locations. These were not grass-roots political protests.
These armed “demonstrators” took over government administration
buildings and security headquarters, seized weapons, forced local
officials to abandon their offices, and attacked communications towers.
There are reports that independent Ukrainian
and Russian media have been harassed and excluded from covering the
seizures, while pro-Russian media had special access to broadcast the
demands of these armed groups. Observers have also reported that the
militants have taken journalists into custody, attacked at least one,
and in one case fired weapons as a warning to other journalists.
Ukrainian officials have reported that Russian
intelligence officers are directly involved in orchestrating the
activities of these attackers.
Ukraine has seen this before. The parallels
to Crimea are worrying. There, highly organized, well-equipped, and
professional forces wearing Russian military uniforms, balaclavas, and
military gear without identifying insignia moved in first to take
control of Crimean government and security facilities before being later
replaced by regular Russian military forces.
Under extreme pressure from their large and
well-armed neighbor, the legitimate government of Ukraine is
nevertheless using diplomacy first. Kyiv has only used force when
public safety was at risk and dialogue failed. Prime Minister Yatsenyuk
was in the region on Friday to discuss the central government’s
willingness to work with regions on decentralization in advance of the
May 25 presidential elections. The government is clearly seeking a
future as a nation fully integrated in international institutions, a
nation that uses words and not force, a nation that defends the rights
of minorities, a nation at peace with the West — and the East.
The transitional government of Ukraine has
shown admirable restraint to date as it deals soberly with its bullying
neighbor to the north. As Secretary Kerry said, “The United States and
our allies will not hesitate to use 21st-century tools to hold Russia
accountable for 19th-century behavior.” Russia has a choice — it is
time to make the right decision.
April 3, 2014
‘No Decisions About Ukraine Without Ukraine,’ Kerry Says
Posted by usembassykyiv under Secretary of State, Ukraine | Tags: EU, John Kerry, Lavrov, OSCE, Russia, Secretary of State, Ukraine, United Nations |Leave a Comment
Posted by: Merle David Kellerhals Jr. , IIP Staff Writer
Читати українською
Washington — After meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov in Paris, Secretary of State John Kerry says they agreed that the
crisis in Ukraine requires a diplomatic resolution and that further
talks must include the Ukrainians.
Kerry emphasized that “diplomacy has a critical role to play in helping the people of Ukraine to achieve their goal of living in dignity and in a stable, peaceful and unified democracy.”
During a four-hour meeting with Lavrov, Kerry said he made it clear that the United States still considers the Russian actions in the Crimean Peninsula “to be illegal and illegitimate.” Kerry also said that the “Russians’ actions over the past several weeks have placed it at odds, obviously, with the rule of law and the international community, and we still believe on the wrong side of history.”
The U.N. General Assembly, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Group of Seven major economies condemned Russia’s aggressive acts in the Crimean region of Ukraine.
The OSCE Permanent Council decided in a special session on Ukraine March 21 to deploy an OSCE Special Monitoring Mission of international observers to Ukraine with the aim of helping reduce tensions and fostering peace, stability and security, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter said in Bern, Switzerland.
Kerry flew to Paris to meet with Lavrov at the Russian ambassador’s residence March 30 after Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Obama to discuss the situation in Ukraine two days earlier. During the call, Obama also urged Putin to withdraw tens of thousands of Russian combat soldiers from the border it shares with Ukraine, according to the White House.
“The United States is consulting with Ukraine at every step of this process, and we will not accept a path forward where the legitimate government of Ukraine is not at the table,” Kerry told journalists. “This principle is clear: No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine.”
Before his meeting with Foreign Minister Lavrov, Kerry spoke with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to repeat the United States’ commitment to coordinate closely with Ukraine and to sustain support throughout this process.
Both the United States and Russia offered suggestions on how to de-escalate the security and political crisis in and around Ukraine, Kerry said. According to the secretary, they agreed to work with the Ukrainian government to implement steps that they already are taking to meet certain priorities, including these:
• Protecting the rights of national minorities.
• Securing language rights.
• Demobilizing and disarming irregular forces and what they called provocateurs.
• Ensuring an inclusive constitutional reform process.
• Holding free and fair elections monitored by the international community.
Kerry also told journalists that any real progress in Ukraine must include a pullback of the large Russian military force massed along Ukraine’s borders. Kerry said that “these forces are creating a climate of fear and intimidation in Ukraine.”
For its part, Lavrov told journalists, Russia seeks to create a loose federation of Ukrainian regions where each chooses its own economic, financial, social, linguistic and religious governing models. Kerry said it is not up to the United States and Russia to make decisions regarding federalization for Ukraine.
“It’s up to Ukrainians, and Ukrainians will decide their future for themselves, by themselves, with respect to what kind of definitions work for them,” Kerry said.
Читати українською
Secretary of State Kerry, right, conferred with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Paris March 30 on Ukraine.
Kerry emphasized that “diplomacy has a critical role to play in helping the people of Ukraine to achieve their goal of living in dignity and in a stable, peaceful and unified democracy.”
During a four-hour meeting with Lavrov, Kerry said he made it clear that the United States still considers the Russian actions in the Crimean Peninsula “to be illegal and illegitimate.” Kerry also said that the “Russians’ actions over the past several weeks have placed it at odds, obviously, with the rule of law and the international community, and we still believe on the wrong side of history.”
The U.N. General Assembly, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Group of Seven major economies condemned Russia’s aggressive acts in the Crimean region of Ukraine.
The OSCE Permanent Council decided in a special session on Ukraine March 21 to deploy an OSCE Special Monitoring Mission of international observers to Ukraine with the aim of helping reduce tensions and fostering peace, stability and security, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter said in Bern, Switzerland.
Kerry flew to Paris to meet with Lavrov at the Russian ambassador’s residence March 30 after Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Obama to discuss the situation in Ukraine two days earlier. During the call, Obama also urged Putin to withdraw tens of thousands of Russian combat soldiers from the border it shares with Ukraine, according to the White House.
“The United States is consulting with Ukraine at every step of this process, and we will not accept a path forward where the legitimate government of Ukraine is not at the table,” Kerry told journalists. “This principle is clear: No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine.”
Before his meeting with Foreign Minister Lavrov, Kerry spoke with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to repeat the United States’ commitment to coordinate closely with Ukraine and to sustain support throughout this process.
Both the United States and Russia offered suggestions on how to de-escalate the security and political crisis in and around Ukraine, Kerry said. According to the secretary, they agreed to work with the Ukrainian government to implement steps that they already are taking to meet certain priorities, including these:
• Protecting the rights of national minorities.
• Securing language rights.
• Demobilizing and disarming irregular forces and what they called provocateurs.
• Ensuring an inclusive constitutional reform process.
• Holding free and fair elections monitored by the international community.
Kerry also told journalists that any real progress in Ukraine must include a pullback of the large Russian military force massed along Ukraine’s borders. Kerry said that “these forces are creating a climate of fear and intimidation in Ukraine.”
For its part, Lavrov told journalists, Russia seeks to create a loose federation of Ukrainian regions where each chooses its own economic, financial, social, linguistic and religious governing models. Kerry said it is not up to the United States and Russia to make decisions regarding federalization for Ukraine.
“It’s up to Ukrainians, and Ukrainians will decide their future for themselves, by themselves, with respect to what kind of definitions work for them,” Kerry said.
March 13, 2014
The Importance of Identity
Posted by usembassykyiv under Crimea, NATO | Tags: Army, Crimea, military, NATO, Russia, Russian military, self-defense forces, troops, U.S. Military European Command, Ukraine |[2] Comments
Posted by: Phil Breedlove, General, USAF, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, Commander, U.S. European Command
March 11, 2014
Читати українською
If you have been following events unfolding in Ukraine you may have noted various claims regarding the identity and origins of the armed groups currently contributing to the unrest in Crimea. Headlines are reporting that heavily armed soldiers have surrounded Ukraine’s military bases in Crimea and have taken control of 11 border posts in the region. Clearly, the situation is serious. But who are these armed soldiers, and who has given them orders?
Many media outlets have reported claims that these troops are “local militias” who are wearing Russian-style fatigues because such attire is available in army shops across the former Soviet Union. Other outlets are repeating an assertion that armed men deployed to Ukraine’s Crimea region are simply ”self-defense forces.”
I would like to address these claims.
Here at NATO’s military headquarters we have been closely monitoring and analyzing the situation in Ukraine and have been keenly focused on these troops. After extensive review of multiple information sources we believe these are Russian military forces acting on clear orders to undermine Ukraine forces in Crimea.
This conclusion, although hastily stated by some members of the press, is based on deliberate and painstaking scrutiny of the many sources of data available to our professional military analysts. As we move forward and continue to closely monitor the situation in Ukraine, it will be with the understanding of the real identity of these forces.
March 11, 2014
Читати українською
If you have been following events unfolding in Ukraine you may have noted various claims regarding the identity and origins of the armed groups currently contributing to the unrest in Crimea. Headlines are reporting that heavily armed soldiers have surrounded Ukraine’s military bases in Crimea and have taken control of 11 border posts in the region. Clearly, the situation is serious. But who are these armed soldiers, and who has given them orders?
Many media outlets have reported claims that these troops are “local militias” who are wearing Russian-style fatigues because such attire is available in army shops across the former Soviet Union. Other outlets are repeating an assertion that armed men deployed to Ukraine’s Crimea region are simply ”self-defense forces.”
I would like to address these claims.
Here at NATO’s military headquarters we have been closely monitoring and analyzing the situation in Ukraine and have been keenly focused on these troops. After extensive review of multiple information sources we believe these are Russian military forces acting on clear orders to undermine Ukraine forces in Crimea.
This conclusion, although hastily stated by some members of the press, is based on deliberate and painstaking scrutiny of the many sources of data available to our professional military analysts. As we move forward and continue to closely monitor the situation in Ukraine, it will be with the understanding of the real identity of these forces.
The photos below are just a few examples openly available that help paint the picture.
Example #1
The following several photos show military vehicles that are currently operating in Crimea. Note the Russian military licence plates on the vehicles.
The first picture is from the Crimean town of Balaklava.
The following several photos show military vehicles that are currently operating in Crimea. Note the Russian military licence plates on the vehicles.
The first picture is from the Crimean town of Balaklava.
Example #2
This example is from YouTube
In this video, local journalists interviewed a soldier who admitted
he was part of the Russian military. When asked why he didn’t have any
insignias or symbols on his uniform, he responded that he was told not
to wear them.
Example #3
The pictures below are of soldiers currently operating within Crimea. The weapons and equipment they are using certainly are not typical of ‘local militias’ or ‘self-defense forces’.
The pictures below are of soldiers currently operating within Crimea. The weapons and equipment they are using certainly are not typical of ‘local militias’ or ‘self-defense forces’.
January 28, 2014
Remembering the Past, Safeguarding the Future
Posted by usembassykyiv under Holocaust, Human Rights | Tags: Buchenwald, Genocide, Holocaust, John Kerry, Secretary of State |[3] Comments
Posted by: John Kerry, the 68th Secretary of State
Читати українською
“It
was so terrible. It was hard for the mind to absorb it.” Those were the
words of U.S. Master Sergeant Marvin Josephs as he entered Buchenwald
on April 12, 1945, along with military chaplain Rabbi Herschel
Schachter.
Decades later, Josephs still remembered vividly the words “You’re free” reverberating from Rabbi Schachter’s bullhorn. He remembered seeing the crematoria and the house of the commandant and his notorious wife, Ilse Koch, the “Beast of Buchenwald.” Above all, he remembered the survivors — emaciated and tortured — coming forward at the sound of the rabbi’s bullhorn.
The scenes of liberated prisoners were so overwhelming that Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered every man in the U.S. 4th Armored Division to walk the grounds of Buchenwald. Josephs immediately understood why: “He didn’t want people to ever deny what happened.”
Nearly 70 years after World War Two ended, 70 years after the world’s collective horror at the Holocaust, anti-Semitism remains a global menace. It is not enough to remember the millions of innocent lives lost in one of the darkest chapters in all of world history. We must reaffirm our vow never to forget the evil that comes from bigotry and intolerance and turn that commitment into action.
Many of us in the United States have personal and family connections to this difficult history – and to the cause of action now. My brother’s interest in our family’s genealogy took him back to the Czech Republic just months ago to learn more about the history of ancestors we had never even heard about until the last decade, stories of a great uncle Otto and his sister Jenni who perished in the Holocaust.
I’ll never forget, on my first trip to Berlin as Secretary of State, meeting with a group of young Germans. They told me something I never knew about the city where I’d spent time growing up in the aftermath of World War Two. Throughout the city, they’ve placed “stumbling stones” to mark where Jews were murdered in the streets and other victims of the Holocaust. Every day, passers-by remember what happened — and equally important — they never forget or deny it.
Holocaust Remembrance Day calls us to condemn anti-Semitism in every form – whether it’s the disturbing rise of xenophobic and anti-Semitic parties in Europe or the uptick of violence against Jewish people anywhere in the world.
The EU’s Agency for Fundamental Rights 2013 Report on Anti-Semitism underscores the stakes. One third of those surveyed experienced some form of anti-Semitic harassment over the past five years, with 26 percent enduring verbal assault or harassment over the past year alone — just because they were Jewish.
What’s more, 4 percent reported physical violence and 23 percent said they avoid Jewish events or sites because they don’t feel safe.
Of course, the numbers don’t tell the full story.
In Italy, police are tracking down the culprit who sent pig heads last week to Rome’s Grand Synagogue, the Israeli Embassy, and a museum sponsoring a Holocaust exhibit.
In Romania, a government-owned television channel aired a profoundly anti-Semitic Christmas song, which claimed that Jews are only good “in the chimney as smoke.”
If these acts of hate don’t hit you in the gut, I don’t know what will. If this isn’t a call to action, I don’t know what is.
We need to be forceful about what is right and what is wrong. But we also need to work to recognize our common humanity in others, and to start the conversations that will help others recognize ours.
That’s why the Obama Administration has launched the Atrocities Prevention Board. That’s why we’re working hand in glove with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Center for the Prevention of Genocide so that we can detect and highlight this global scourge.
And that’s why, last year, Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Ira Forman and President Obama’s Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Rashad Hussain joined an historic interfaith visit to the concentration camps at Dachau and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The United States is committed to having the difficult conversations across cultures and religions that can actually change people’s opinions. Pope Francis calls it “the dialogue of life,” and we reaffirm today that there are indeed millions of lives that depend on it.
We — each of us — have a responsibility to stand up and affirm human dignity. In an interconnected world, anti-Semitism that goes unanswered anywhere is a threat to people everywhere. That is a collective challenge we all face in the 21st century.
Читати українською
“It
was so terrible. It was hard for the mind to absorb it.” Those were the
words of U.S. Master Sergeant Marvin Josephs as he entered Buchenwald
on April 12, 1945, along with military chaplain Rabbi Herschel
Schachter.Decades later, Josephs still remembered vividly the words “You’re free” reverberating from Rabbi Schachter’s bullhorn. He remembered seeing the crematoria and the house of the commandant and his notorious wife, Ilse Koch, the “Beast of Buchenwald.” Above all, he remembered the survivors — emaciated and tortured — coming forward at the sound of the rabbi’s bullhorn.
The scenes of liberated prisoners were so overwhelming that Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered every man in the U.S. 4th Armored Division to walk the grounds of Buchenwald. Josephs immediately understood why: “He didn’t want people to ever deny what happened.”
Nearly 70 years after World War Two ended, 70 years after the world’s collective horror at the Holocaust, anti-Semitism remains a global menace. It is not enough to remember the millions of innocent lives lost in one of the darkest chapters in all of world history. We must reaffirm our vow never to forget the evil that comes from bigotry and intolerance and turn that commitment into action.
Many of us in the United States have personal and family connections to this difficult history – and to the cause of action now. My brother’s interest in our family’s genealogy took him back to the Czech Republic just months ago to learn more about the history of ancestors we had never even heard about until the last decade, stories of a great uncle Otto and his sister Jenni who perished in the Holocaust.
I’ll never forget, on my first trip to Berlin as Secretary of State, meeting with a group of young Germans. They told me something I never knew about the city where I’d spent time growing up in the aftermath of World War Two. Throughout the city, they’ve placed “stumbling stones” to mark where Jews were murdered in the streets and other victims of the Holocaust. Every day, passers-by remember what happened — and equally important — they never forget or deny it.
Holocaust Remembrance Day calls us to condemn anti-Semitism in every form – whether it’s the disturbing rise of xenophobic and anti-Semitic parties in Europe or the uptick of violence against Jewish people anywhere in the world.
The EU’s Agency for Fundamental Rights 2013 Report on Anti-Semitism underscores the stakes. One third of those surveyed experienced some form of anti-Semitic harassment over the past five years, with 26 percent enduring verbal assault or harassment over the past year alone — just because they were Jewish.
What’s more, 4 percent reported physical violence and 23 percent said they avoid Jewish events or sites because they don’t feel safe.
Of course, the numbers don’t tell the full story.
In Italy, police are tracking down the culprit who sent pig heads last week to Rome’s Grand Synagogue, the Israeli Embassy, and a museum sponsoring a Holocaust exhibit.
In Romania, a government-owned television channel aired a profoundly anti-Semitic Christmas song, which claimed that Jews are only good “in the chimney as smoke.”
If these acts of hate don’t hit you in the gut, I don’t know what will. If this isn’t a call to action, I don’t know what is.
We need to be forceful about what is right and what is wrong. But we also need to work to recognize our common humanity in others, and to start the conversations that will help others recognize ours.
That’s why the Obama Administration has launched the Atrocities Prevention Board. That’s why we’re working hand in glove with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Center for the Prevention of Genocide so that we can detect and highlight this global scourge.
And that’s why, last year, Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Ira Forman and President Obama’s Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Rashad Hussain joined an historic interfaith visit to the concentration camps at Dachau and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The United States is committed to having the difficult conversations across cultures and religions that can actually change people’s opinions. Pope Francis calls it “the dialogue of life,” and we reaffirm today that there are indeed millions of lives that depend on it.
We — each of us — have a responsibility to stand up and affirm human dignity. In an interconnected world, anti-Semitism that goes unanswered anywhere is a threat to people everywhere. That is a collective challenge we all face in the 21st century.
January 17, 2014
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Civil Disobedience
Posted by usembassykyiv under Civil Rights, History, Holidays | Tags: civil rights, democracy, disobedience, Dr. Martin Luther King, injustice, Jr., justice, MLK, non-violence |[7] Comments
Posted by: Eric A. Johnson, Public Affairs Officer
Читати українською
Each
January, the American people pause to reflect on the life of one of our
nation’s great leaders, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On January 20, the
Embassy and all federal government offices in the United States will be
closed to mark the birth of an American hero who used nonviolence and
civil disobedience to fight against inequality and injustice.
In early 1963, African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama were engaged in coordinated street protests and marches in pursuit of equal civil and economic rights. These demonstrations were held, despite a court ban on “parading, demonstrating, boycotting, trespassing and picketing.” As a leader of these demonstrations, Dr. King was arrested on April 3, 1963. While in jail, he penned an open letter to the clergy to explain his actions.
Excerpts from his letter:
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
“You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city’s white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.”
“In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action.”
“You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.”
“One may well ask: ‘How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?’ The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all.’”
“Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.”
“An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself.”
“Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.”
“One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.”
“[The] great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is . . . [the] moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.”
“Injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.”
“Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained. . . . I have not said to my people: ‘Get rid of your discontent.’ Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. And now this approach is being termed extremist. But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.’ Was not Amos an extremist for justice: ‘Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.’ Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: ‘I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.’ Was not Martin Luther an extremist: ‘Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.’ And John Bunyan: ‘I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.’ And Abraham Lincoln: ‘This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.’ And Thomas Jefferson: ‘We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal . . . ’ So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?”
The entire text of Dr. King’s letter can be found online.
Читати українською
Each
January, the American people pause to reflect on the life of one of our
nation’s great leaders, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On January 20, the
Embassy and all federal government offices in the United States will be
closed to mark the birth of an American hero who used nonviolence and
civil disobedience to fight against inequality and injustice.In early 1963, African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama were engaged in coordinated street protests and marches in pursuit of equal civil and economic rights. These demonstrations were held, despite a court ban on “parading, demonstrating, boycotting, trespassing and picketing.” As a leader of these demonstrations, Dr. King was arrested on April 3, 1963. While in jail, he penned an open letter to the clergy to explain his actions.
Excerpts from his letter:
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
“You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city’s white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.”
“In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action.”
“You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.”
“One may well ask: ‘How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?’ The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all.’”
“Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.”
“An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself.”
“Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.”
“One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.”
“[The] great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is . . . [the] moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.”
“Injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.”
“Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained. . . . I have not said to my people: ‘Get rid of your discontent.’ Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. And now this approach is being termed extremist. But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.’ Was not Amos an extremist for justice: ‘Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.’ Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: ‘I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.’ Was not Martin Luther an extremist: ‘Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.’ And John Bunyan: ‘I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.’ And Abraham Lincoln: ‘This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.’ And Thomas Jefferson: ‘We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal . . . ’ So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?”
The entire text of Dr. King’s letter can be found online.
January 14, 2014
Creating a Better World by Practicing Multilateral Diplomacy
Posted by usembassykyiv under Education, Exchanges, Experience, Trips | Tags: camp, corruption, Model UN, MUN Camp, Odesa, training, United Nations |[3] Comments
Posted by: N. Kumar Lakhavani, Information Management Specialist
Читати українською
I
got excited when I saw an email from Peace Corps Director Dr. Doug
Teschner inviting me to attend the Model United Nations (MUN) Camp
managed, hosted, and taught by U.S. Peace Corps volunteers in Ukraine. I
quickly made up my mind to take the weekend off and go to Odesa to
attend and speak at the conference on my own dime and my own time. This
was an opportunity of a lifetime to speak to the inspiring future
leaders of Ukraine and also meet Peace Corps volunteers and camp
counselors.
The MUN conference consisted of a week of activities that offered bright high school students a unique opportunity to learn about global issues, develop skills in negotiation and debate, and become friends with other remarkable individuals from all over Ukraine.
It was a quick trip! I booked a flight to Odesa for Saturday morning and a day train from Odesa returning back to Kyiv on Sunday. The Embassy’s Public Affairs Office pointed me in the right direction so I could prepare a message about diplomacy, volunteerism, and development of communication and negotiation skills. Knowing how much Peace Corps volunteers give up to serve overseas, I wanted to speak about the importance of volunteerism.
I
flew down to Odesa early Saturday morning and in less than two hours a
taxi got me safely to the MUN Camp in Odesa Oblast. Sixty attendees, 20+
Peace Corps Volunteers, and 10+ camp counselors were in the middle of a
meeting working hard to pass a MUN resolution. Participants were
representing countries from Angola to Afghanistan, Cuba to Croatia,
Panama to Pakistan. You could see all of the hard work and effort that
was put into this camp by Peace Corps Volunteers like Lukas Henke,
Natalie Gmitro and Julie Daniels.
MUN Camp participants had been at the event the entire preceding week starting at 7 AM and finishing as late as 10 PM every day. They discussed parliamentary procedures, meetings as nations, global issues, and had already taken votes on different resolutions. The camp included some fun evening events such as a talent show, “Activities from Around the World,” networking, and a bonfire.
I
was given the podium on Saturday to speak to the participants about
“Diplomacy, Democracy, and the Value of Helping Others by Volunteering.”
After my remarks, participants spent 45 minutes asking me questions. I
was also invited to attend a training session about corruption later
that day. At the session, participants discussed the definition of
corruption, their thoughts about corruption in Ukraine, the causes of
corruption, and shared ideas about how to eradicate corruption in their
country. The campers took turns roleplaying to explore what corruption
looked like and how individuals could work towards making Ukraine a
corruption- free society. Georgia’s success in reducing corruption was
cited by participants.
At the conclusion of the corruption session, I was given a thank you note signed by the participants sharing their appreciation for my travel all the way to the camp in Odesa Oblast to speak.
A Peace Corps Volunteer showed me the way to the marshrutka stop with my most prized possession that day in my hands. The two hour marshrutka ride back to Odesa was tough but reading the thank you note made me realize it was all worth it!
Читати українською
I
got excited when I saw an email from Peace Corps Director Dr. Doug
Teschner inviting me to attend the Model United Nations (MUN) Camp
managed, hosted, and taught by U.S. Peace Corps volunteers in Ukraine. I
quickly made up my mind to take the weekend off and go to Odesa to
attend and speak at the conference on my own dime and my own time. This
was an opportunity of a lifetime to speak to the inspiring future
leaders of Ukraine and also meet Peace Corps volunteers and camp
counselors.The MUN conference consisted of a week of activities that offered bright high school students a unique opportunity to learn about global issues, develop skills in negotiation and debate, and become friends with other remarkable individuals from all over Ukraine.
It was a quick trip! I booked a flight to Odesa for Saturday morning and a day train from Odesa returning back to Kyiv on Sunday. The Embassy’s Public Affairs Office pointed me in the right direction so I could prepare a message about diplomacy, volunteerism, and development of communication and negotiation skills. Knowing how much Peace Corps volunteers give up to serve overseas, I wanted to speak about the importance of volunteerism.
I
flew down to Odesa early Saturday morning and in less than two hours a
taxi got me safely to the MUN Camp in Odesa Oblast. Sixty attendees, 20+
Peace Corps Volunteers, and 10+ camp counselors were in the middle of a
meeting working hard to pass a MUN resolution. Participants were
representing countries from Angola to Afghanistan, Cuba to Croatia,
Panama to Pakistan. You could see all of the hard work and effort that
was put into this camp by Peace Corps Volunteers like Lukas Henke,
Natalie Gmitro and Julie Daniels.MUN Camp participants had been at the event the entire preceding week starting at 7 AM and finishing as late as 10 PM every day. They discussed parliamentary procedures, meetings as nations, global issues, and had already taken votes on different resolutions. The camp included some fun evening events such as a talent show, “Activities from Around the World,” networking, and a bonfire.
I
was given the podium on Saturday to speak to the participants about
“Diplomacy, Democracy, and the Value of Helping Others by Volunteering.”
After my remarks, participants spent 45 minutes asking me questions. I
was also invited to attend a training session about corruption later
that day. At the session, participants discussed the definition of
corruption, their thoughts about corruption in Ukraine, the causes of
corruption, and shared ideas about how to eradicate corruption in their
country. The campers took turns roleplaying to explore what corruption
looked like and how individuals could work towards making Ukraine a
corruption- free society. Georgia’s success in reducing corruption was
cited by participants.At the conclusion of the corruption session, I was given a thank you note signed by the participants sharing their appreciation for my travel all the way to the camp in Odesa Oblast to speak.
A Peace Corps Volunteer showed me the way to the marshrutka stop with my most prized possession that day in my hands. The two hour marshrutka ride back to Odesa was tough but reading the thank you note made me realize it was all worth it!
January 6, 2014
Access to Information = Access to Opportunity
Posted by usembassykyiv under Freedom of Information, Libraries, Technology, USAID | Tags: access, Bibliomist, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, information, Library, Microsoft, technology, USAID |[3] Comments
Posted by: Oleksandra Chuvakova, Community Affairs Coordinator, Microsoft Ukraine
Читати українською
Technology
is becoming increasingly important in all public services, but
especially libraries. In an age where economic, educational, health, and
social opportunities depend more and more on access to the Internet,
lack of access means lack of opportunity.
Microsoft decided that the USAID Bibliomist project was a great opportunity to partner with USAID, the International Research and Exchanges Board, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Library Association to spur the evolution of Ukraine’s libraries into modern information resource and community centers. Microsoft donated $9 million in software to Ukraine’s public libraries as part of its global initiative to endow communities with accessible and useful technology. Today Bibliomist can proudly state that it has helped revive 10 percent of Ukraine’s libraries and firmly planted the seeds to rejuvenate many more. Only through such a broad-based partnership could such an endeavor be realized.
Libraries are sources not only of books but also information, so their importance is not waning. Libraries can use technology in a variety of ways. For instance, by supporting public access computers, we help ensure that those who do not have computers available to them at home, work, or school can still benefit from this critical technology. Using technology, libraries can also provide benefits to the community as a whole. For instance, libraries are well positioned to develop community assessments, which are studies that help a community identify its needs and then determine how to go about meeting them.
Today Ukraine’s public libraries are working diligently to close both the digital and the opportunity gap: from giving free classes on resume-building to providing free access to technology. They are striving to provide services and workshops that address essential community needs, from increasing electoral literacy to promoting healthy lifestyles. As libraries discover better ways to deliver information via new media platforms and improve operational efficiencies, they will have a greater impact on a broader population.
In supporting Ukraine’s libraries, our expectation is that Microsoft technologies will be a resource that both municipalities and local community groups will be able to use in their efforts to bridge the digital divide and make their communities stronger.
Although there is much still to do, we’re inspired by what we’ve seen while working with Ukrainians: people taking the lead in changing not only their lives but the lives of those around them, making a real impact in their local communities and in Ukraine in general.
Читати українською
Technology
is becoming increasingly important in all public services, but
especially libraries. In an age where economic, educational, health, and
social opportunities depend more and more on access to the Internet,
lack of access means lack of opportunity.Microsoft decided that the USAID Bibliomist project was a great opportunity to partner with USAID, the International Research and Exchanges Board, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Library Association to spur the evolution of Ukraine’s libraries into modern information resource and community centers. Microsoft donated $9 million in software to Ukraine’s public libraries as part of its global initiative to endow communities with accessible and useful technology. Today Bibliomist can proudly state that it has helped revive 10 percent of Ukraine’s libraries and firmly planted the seeds to rejuvenate many more. Only through such a broad-based partnership could such an endeavor be realized.
Libraries are sources not only of books but also information, so their importance is not waning. Libraries can use technology in a variety of ways. For instance, by supporting public access computers, we help ensure that those who do not have computers available to them at home, work, or school can still benefit from this critical technology. Using technology, libraries can also provide benefits to the community as a whole. For instance, libraries are well positioned to develop community assessments, which are studies that help a community identify its needs and then determine how to go about meeting them.
Today Ukraine’s public libraries are working diligently to close both the digital and the opportunity gap: from giving free classes on resume-building to providing free access to technology. They are striving to provide services and workshops that address essential community needs, from increasing electoral literacy to promoting healthy lifestyles. As libraries discover better ways to deliver information via new media platforms and improve operational efficiencies, they will have a greater impact on a broader population.
In supporting Ukraine’s libraries, our expectation is that Microsoft technologies will be a resource that both municipalities and local community groups will be able to use in their efforts to bridge the digital divide and make their communities stronger.
Although there is much still to do, we’re inspired by what we’ve seen while working with Ukrainians: people taking the lead in changing not only their lives but the lives of those around them, making a real impact in their local communities and in Ukraine in general.
November 29, 2013
Inmate Counseling and Better Policies Key to Reducing Risky Behavior
Posted by usembassykyiv under HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Humanitarian Assistance, USAID | Tags: HIV/AIDS, Ministry of Justice, prevention, prison, USAID, USG |[2] Comments
Posted by: Mark Breda, U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID/Ukraine)
Читати українською
It
is New Year’s Eve at a prison in Ukraine and men stand around in a
large cell, sharing a single blunt, filthy syringe as they mutilate
their arms to inject drugs. “The scene is typical of Ukrainian prisons,”
explained an ex-inmate who wished to remain unnamed.
In Ukraine, prison inmates often participate in risky behaviors that contribute to the spread of HIV. Some prisoners use old syringes over and over. Others manufacture their own injecting tools using pens and plastic tubes. Still others tattoo their bodies using non-sterile instruments or have unprotected sex with fellow inmates or visitors.
A recent USG funded survey of 1,300 prison inmates shows that HIV prevalence among inmates is more than 13 percent (10 percent among men and 33 percent among women), 20 times higher than in the general population. Forty-four percent of those surveyed reported injecting drugs during their lives and 17 percent admitted using drugs while in prison.
The state penitentiary service in Ukraine has been slow to implement Ukraine’s National AIDS policies. Only 60 of Ukraine’s 183 prisons receive HIV/AIDS treatment supplies. Poor prison conditions and abusive practices by prison staff increase inmate vulnerability to infection and sometimes obstruct treatment for HIV positive prisoners. Harm reduction services such as syringe exchanges, opiate substitution therapy, and even HIV testing are either not available or offered inconsistently.
After leaving prison, injecting drug users face challenges that may lead them to transmit HIV; many have no home, no job, and poor knowledge of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
USG is partnering with the government of Ukraine and other international donors to address these tough issues with a two-pronged approach, and things are slowing beginning to change.
First,
USG’s Project Start is collaborating with Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice
to implement a HIV/STI/Hepatitis C risk-reduction program for inmates
who are soon to be released. It begins two months before they leave
prison and continues for three months after their release. The program
includes seven one-on-one sessions with each client, providing a range
of counseling and prevention strategies tailored to each individual.
Second, USG’s PLEDGE Project, implemented in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, is promoting systemic change in Ukraine’s penitentiaries by advocating new harm-reduction policies through Ukraine’s legislature and directly with prison authorities.
Through USG efforts on the legislative side, a Joint Order for the treatment of detained persons was recently created with Ukraine’s Ministries of Health, Interior, and Justice. Also with USG support, Ukraine developed and approved a comprehensive National Anti-Drug Strategy. The strategy demonstrates a shift from previously repressive measures to a more human-rights-based approach for people who inject drugs, promoting increased coverage and accessibility for syringe exchanges, opiate substitution therapy and integrated services to address HIV/TB, Hepatitis C, and other related diseases.
Finally, USG, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program and UNAIDS, has developed comprehensive HIV services for pilot prisons, including education about drug use for prisoners and prison staff.
This past July Serhiy Zinchenko, head of the Ukraine State Penitentiary Service Personnel Department, expressed the government’s new found support for a comprehensive approach to HIV/AIDS when he stated “We now understand the need to improve the situation in this sphere. It is important to learn international standards for treatment of prisoners, in particular related to their right to health care.”
Читати українською
It
is New Year’s Eve at a prison in Ukraine and men stand around in a
large cell, sharing a single blunt, filthy syringe as they mutilate
their arms to inject drugs. “The scene is typical of Ukrainian prisons,”
explained an ex-inmate who wished to remain unnamed.In Ukraine, prison inmates often participate in risky behaviors that contribute to the spread of HIV. Some prisoners use old syringes over and over. Others manufacture their own injecting tools using pens and plastic tubes. Still others tattoo their bodies using non-sterile instruments or have unprotected sex with fellow inmates or visitors.
A recent USG funded survey of 1,300 prison inmates shows that HIV prevalence among inmates is more than 13 percent (10 percent among men and 33 percent among women), 20 times higher than in the general population. Forty-four percent of those surveyed reported injecting drugs during their lives and 17 percent admitted using drugs while in prison.
The state penitentiary service in Ukraine has been slow to implement Ukraine’s National AIDS policies. Only 60 of Ukraine’s 183 prisons receive HIV/AIDS treatment supplies. Poor prison conditions and abusive practices by prison staff increase inmate vulnerability to infection and sometimes obstruct treatment for HIV positive prisoners. Harm reduction services such as syringe exchanges, opiate substitution therapy, and even HIV testing are either not available or offered inconsistently.
After leaving prison, injecting drug users face challenges that may lead them to transmit HIV; many have no home, no job, and poor knowledge of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
USG is partnering with the government of Ukraine and other international donors to address these tough issues with a two-pronged approach, and things are slowing beginning to change.
First,
USG’s Project Start is collaborating with Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice
to implement a HIV/STI/Hepatitis C risk-reduction program for inmates
who are soon to be released. It begins two months before they leave
prison and continues for three months after their release. The program
includes seven one-on-one sessions with each client, providing a range
of counseling and prevention strategies tailored to each individual.Second, USG’s PLEDGE Project, implemented in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, is promoting systemic change in Ukraine’s penitentiaries by advocating new harm-reduction policies through Ukraine’s legislature and directly with prison authorities.
Through USG efforts on the legislative side, a Joint Order for the treatment of detained persons was recently created with Ukraine’s Ministries of Health, Interior, and Justice. Also with USG support, Ukraine developed and approved a comprehensive National Anti-Drug Strategy. The strategy demonstrates a shift from previously repressive measures to a more human-rights-based approach for people who inject drugs, promoting increased coverage and accessibility for syringe exchanges, opiate substitution therapy and integrated services to address HIV/TB, Hepatitis C, and other related diseases.
Finally, USG, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program and UNAIDS, has developed comprehensive HIV services for pilot prisons, including education about drug use for prisoners and prison staff.
This past July Serhiy Zinchenko, head of the Ukraine State Penitentiary Service Personnel Department, expressed the government’s new found support for a comprehensive approach to HIV/AIDS when he stated “We now understand the need to improve the situation in this sphere. It is important to learn international standards for treatment of prisoners, in particular related to their right to health care.”
November 27, 2013
Ambassador Pyatt Visits Pavlograd Chemical Plant
Posted by usembassykyiv under Ambassador | Tags: Ambassador, Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt, Barack Obama, Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, Nunn Lugar CTR, Pavlograd Chemical Plant, President Yanukovich, START, Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, Washington Nuclear Summit |Leave a Comment
Posted by: Luke Schtele, Deputy Press Attaché
Читати українською
On November 7, 2013, Ambassador Pyatt and delegation from the
Department of Defense visited the Pavlograd Chemical Plant west of
Dnipropetrovsk. During Soviet times, the Pavlograd Chemical Plant was
responsible for loading solid propellant into the Soviet Union’s arsenal
of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. Since the late 1990s, the
Pavlograd Chemical Plant has been pursuing commercial activities and
assisting with the decommissioning of the SS-24 ICBM Solid Rocket Motors
under the terms of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
The date of this visit coincidentally coincided with the 95th anniversary
of the first successful demonstration of a tube-launched rocket by
Robert Goddard back in 1918 in Maryland. Ambassador Pyatt and Mr.
Kenneth Myers, Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency,
inspected the special warehouse complex that currently stores SS-24
solid rocket motors. They also visited the decommissioning system that
utilizes a water-washout method and a newly constructed state-of-the-art
incinerator that was recently commissioned. This new incinerator
complex was manufactured in Germany by Eisenmann and was the result of
an agreement reached at the Washington Nuclear Summit between President
Obama and President Yanukovich in April 2010.
The Pavlograd Chemical Plant is a state enterprise headed by Dr. Leonid Shiman and represents the region’s largest industrial employer. You can find short video documentaries devoted to this project on YouTube’s NunnLugarCTR channel using the following link.
Читати українською
Ambassador Pyatt at the Pavlograd Chemical Plant
Ambassador Pyatt with the delegation at the Pavlograd Chemical Plant
The Pavlograd Chemical Plant is a state enterprise headed by Dr. Leonid Shiman and represents the region’s largest industrial employer. You can find short video documentaries devoted to this project on YouTube’s NunnLugarCTR channel using the following link.
November 22, 2013
Khersones: Preserving the Past to Respect the Future
Posted by usembassykyiv under Ambassador, Culture, History | Tags: Ambassador, Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt, Crimea, culture, history, Khersones |1 Comment
Posted by: Rachel Atwood Mendiola, Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer
Читати українською
Ukraine’s long and diverse history is highlighted by the recent recognition of Khersones
as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Joining numerous other UNESCO sites
in Ukraine, Khersones stands in testimony not only to Ukraine’s ancient
past, but also to the role of multiple civilizations, over many
centuries, in this land.
Founded about 2500 years ago in the Sixth Century BC by Greek settlers from Heraclea Pontica, Khersones has a long history. Its name comes from the Greek word, Chersonēsos, meaning “peninsula.” It is located on what is known today as the Crimean Peninsula (in ancient times it was called Taurica), near present day Sevastopol on the shore of the Black Sea.
The Greek colony began as a (mostly) democratic society ruled by elected officials called archons and a council called the damiorgi. As time passed, they became more oligarchic, with power concentrated in the hands of the archons.
After those first few hundred years, the colony changed hands numerous times. In the late Second Century BC, it became a dependency of the Bosporan Kingdom. Next, it was subject to Rome from the mid-First Century until the 370s AD when it was captured by the Huns. In the early Middle Ages (sometime around the Fifth Century), Khersones became a Byzantine possession, withstood a siege by the Gӧktürks in 581, then fell to Kievan Rus in the 980s. After the Fourth Crusade, which ended in 1204, the colony became dependent on the Empire of Trebizond before coming under Genoese control in the early 13th Century. The armies of Nogain Khan sacked the city in 1299 and about a century later the colony was destroyed by Edigu and permanently abandoned.
Under Roman and Byzantine rule, Khersones was a popular place of
exile for those who angered the current government. In fact, it became
the place of legends. According to one famous story, after Vladimir the
Great captured the colony, he agreed to evacuate the city only if the
sister of Basil II (Byzantine Emperor from 976-1025) would be given to
him in marriage. However, in order to be able to marry the imperial
princess, Vladimir had to be baptized into the Christian faith.
With such a long and interesting history, it is no surprise that Khersones has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The certificate was prepared in Paris, and presented at a ceremony in Sevastopol on September 20. U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt congratulated everyone attending the ceremony with the following statement:
“On behalf of the U.S. Embassy, I would like to congratulate the Khersones National Preserve and its staff for their impressive accomplishment in getting the cultural and historical monument entrusted to their care recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When the ‘Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora’ was inscribed on UNESCO’s List on June 23, it was a great day not just for Ukraine but for everyone in the world influenced by Classical Greek civilization where the idea of democracy was first born.
I’m also very pleased that the Institute of Classical Archaeology at the University of Texas at Austin under the leadership of Centennial Professor of Classical Archeology Joseph Carter played such an important role in helping to put Khersones on the world map and bring it to UNESCO’s attention through their excavations, publications, and continued close cooperation with the Ukrainian staff at the National Preserve. This is a wonderful example of what a successful U.S.-Ukrainian partnership can accomplish for the benefit of the entire world.
Last year, the U.S. Embassy was able to bring John Jameson – a Senior Archaeologist with the U.S. National Park Service who specializes in interpretive program development – to the Khersones National Preserve in order to explore new ways to make the site more accessible to the public while minimizing the impact this increased attention would bring. I look forward to visiting Khersones myself soon and seeing what else we might be able to do to help you preserve your site for the world.
Earlier this month, I was thrilled to travel to Drohobych where I presented a U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation grant to the Church of St. George which was one of eight Ukrainian wooden churches inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on the same day that you received the same great honor. In the same way that we are helping save this amazing wooden masterpiece in the Carpathians for future generations, I look forward to working together with our Ukrainian and American partners to keep this Crimean architectural wonder alive and well for its next 2,500 years. Congratulations!”
It is a great accomplishment that so many historical and cultural sites in Ukraine have received world-wide recognition. Hopefully, the naming of Khersones as a UNESCO World Heritage site will support its preservation and increased research for the benefit of future generations.
Читати українською
Khersones
Founded about 2500 years ago in the Sixth Century BC by Greek settlers from Heraclea Pontica, Khersones has a long history. Its name comes from the Greek word, Chersonēsos, meaning “peninsula.” It is located on what is known today as the Crimean Peninsula (in ancient times it was called Taurica), near present day Sevastopol on the shore of the Black Sea.
The Greek colony began as a (mostly) democratic society ruled by elected officials called archons and a council called the damiorgi. As time passed, they became more oligarchic, with power concentrated in the hands of the archons.
After those first few hundred years, the colony changed hands numerous times. In the late Second Century BC, it became a dependency of the Bosporan Kingdom. Next, it was subject to Rome from the mid-First Century until the 370s AD when it was captured by the Huns. In the early Middle Ages (sometime around the Fifth Century), Khersones became a Byzantine possession, withstood a siege by the Gӧktürks in 581, then fell to Kievan Rus in the 980s. After the Fourth Crusade, which ended in 1204, the colony became dependent on the Empire of Trebizond before coming under Genoese control in the early 13th Century. The armies of Nogain Khan sacked the city in 1299 and about a century later the colony was destroyed by Edigu and permanently abandoned.
Khersones
With such a long and interesting history, it is no surprise that Khersones has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The certificate was prepared in Paris, and presented at a ceremony in Sevastopol on September 20. U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt congratulated everyone attending the ceremony with the following statement:
“On behalf of the U.S. Embassy, I would like to congratulate the Khersones National Preserve and its staff for their impressive accomplishment in getting the cultural and historical monument entrusted to their care recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When the ‘Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora’ was inscribed on UNESCO’s List on June 23, it was a great day not just for Ukraine but for everyone in the world influenced by Classical Greek civilization where the idea of democracy was first born.
I’m also very pleased that the Institute of Classical Archaeology at the University of Texas at Austin under the leadership of Centennial Professor of Classical Archeology Joseph Carter played such an important role in helping to put Khersones on the world map and bring it to UNESCO’s attention through their excavations, publications, and continued close cooperation with the Ukrainian staff at the National Preserve. This is a wonderful example of what a successful U.S.-Ukrainian partnership can accomplish for the benefit of the entire world.
Last year, the U.S. Embassy was able to bring John Jameson – a Senior Archaeologist with the U.S. National Park Service who specializes in interpretive program development – to the Khersones National Preserve in order to explore new ways to make the site more accessible to the public while minimizing the impact this increased attention would bring. I look forward to visiting Khersones myself soon and seeing what else we might be able to do to help you preserve your site for the world.
Earlier this month, I was thrilled to travel to Drohobych where I presented a U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation grant to the Church of St. George which was one of eight Ukrainian wooden churches inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on the same day that you received the same great honor. In the same way that we are helping save this amazing wooden masterpiece in the Carpathians for future generations, I look forward to working together with our Ukrainian and American partners to keep this Crimean architectural wonder alive and well for its next 2,500 years. Congratulations!”
It is a great accomplishment that so many historical and cultural sites in Ukraine have received world-wide recognition. Hopefully, the naming of Khersones as a UNESCO World Heritage site will support its preservation and increased research for the benefit of future generations.
November 5, 2013
Zhulyany’s New Nuclear Detection System: Protecting Ukraine from Radioactive Threats
Posted by usembassykyiv under National Security, Technology | Tags: airport, Department of Energy, energy, Nuclear Detection System, U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, Zhulyany |1 Comment
Posted by: Laura Smiley, U.S. Department of Energy
Читати українською
The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Second Line
of Defense (SLD) program marked another milestone in Ukraine on October
30, 2013. A radioactive portal monitoring system was installed by SLD
at Zhulyani International Airport – the second busiest airport in
Ukraine, and key participants from NNSA, the U.S. Embassy, the Ukrainian
Border Guards, and the Airport Administration came together to
celebrate the new equipment with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The ceremony, which was held in the beautiful, new Terminal A
building at Zhulyani, was attended by U.S. Embassy Kyiv’s Deputy Chief
of Mission, Bruce Donahue, the Ukraine Border Guard Service First Deputy
Director of the International Legal Department, General Volodymyr
Karas, NNSA Ukraine SLD manager, Andrew Vogt, DOE Kyiv staff, and many
others.
General Karas and Bruce Donahue gave speeches complimenting NNSA on more than 50 successful installations of SLD equipment, the latest of which was the system of portal monitors at Zhulyani. DCM Donahue also pointed out that the SLD program was responsible for equipping regional training centers in Ukraine.
Together, DCM Donahue and General Karas cut the ribbon surrounding
the portal monitors for the terminal. The Border Guard then
demonstrated the system when that first “traveler” crossed the threshold
of the airport with a radiological source in his bag. While lights
flashed and alarms blared, the Border Guards detained the actor and
demonstrated the effectiveness of both the monitors and the hand-held
devices.
This ribbon-cutting event served to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of
the Cooperative Threat Reduction program in Ukraine, signed on October
23, 1993. The SLD program has been implemented under the CTR Umbrella
Agreement since 2005.
During
the event DCM Bruce Donahue recognized the most recent accomplishments
in the cooperative effort in combating the threat of nuclear
proliferation and nuclear terrorism and congratulated everyone on the
success of this challenging task. The Border Guard presented the U.S.
personnel and Airport Administration with plaques honoring their
contributions to the success of border security in Ukraine.
Читати українською
A
Representative of Ukraine’s Border Guard, General Karas (right) greets
DCM Bruce Donahue (2nd from left) as well as DOE Staff Kateryna
Kamchatna (left) and Arina Kovalenko (3rd from left)
General Karas speaks while DCM Donahue, SLD Country Manager Andrew Vogt , and DOE Program Coordinator Arina Kovalenko stand by
General Karas and Bruce Donahue gave speeches complimenting NNSA on more than 50 successful installations of SLD equipment, the latest of which was the system of portal monitors at Zhulyani. DCM Donahue also pointed out that the SLD program was responsible for equipping regional training centers in Ukraine.
General
Karas and DCM Donahue cut the ribbon on the SLD installation in the new
international terminal at Zhulyani Airport in Kyiv
The Border Guard detains a “suspect” after the system alarms
New Portal Monitors at Zhulyani International Airport
During
the event DCM Bruce Donahue recognized the most recent accomplishments
in the cooperative effort in combating the threat of nuclear
proliferation and nuclear terrorism and congratulated everyone on the
success of this challenging task. The Border Guard presented the U.S.
personnel and Airport Administration with plaques honoring their
contributions to the success of border security in Ukraine.
November 1, 2013
Retooling Ukraine’s Court Management through Partnership
Posted by usembassykyiv under USAID | Tags: court, USAID, USAID FAIR Justice Project |Leave a Comment
Dr. Maureen Conner, Director, Michigan State University Judicial Administration Program
Читати українською
Some of us are fortunate enough to have a transformational experience
that changes us forever. I had such an experience while participating
in designing and implementing the pilot Judicial Administration
Certificate Program in Ukraine. Working with the USAID FAIR Justice
Project in partnership with Ukraine’s State Judicial Administration and
the National School of Judges of Ukraine, we delivered the first
academic-based court administration program in Ukraine. It is a great
example of how partnerships between governments, academia and
development can lead to real change.
With the 2010 adoption of Ukraine’s Law on the Judiciary and the Status of Judges, court administrators were given broader responsibilities and more autonomy to manage courts. Much confusion over who was responsible for what in court operations accompanied the change. The newly defined court administrators found themselves stymied by a lack of clear professional qualification requirements, incomplete understanding of the parameters of court administration, conflicting definitions of responsibilities and authorities, and limited professional development opportunities. USAID recognized these issues and saw them as opportunities to facilitate court reform utilizing best practices in contemporary court administration, thus improving access to justice for Ukrainians.
Michigan State University (MSU) faculty members joined with Ukrainian faculty members to develop the subject matter and teaching materials. The program consisted of 10 courses from the MSU Judicial Administration Certificate Program with ample adaptations and additions to ensure that the Ukrainian context was represented. Program participants were competitively selected from among court administrators across Ukraine. Together the newly formed MSU-Ukrainian faculty engaged in team teaching all 10 courses, which covered the internationally-recognized core competencies developed by the National Association for Court Management. The recent result of these efforts was the June 12, 2013, graduation ceremony for 40 graduates of the Ukraine Pilot Court Administration Certificate Program. Many of the students reported at the graduation that they had already achieved noticeable results back in their home courts, with more expected.
In 2014 we expect to graduate another class of court managers. Ukraine’s National School of Judges has agreed to continue the classes after that, which makes me certain that the country is on its way to a new generation of court administrators skilled in the most current management methods.
From the moment I met the USAID FAIR team and discussed the possibility of bringing the MSU Judicial Administration Program to Ukraine, I sensed there was something qualitatively different about this experience. It wasn’t just about education. It wasn’t just about systems improvement. It wasn’t just about overcoming the challenges and doing the work at break-neck speed. It was also about whether a partnership as unusual as the one we were to form could succeed. It surpassed my expectations.
Through the months that we – the entire USAID FAIR Justice Project family, the students, and the instructors spent together, our mission and desires coalesced in a way that made our collective human spirit soar. The Ukrainian judiciary and people are better for it. We have created true leaders for the present and the future. It doesn’t get any better than that. I look forward to continuing our relationship.
Читати українською
Graduates of the Ukraine Pilot Court Administration Certificate Program
With the 2010 adoption of Ukraine’s Law on the Judiciary and the Status of Judges, court administrators were given broader responsibilities and more autonomy to manage courts. Much confusion over who was responsible for what in court operations accompanied the change. The newly defined court administrators found themselves stymied by a lack of clear professional qualification requirements, incomplete understanding of the parameters of court administration, conflicting definitions of responsibilities and authorities, and limited professional development opportunities. USAID recognized these issues and saw them as opportunities to facilitate court reform utilizing best practices in contemporary court administration, thus improving access to justice for Ukrainians.
Michigan State University (MSU) faculty members joined with Ukrainian faculty members to develop the subject matter and teaching materials. The program consisted of 10 courses from the MSU Judicial Administration Certificate Program with ample adaptations and additions to ensure that the Ukrainian context was represented. Program participants were competitively selected from among court administrators across Ukraine. Together the newly formed MSU-Ukrainian faculty engaged in team teaching all 10 courses, which covered the internationally-recognized core competencies developed by the National Association for Court Management. The recent result of these efforts was the June 12, 2013, graduation ceremony for 40 graduates of the Ukraine Pilot Court Administration Certificate Program. Many of the students reported at the graduation that they had already achieved noticeable results back in their home courts, with more expected.
In 2014 we expect to graduate another class of court managers. Ukraine’s National School of Judges has agreed to continue the classes after that, which makes me certain that the country is on its way to a new generation of court administrators skilled in the most current management methods.
From the moment I met the USAID FAIR team and discussed the possibility of bringing the MSU Judicial Administration Program to Ukraine, I sensed there was something qualitatively different about this experience. It wasn’t just about education. It wasn’t just about systems improvement. It wasn’t just about overcoming the challenges and doing the work at break-neck speed. It was also about whether a partnership as unusual as the one we were to form could succeed. It surpassed my expectations.
Through the months that we – the entire USAID FAIR Justice Project family, the students, and the instructors spent together, our mission and desires coalesced in a way that made our collective human spirit soar. The Ukrainian judiciary and people are better for it. We have created true leaders for the present and the future. It doesn’t get any better than that. I look forward to continuing our relationship.
October 23, 2013
Strengthening links to Podil’s Jewish Past and Future
Posted by usembassykyiv under Ambassador, Art, Culture, Holocaust, Human Rights, Religious freedom | Tags: Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt, Ambassador Pyatt, Hatikva Reform Synagogue, Jewish, Podil, Sholem Aleichem |[3] Comments
Posted by: Yaryna Ferencevych, Press Attaché
Читати українською
On September 27, I joined Ambassador Pyatt in Kyiv’s Podil
neighborhood for a very special ceremony. Joined by his Canadian and
German counterparts, the Ambassador spoke at the dedication ceremony for
the Hatikva Reform Synagogue and its new community center in Kyiv. In
his remarks, the Ambassador acknowledged the congregation’s rabbi, Rabbi
Dukhovny, as “a friend and teacher to generations of American
ambassadors here in Kyiv.” Pausing to remember the 72nd anniversary of
the massacres at Baby Yar and its victims, he spoke about the history of
the Jewish community in Ukraine, its resilience, and how he was
inspired by the congregation’s return to its roots in Kyiv’s historic
Podil neighborhood. Reminding participants that “the guiding principles
of tolerance, cooperation, and respect for human dignity that are
embodied in this center are essential to Americans as well,” the
Ambassador told participants he had great expectations for the center
and its future work.
The new structure, paid for with donations by three North American
families, replaced rental facilities which had served the community for
22 years. The new 4,000 square-foot center has a sanctuary with seating
for 150, activity rooms, a library, youth center and kitchenette. After
the speeches, the fun began! Hatikva’s youngest members, approximately
20 of its Kyiv Reform Kindergarten students kicked off the festivities
with song and dance, reminding all of us that the Center has a bright
future ahead! A rousing performance by Irina Rosenfeld followed, along
with many more expressions of congratulations.
With
the new center now open, the Embassy wasted no time in kicking off our
cooperative relationship. Just two weeks later, on October 10, Hatikva
hosted the first Ukrainian screening of the film Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness.
The movie, a portrait of a great writer whose stories became the basis
of the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof, tells the tale of the
rebellious genius who created an entirely new literature. Working in at
the end of the 19th century in Western Ukraine, he explored
the depths of a Jewish world locked in crisis and on the cusp of
profound change and he captured that world with brilliant humor. In an earlier blog we wrote about the Ambassador’s visit to the building in Lviv that Sholem Aleichem once called home.
According to the film’s director Joe Dorman, Sholem Aleichem was one of the men who shaped a new modern Jewish identity. After the screening, Dorman, an award-winning independent filmmaker, answered questions and discussed how he made visits to Ukraine during the production of the film and gained a deeper understanding of Jewish and Ukrainian culture, including the many links between the two. He explained the critical role that Sholem Aleichem’s works played in preserving Jewish identity in the United States, and for Jewish diaspora more broadly. The Embassy was happy to present the film as an interesting cultural link between the U.S. and Ukraine, but also as an example of Ukraine’s multicultural past, and Ukraine’s Jewish heritage. In addition to the Hatkiva screening, the Embassy sponsored public presentations of the film in Kyiv and Lviv, which were well attended.
Читати українською
Ambassador Pyatt at the Hatikva Reform Synagogue opening
Concert at the Hatikva Reform Synagogue opening
With
the new center now open, the Embassy wasted no time in kicking off our
cooperative relationship. Just two weeks later, on October 10, Hatikva
hosted the first Ukrainian screening of the film Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness.
The movie, a portrait of a great writer whose stories became the basis
of the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof, tells the tale of the
rebellious genius who created an entirely new literature. Working in at
the end of the 19th century in Western Ukraine, he explored
the depths of a Jewish world locked in crisis and on the cusp of
profound change and he captured that world with brilliant humor. In an earlier blog we wrote about the Ambassador’s visit to the building in Lviv that Sholem Aleichem once called home.According to the film’s director Joe Dorman, Sholem Aleichem was one of the men who shaped a new modern Jewish identity. After the screening, Dorman, an award-winning independent filmmaker, answered questions and discussed how he made visits to Ukraine during the production of the film and gained a deeper understanding of Jewish and Ukrainian culture, including the many links between the two. He explained the critical role that Sholem Aleichem’s works played in preserving Jewish identity in the United States, and for Jewish diaspora more broadly. The Embassy was happy to present the film as an interesting cultural link between the U.S. and Ukraine, but also as an example of Ukraine’s multicultural past, and Ukraine’s Jewish heritage. In addition to the Hatkiva screening, the Embassy sponsored public presentations of the film in Kyiv and Lviv, which were well attended.
October 17, 2013
The American Two-Party System
Posted by usembassykyiv under History, U.S. Political System, U.S. Presidents | Tags: democrats, party, political parties, progressive party, republicans |[2] Comments
Posted by: Alamanda Gribbin, Political Office, Doris Hernandez, Political Intern
Читати українською
The first president of the United States, George Washington, warned
about the negative repercussions that the formation of political parties
could have for the newly founded nation and its democratic foundation.
Up until the American Revolution, fear of factionalism and political parties was deeply rooted in American political culture. Leaders such as Washington and Thomas Jefferson hoped their new government, founded on the Constitution, would be motivated instead by a common intent, a unity.
In his farewell address, Washington expressed fear that political parties “serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party.”
However, political parties did form in the United States, and they had their beginnings in Washington’s cabinet. One party, The Federalist Party, headed by Alexander Hamilton, favored a strong central government and close links between the government and business. There was also The Democratic-Republican Party, founded by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, which supported a limited role for central government and a more populist approach to government.
During the election of 1800, Democratic-Republican candidate, Thomas Jefferson, defeated Federalist candidate John Adams, notably becoming the first president to be elected as a representative of a political party. Following this election the power of the Federalists began to slowly fade until it eventually disappeared entirely by the 1820s.
Despite the disappearance of the Federalist Party, the
Democratic-Republican Party persisted but was split by factions. One
group, the Jacksonian Democrats faction, led by war hero and future
president Andrew Jackson, grew into the modern Democratic Party. Another
faction, The Whig Party, emerged but was later supplanted by the
anti-slavery Republican Party. Abraham Lincoln was elected the first
Republican president.
Though the two-party system, Democratic and Republican Party, still persists in the United States today, the policies championed by each party have shifted as conditions and political agendas changed throughout history. Presidential elections since 1848 have featured solely Democratic or Republican competitive nominees each election. Yet there have been rare exceptions of third party nominees winning a significant percentage of votes.
Perhaps the most successful third party in American politics was the
Bull Moose Party, also known as the Progressive Party. In 1912,
President Teddy Roosevelt lost the bid for the Republican nomination,
and campaigned on a new, progressive party, called the Bull Moose Party.
Although he did not win the election, he managed to win over 27% of
the vote, making him the most successful third-party candidate in
history.
More recently, in 2000, Ralph Nadar, a consumer protection advocate, ran as a Green Party Candidate. He said he ran because no one in Washington would listen to his message.
Though he received a mere 2.74% of the vote; some say that this third party candidate cost candidate Al Gore the 2000 election.
While most other democratic nations have multi-party systems, the third parties that regularly pop up in American history are drowned out when a major party absorbs their ideas. These third parties are typically formed to address key issues that are neglected by the major parties.
As the two-party system remains prominent in U.S. politics, in his book, Is Democracy Possible Here?, American author Ronald Dworkin urged liberals and conservatives to realize that each team works for the same goal of a better nation and must collaborate in the most efficient manner.
Читати українською
Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican President (1861–1865)
Up until the American Revolution, fear of factionalism and political parties was deeply rooted in American political culture. Leaders such as Washington and Thomas Jefferson hoped their new government, founded on the Constitution, would be motivated instead by a common intent, a unity.
In his farewell address, Washington expressed fear that political parties “serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party.”
However, political parties did form in the United States, and they had their beginnings in Washington’s cabinet. One party, The Federalist Party, headed by Alexander Hamilton, favored a strong central government and close links between the government and business. There was also The Democratic-Republican Party, founded by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, which supported a limited role for central government and a more populist approach to government.
During the election of 1800, Democratic-Republican candidate, Thomas Jefferson, defeated Federalist candidate John Adams, notably becoming the first president to be elected as a representative of a political party. Following this election the power of the Federalists began to slowly fade until it eventually disappeared entirely by the 1820s.
Andrew Jackson is typically considered the first Democratic President of the United States
Though the two-party system, Democratic and Republican Party, still persists in the United States today, the policies championed by each party have shifted as conditions and political agendas changed throughout history. Presidential elections since 1848 have featured solely Democratic or Republican competitive nominees each election. Yet there have been rare exceptions of third party nominees winning a significant percentage of votes.
Theodore Roosevelt, the founder of the Bull Moose Progressive Party
More recently, in 2000, Ralph Nadar, a consumer protection advocate, ran as a Green Party Candidate. He said he ran because no one in Washington would listen to his message.
Though he received a mere 2.74% of the vote; some say that this third party candidate cost candidate Al Gore the 2000 election.
While most other democratic nations have multi-party systems, the third parties that regularly pop up in American history are drowned out when a major party absorbs their ideas. These third parties are typically formed to address key issues that are neglected by the major parties.
As the two-party system remains prominent in U.S. politics, in his book, Is Democracy Possible Here?, American author Ronald Dworkin urged liberals and conservatives to realize that each team works for the same goal of a better nation and must collaborate in the most efficient manner.
September 26, 2013
The Positive Power of Hip-Hop in Ukraine
Posted by usembassykyiv under Ambassador, Culture, Education, Exchanges, Kyiv | Tags: Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt, Ambassador Pyatt, b-boy, b-girl, breakdance, Burn Battle School, culture, hip hop, Massive Monkees, music, Seattle, Washington |[2] Comments
Posted by: Arthur Evans, Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer
Читати українською
Recently
I joined Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt, his family and an audience of over
10,000 on Independence Square to watch the World Breakdancing
Championship. Sponsored by Burn Battle School, hundreds of young
Ukrainian b-boys and b-girls “battled” (competed) in four categories:
best youth b-boy, men’s, women’s and team or “crew.” I was blown away
by the popularity of the event and amazed at the skill level of the
Ukrainian breakers. Even more impressive was that, although competition
was fierce, the atmosphere was positive — even festive — a bit like
watching a college football game in my native Ohio.
Because our Embassy was one of the event’s sponsors, the Ambassador awarded the first place
prize in the youth category. The winner was a 10-year old dancing
tornado from Kyiv: Andrei Kirilin. Taking first was no small feat on
Andrei’s side. The youth division included kids as old as 16, and many
of the contestants were almost twice Andrei’s size. But in breaking,
where preparation, innovation and speed trump strength, “Davids” often
best “Goliaths.” Andrei’s victory was a testament to years of training
and the support of his studio, Kinder Crew
of Kyiv. Backstage, many of Andrei’s Kinder Crew friends were there to
support him along with older b-boy mentors, coaches, and family.
Hip-hop and, by extension, breaking, has always faced an up-hill battle in the image department, partly due to a “gangster” motif that has eclipsed other aspects of the movement, and partly due to misconceptions of what b-boying is really about. If my experience on the Maidan showed me anything, it is that breakdancing can set a positive example for young people in Ukraine. No matter how hard two “crews” “ battled”, and no matter the color of their skin or where they were from, when the music stopped and the winner was announced the competitors always came together in the center of the stage, shook hands, embraced and showed signs of mutual respect.
These
positive aspects are in keeping with breaking’s American roots. When it
emerged from New York’s boroughs in the 1970s, break dancing’s “street”
status meant there were no coaches, teams or leagues. For an aspiring
b-girl or b-boy, getting in was easy but getting good was hard. You had
to learn from somebody. Talk to any accomplished “old” b-boy or b-girl
about how they learned and they will smile and rattle off the names of
the best b-boys in the previous generation: people who inspired them,
took them under their wing, and invited them to join a “crew” that could
help them reach the next level. “Each one teach one” is a quiet mantra
in breakdancing that still holds true.
Perhaps no other crew has internalized “each one teach one” like Seattle, Washington’s Massive Monkees Crew. Our Embassy was proud to support them as our country’s entry in the Burn Battle School’s team competition. As dancers, Massive Monkees have won at the highest international level. But what sets them apart is how they have parlayed that success into opportunities for their community, and particularly for the next generation. One example is their Extraordinary Futures NGO, which uses dance to teach self-discipline, boost confidence, and broaden the horizons of at-risk kids. In recent years they have even used city support and crowd sourcing to turn their Seattle dance studio, aptly called “the Beacon,” into a community center complete with afterschool programs, toddler dance classes, music and art. No wonder the Mayor of Seattle created a “Massive Monkees Day” in their honor.
Massive Monkees brought this spirit of civic activism with them to Kyiv. Over the course of three days they taught classes, visited summer camps, hosted hip hop films,
judged dance contests and performed for thousands of young Ukrainians.
They talked about breakdancing’s celebration of diversity and
demonstrated its ability to break down barriers and to build young
people up. But Massive Monkees weren’t alone in delivering this
message. Their trip was supported by a national network of Ukrainian
crews and dance studios. At each event they were joined by veteran
Ukrainian b-boys and b-girls who shared their own experience with the
younger kids or were there as chaperones, trainers and mentors.
In the end, one can say that this year’s Burn Battle School was a success because hundreds of kids competed and thousands more came to watch. But what is more important is that it proved that breaking is alive and well in Ukraine. Clearly, local b-boys and b-girls have developed a thriving community that stretches from Kyiv to Sevastopol, Lviv to Lutsk ….And that’s a good thing.
Читати українською
Recently
I joined Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt, his family and an audience of over
10,000 on Independence Square to watch the World Breakdancing
Championship. Sponsored by Burn Battle School, hundreds of young
Ukrainian b-boys and b-girls “battled” (competed) in four categories:
best youth b-boy, men’s, women’s and team or “crew.” I was blown away
by the popularity of the event and amazed at the skill level of the
Ukrainian breakers. Even more impressive was that, although competition
was fierce, the atmosphere was positive — even festive — a bit like
watching a college football game in my native Ohio.
Because our Embassy was one of the event’s sponsors, the Ambassador awarded the first place
prize in the youth category. The winner was a 10-year old dancing
tornado from Kyiv: Andrei Kirilin. Taking first was no small feat on
Andrei’s side. The youth division included kids as old as 16, and many
of the contestants were almost twice Andrei’s size. But in breaking,
where preparation, innovation and speed trump strength, “Davids” often
best “Goliaths.” Andrei’s victory was a testament to years of training
and the support of his studio, Kinder Crew
of Kyiv. Backstage, many of Andrei’s Kinder Crew friends were there to
support him along with older b-boy mentors, coaches, and family.Hip-hop and, by extension, breaking, has always faced an up-hill battle in the image department, partly due to a “gangster” motif that has eclipsed other aspects of the movement, and partly due to misconceptions of what b-boying is really about. If my experience on the Maidan showed me anything, it is that breakdancing can set a positive example for young people in Ukraine. No matter how hard two “crews” “ battled”, and no matter the color of their skin or where they were from, when the music stopped and the winner was announced the competitors always came together in the center of the stage, shook hands, embraced and showed signs of mutual respect.
These
positive aspects are in keeping with breaking’s American roots. When it
emerged from New York’s boroughs in the 1970s, break dancing’s “street”
status meant there were no coaches, teams or leagues. For an aspiring
b-girl or b-boy, getting in was easy but getting good was hard. You had
to learn from somebody. Talk to any accomplished “old” b-boy or b-girl
about how they learned and they will smile and rattle off the names of
the best b-boys in the previous generation: people who inspired them,
took them under their wing, and invited them to join a “crew” that could
help them reach the next level. “Each one teach one” is a quiet mantra
in breakdancing that still holds true.Perhaps no other crew has internalized “each one teach one” like Seattle, Washington’s Massive Monkees Crew. Our Embassy was proud to support them as our country’s entry in the Burn Battle School’s team competition. As dancers, Massive Monkees have won at the highest international level. But what sets them apart is how they have parlayed that success into opportunities for their community, and particularly for the next generation. One example is their Extraordinary Futures NGO, which uses dance to teach self-discipline, boost confidence, and broaden the horizons of at-risk kids. In recent years they have even used city support and crowd sourcing to turn their Seattle dance studio, aptly called “the Beacon,” into a community center complete with afterschool programs, toddler dance classes, music and art. No wonder the Mayor of Seattle created a “Massive Monkees Day” in their honor.
Massive Monkees brought this spirit of civic activism with them to Kyiv. Over the course of three days they taught classes, visited summer camps, hosted hip hop films,
judged dance contests and performed for thousands of young Ukrainians.
They talked about breakdancing’s celebration of diversity and
demonstrated its ability to break down barriers and to build young
people up. But Massive Monkees weren’t alone in delivering this
message. Their trip was supported by a national network of Ukrainian
crews and dance studios. At each event they were joined by veteran
Ukrainian b-boys and b-girls who shared their own experience with the
younger kids or were there as chaperones, trainers and mentors.In the end, one can say that this year’s Burn Battle School was a success because hundreds of kids competed and thousands more came to watch. But what is more important is that it proved that breaking is alive and well in Ukraine. Clearly, local b-boys and b-girls have developed a thriving community that stretches from Kyiv to Sevastopol, Lviv to Lutsk ….And that’s a good thing.
September 21, 2013
Never Forget: Honoring Holocaust Victims at Babyn Yar
Posted by usembassykyiv under Ambassador, Holocaust, Human Rights | Tags: Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt, Ambassador Pyatt, Babyn Yar, Holocaust, human |Leave a Comment
Posted by: Steven Page, Political Officer
Читати українською
On September 28, 1941, signs were posted across Kyiv, ordering the
city’s Jews to gather the following day on the corner of Melnykova and
Doktorivska Streets (present day Melnykova and Dorohozhytska Streets).
Those who gathered were led to Babyn Yar, a ravine northwest of Kyiv,
where Nazi soldiers shot some 34,000 Jews on September 29-30. This was
the start of a bloody campaign, which over the next two years claimed
the lives of tens of thousands of Jews, Roma, Ukrainian nationalists,
prisoners of war, and others — an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 in all.
For nearly five decades, the Soviet authorities refused to
acknowledge the extent of the brutality, particularly against Jews, at
Babyn Yar, instead preferring to more generally focus on Nazi violence
against the Soviet people. The collapse of communism introduced a
period of openness and discussion about the massacre of Kyiv’s wartime
Jewish population at Babyn Yar. Visiting U.S. dignitaries — including
former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton — have since visited
the site to remember the innocent victims, to learn from past
mistakes, to continue the fight against bigotry and hatred, and to take a
stand against violence and tyranny.
On September 18, Ambassador Pyatt followed this tradition of
remembering when he joined Chief Progressive Rabbi of Ukraine Oleksandr
Dukhovny to honor those murdered by the Nazis at Babyn Yar. Rabbi
Dukhovny explained the tragedy that befell Kyiv’s Jewish population and
others who opposed Nazi rule. Rabbi Dukhovny also shared the heroic
stories of survivors and Ukrainians who defied Nazi orders and protected
Jews during the occupation of Kyiv. Ambassador Pyatt left a visitation
stone at the Menorah Monument – a Jewish tradition honoring the dead.
President Clinton stated during his 1995 visit to Babyn Yar, “In the
quiet of this place, the victims of Babi Yar cry out to us still. Never
forget, they tell us, that humanity is capable of the worst, just as it
is capable of the best. Never forget that the forces of darkness
cannot be defeated with silence or indifference. Never forget that we
are all Jews and [Roma] and Slavs. Never forget.” It is in this spirit
of remembrance that Ambassador Pyatt and the entire Embassy will
continue to advocate for justice for Ukraine’s many religious, ethnic,
and other minority groups to ensure that this type of tragedy is not
repeated.
Читати українською
Ambassador Pyatt Tours Babyn Yar with Rabbi Dukhovny
Ambassador Pyatt Pays His Respects to the Victims of Babyn Yar
Rabbi Dukhovny Shares Stories of Survivors with Ambassador Pyatt
Ambassador Pyatt Leaves a Visitation Stone at the Menorah Monument — a Jewish Tradition Honoring the Dead
September 16, 2013
Community Service and Volunteerism in Ukraine: Supporting Children with Special Needs
Posted by usembassykyiv under Ambassador, Human Rights, Humanitarian Assistance, Peace Corps, Trips | Tags: Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt, Ambassador Pyatt, Nadiya, Peace Corps |Leave a Comment
Ambassador Pyatt meets with Nadiya NGO representatives
Читати українською
The United States is associated with many positive emotions at Nadiya, an NGO focusing on children and youth with special needs located in Drohobych, L’vivska Oblast. The organization, in operation since 1991, has received various sources of support from U.S. grants as well humanitarian assistance over the years. In June 2012, the NGO’s relationship with the United States was strengthened further when I arrived as the organization’s first U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer.
Ambassador Pyatt meets with Nadiya NGO representatives
Ambassador Pyatt with Nadiya NGO representatives
Ambassador Pyatt graciously listened to information about our projects over the past year, made possible through U.S. support, and congratulated us on our successes. He then enjoyed a brief tour of our facility and a cup of tea with our youth and volunteers. Everyone was really encouraged to hear so many positive remarks from the Ambassador. People cannot stop talking about his visit to Nadiya.
From all of us in Drohobych, we would like to say thank you, Ambassador Pyatt, for taking the time to see us at Nadiya! I am sure this day will be remembered for years to come.
September 6, 2013
Honoring Lviv’s Jewish Past and Holocaust Suffering
Posted by usembassykyiv under Uncategorized | Tags: Ambassador Pyatt, Holocaust, Jewish, Laughing in the Darkness, Lviv, Lviv Ghetto, Nazis, Sholem Aleichem |1 Comment
Posted by Eric A. Johnson, Public Affairs Officer
Читати українською
During the last days of Elul, Ambassador Pyatt paid his respects to the hundreds of thousands of Jews who were brutally murdered by the Nazis in and around Lviv. Ambassador Pyatt left behind his first visitation stone at the monument honoring those Jews who died in the Lviv Ghetto. Although Lviv was already the third largest Jewish city in the region in 1939, its Jewish population doubled to more than 200,000 by the time the Nazis occupied the city in June 1941. Over that summer, the Nazis forcibly moved all of the Jews in Lviv to the northern end of the city beyond the train tracks. While the systematic killings of Jews began in the ghetto, the Nazi regime also started shipping Jews in cattle cars to the nearby Belzec Extermination Camp where as many as half a million Jews were mercilessly slaughtered.
Home to almost 50 synagogues before World War II, the Nazis destroyed
all but two during their occupation of Lviv. During his visit to
Lviv’s old Jewish neighborhood centered along Staroevreyska Street,
Ambassador Pyatt visited the sites of the former Great City Synagogue as
well as the Golden Rose (Turei Zahav) Synagogue. Several years ago,
the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv – through the U.S. Ambassador’s Fund for
Cultural Preservation – gave a grant to help document the history of the
Golden Rose Synagogue in order to help honor Lviv’s Jewish past.
Ambassador Pyatt also visited Lviv’s only functioning synagogue – the
beautifully-restored 1925 Beis Aharon V’Yrisrael Synagogue (known as the
Tori Gilead Synagogue before the war), where he met with Rabbi Bald –
the Chief Rabbi of Lviv and Western Ukraine – to discuss those issues
important to Lviv’s present-day Jewish community.
Looking forward to the future, Ambassador Pyatt completed his visit
of Jewish Lviv by visiting the building where Sholem Aleichem once
lived. Born near Pereyaslav, Sholem Aleichem (born Sholem Rabinovich)
died in New York City making him one of the many points of connection
which continue to bind the U.S. and Ukraine together to this day. In
October 2013, the U.S. Embassy will bring Joe Dorman – director of the
wonderful documentary film Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness
(2011) – to Ukraine in order to present his film in both Kyiv and
Lviv. This event will mark one more way in which the U.S. Embassy will
help pay tribute to Lviv’s rich Jewish past.
Читати українською
During the last days of Elul, Ambassador Pyatt paid his respects to the hundreds of thousands of Jews who were brutally murdered by the Nazis in and around Lviv. Ambassador Pyatt left behind his first visitation stone at the monument honoring those Jews who died in the Lviv Ghetto. Although Lviv was already the third largest Jewish city in the region in 1939, its Jewish population doubled to more than 200,000 by the time the Nazis occupied the city in June 1941. Over that summer, the Nazis forcibly moved all of the Jews in Lviv to the northern end of the city beyond the train tracks. While the systematic killings of Jews began in the ghetto, the Nazi regime also started shipping Jews in cattle cars to the nearby Belzec Extermination Camp where as many as half a million Jews were mercilessly slaughtered.
Ambassador Pyatt Visits the Lviv Ghetto
Many of the Jews who were deemed “fit for
work” ended up being moved from the Lviv Ghetto to the even closer
Janowska Concentration Camp on the outskirts of Lviv. An estimated
200,000 Jews were worked to death or executed at Janowska over the next
two years. Many of the Holocaust-related items on display in Kyiv’s
World War II Museum today – including a horrifying bone-crushing machine
– come from the Janowska Concentration Camp. Ambassador Pyatt left
behind a second visitation stone in memory of those who died at Janowska
at the huge boulder which marks one of the sites where the
concentration camp’s victims were buried.
Ambassador Pyatt at a Memorial to Victims of the Janowska Concentration Camp
Ambassador Pyatt Visits the Building Where Sholem Aleichem Once Lived
August 30, 2013
A Teaching Revolution
Posted by usembassykyiv under Education, Technology | Tags: English, novice, Regional English Language Office, teacher, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, training |[2] Comments
Posted by: Crystal Bock Thiessen, English Language Fellow
Читати українською
Walking
into a room of nineteen young Ukrainian English language teachers, it
was hard not to be aware of something stirring, of something much bigger
beginning to take place.
As a part of the U.S. Embassy Kyiv’s annual novice teacher training, I was invited to work with these novice participants in current English as a Foreign Language (EFL) methodologies and best practices. We explored topics in lesson planning, error correction, and using technology and social media in the EFL classroom as well. Everything was done with a focus on the communicative approach to teaching and on learner-centered teaching (a fairly uncommon concept in this part of the world). In preparation for this endeavor, the words I heard over and over again were simply, “they’re hungry.” No doubt that feeling was thick in the air throughout the training.
These
are exciting times to be a young English language teacher and
learner–scary, yet exciting. Once again in our great educational
evolution we are on the brink of a transformation in not only how we
think about language education, but in how we go about it in our
classrooms. This is especially true in Ukraine, where the stifling idea
of English as merely a puddle of complicated grammar rules and
translation purposes has given way to a generation of Internet-savvy
learners quite ready to actually use the language to communicate with
the world they so willingly connect to and absorb. There’s restlessness
towards the way things have always been done—towards the English
learning of the past. What these young teachers are just becoming aware
of is that they are the first bullets in what will ultimately be the
next revolution in English-language education. They are the ones who
will start the chain of change, and change, as we all know, is
incredibly difficult.
Like I said, scary and exciting.
By
the end of the four days with these novice teachers, the hunger for
useful English teaching skills was joined by a sense of empowerment in
the knowledge that, as engrained as things seem here in Ukraine in terms
of English education, the revolution of it is beginning now with this
generation of new teachers. Having such programs and workshops
sponsored by the Regional English Language Office
shows these teachers that we are committed to helping them meet their
language-teaching challenges head on, and that we too are hungry for
these new practices and methodologies to become the norm, not the
exception, in English language education here in Ukraine.
More photos
Читати українською
Walking
into a room of nineteen young Ukrainian English language teachers, it
was hard not to be aware of something stirring, of something much bigger
beginning to take place.As a part of the U.S. Embassy Kyiv’s annual novice teacher training, I was invited to work with these novice participants in current English as a Foreign Language (EFL) methodologies and best practices. We explored topics in lesson planning, error correction, and using technology and social media in the EFL classroom as well. Everything was done with a focus on the communicative approach to teaching and on learner-centered teaching (a fairly uncommon concept in this part of the world). In preparation for this endeavor, the words I heard over and over again were simply, “they’re hungry.” No doubt that feeling was thick in the air throughout the training.
These
are exciting times to be a young English language teacher and
learner–scary, yet exciting. Once again in our great educational
evolution we are on the brink of a transformation in not only how we
think about language education, but in how we go about it in our
classrooms. This is especially true in Ukraine, where the stifling idea
of English as merely a puddle of complicated grammar rules and
translation purposes has given way to a generation of Internet-savvy
learners quite ready to actually use the language to communicate with
the world they so willingly connect to and absorb. There’s restlessness
towards the way things have always been done—towards the English
learning of the past. What these young teachers are just becoming aware
of is that they are the first bullets in what will ultimately be the
next revolution in English-language education. They are the ones who
will start the chain of change, and change, as we all know, is
incredibly difficult.Like I said, scary and exciting.
By
the end of the four days with these novice teachers, the hunger for
useful English teaching skills was joined by a sense of empowerment in
the knowledge that, as engrained as things seem here in Ukraine in terms
of English education, the revolution of it is beginning now with this
generation of new teachers. Having such programs and workshops
sponsored by the Regional English Language Office
shows these teachers that we are committed to helping them meet their
language-teaching challenges head on, and that we too are hungry for
these new practices and methodologies to become the norm, not the
exception, in English language education here in Ukraine.More photos
August 20, 2013
Ambassador Pyatt’s Visit to the Honchar Museum: Showing Respect for Ukraine’s Vibrant Culture
Posted by usembassykyiv under Ambassador, Culture, History | Tags: Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt, culture, history, Ivan Honchar Museum, Ukraine |1 Comment
Posted by: Larry Socha, Consular Officer
Читати українською
“You cannot imagine a Ukrainian family without its rushnyk,” Petro Honchar told Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt. “Rich or poor, every family had one.”
Director Petro Honchar guided U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt through the Ukrainian Center of Folk Culture, Ivan Honchar Museum, on Friday afternoon, concluding the Ambassador’s first week in country. Their lively conversation flowed through each room. Under the watchful eyes of dozens of icons, the Director and Ambassador discussed religious imagery and the spirit represented by Cossack Mamay. They compared the landscape styles of Ukrainian artists in the late 19th century and the motifs of artistic schools from the Ambassador’s native California. They paused in front of a portrait of Ivan Honchar, whose private collection, spurned by Soviet authorities, became this great national treasure of independent Ukraine. “Most museums in the Soviet period were based on class struggle. Ivan had the idea that a museum could unite not divide,” Director Honchar explained. “The idea of family became central to his vision.”
Almost immediately upon entering the museum, the visitor is welcomed by scores of black and white Ukrainian photographs, many over a century old. Some are family portraits. Others depict wedding celebrations. But one at eye level reflects back at the viewer, a mirror. The visitor, wherever his roots lie, is invited to be Ukrainian, to understand Ukraine, from the very first moments of his visit.
Ambassador Pyatt was honored to make the Ivan Honchar Museum one of the first stops in his journey through Ukraine. He recalled the long, rectangular cloth of the embroidered rushnyk which symbolizes a journey and the delicately stitched flowers and birds that represent Ukraine’s fertile land. Ambassador Pyatt thanked Director Honchar for a wonderful introduction to the richness of Ukrainian cultural traditions and the country’s deep European history. At the conclusion of the tour, Director Honchar presented Ambassador Pyatt with a vyshyvanka sewn in the colors of Acting Hetman Pavlo Polubotok – a Cossack political and military leader of left-bank Ukraine between 1722 and 1724.
Video
Photos
Читати українською
Ambassador Pyatt Receives a Vyshyvanka as a Gift from the Honchar Museum
Director Petro Honchar guided U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt through the Ukrainian Center of Folk Culture, Ivan Honchar Museum, on Friday afternoon, concluding the Ambassador’s first week in country. Their lively conversation flowed through each room. Under the watchful eyes of dozens of icons, the Director and Ambassador discussed religious imagery and the spirit represented by Cossack Mamay. They compared the landscape styles of Ukrainian artists in the late 19th century and the motifs of artistic schools from the Ambassador’s native California. They paused in front of a portrait of Ivan Honchar, whose private collection, spurned by Soviet authorities, became this great national treasure of independent Ukraine. “Most museums in the Soviet period were based on class struggle. Ivan had the idea that a museum could unite not divide,” Director Honchar explained. “The idea of family became central to his vision.”
Almost immediately upon entering the museum, the visitor is welcomed by scores of black and white Ukrainian photographs, many over a century old. Some are family portraits. Others depict wedding celebrations. But one at eye level reflects back at the viewer, a mirror. The visitor, wherever his roots lie, is invited to be Ukrainian, to understand Ukraine, from the very first moments of his visit.
Ambassador Pyatt was honored to make the Ivan Honchar Museum one of the first stops in his journey through Ukraine. He recalled the long, rectangular cloth of the embroidered rushnyk which symbolizes a journey and the delicately stitched flowers and birds that represent Ukraine’s fertile land. Ambassador Pyatt thanked Director Honchar for a wonderful introduction to the richness of Ukrainian cultural traditions and the country’s deep European history. At the conclusion of the tour, Director Honchar presented Ambassador Pyatt with a vyshyvanka sewn in the colors of Acting Hetman Pavlo Polubotok – a Cossack political and military leader of left-bank Ukraine between 1722 and 1724.
Video
Photos
August 8, 2013
Interview with Hobart Earle, the First American and Newest People’s Artist of Ukraine
Posted by usembassykyiv under American Music Series, Art | Tags: art, Hobart Earle, music, Odesa, Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra |[2] Comments
Posted by: Emma Hutchins, Public Affairs Intern
Читати українською
Hobart Earle, an American music director and conductor who has led
the Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra to new heights, was awarded the title Narodny Artist Ukrainy
(People’s Artist of Ukraine) by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych
on June 27, 2013. Mr. Earle was kind enough to speak with the U.S.
Embassy in Kyiv’s Public Affairs Section about everything from his
reaction to the award, his friendship with Ukrainian actor Bohdan
Stupka, and proposed architectural improvements of Odesa’s Philharmonic
Hall. A more detailed blog post discussing Mr. Earle’s contributions to
Ukrainian music and culture can be found here: (insert link).
You were the first and only American to receive the Distinguished Artist of Ukraine award and now, the People’s Artist of Ukraine. How did you feel when you learned you were going to receive the award, especially considering your unique status as a foreigner?
I was in Moscow, conducting recordings with the State Symphony Orchestra of Russia (Svetlanov Symphony) in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, when I received an email from a friend in Kyiv congratulating me on the award. My first thought was: “Why is he poking fun at me?” However, within half an hour, my staff had checked the website of the President of Ukraine, and confirmed it was true. I was amazed. Next day in Moscow, there was an unforgettable moment, when the orchestra gave me thunderous applause and played me a so-called “touche” on the stage of the Great Hall of the Conservatory after their inspector announced my new title to them. Of course, the title is indeed quite an honor. While in Moscow, my thoughts turned to my late friend, the eminent Ukrainian actor Bohdan Stupka. Six months ago, the last time I was in Moscow to conduct, I was accommodated in the room where he always stayed at the Ukrainian Cultural Institute (the room now bears a memorial plaque to Bohdan Stupka). Bohdan used to attend my concerts with the Odesa Philharmonic in Kyiv regularly during the 1990s, and invariably came backstage with his young grandson. Later, during his stint as Minister of Culture (end of the 1990s), he once said to me: ‘Hobart, you should be “Narodny Artist”’ and began to investigate the idea, only to be told the law stated a minimum of 10 years had to lapse between ‘Zasluzhyny’ and ‘Narodny’. So, I remembered his words and was thinking Bohdan would be pleased to see this title bestowed upon me, after so many years.
Why were you first attracted to working in Ukraine, and what has made you remain here for so long?
That’s a question I’m asked again and again. And it’s been written up often (including ‘Reader’s Digest’ in 1996: see http://www.odessaphilharmonic.org/press.php?news=50). My ‘fate’ so to speak, has a lot to do with geography, and Vienna is a big part of the reason I ended up coming to Ukraine. Had I not been in Vienna during the end of the 1980s, it’s safe to say I would’ve probably not traveled further east. Indeed, I first met Bohdan Stupka in Vienna way back in 1991, during a guest performance he gave with the Franko Theater at the Wiener Volkstheater. Funnily enough, that night was the first time I ever heard Ukrainian spoken. As I began to realize I couldn’t understand every third or fourth word, it dawned upon me that what I was hearing was not Russian. As to what made me stay in Odesa so long, well, that’s also ‘fate’, although I should add, we conductors travel a lot. I conduct in many different countries each year.
What has been your favorite piece to perform in Ukraine? How do you decide which compositions you are going to conduct?
I have conducted in many different halls and theaters throughout Ukraine over the years — and as far as theaters go, the opera houses in Kyiv, Odesa and Lviv are all special. However, there’s no question Philharmonic Hall in Odesa is my favorite concert hall. There’s also no doubt it’s the best concert hall for symphony orchestras in the country. The sad thing is, the hall’s potential is still not realized, as many of the recommendations made by eminent acoustician Russell Johnson in his report on the hall ( http://www.odessaphilharmonic.org/pages.php?page=hallreport) have yet to be implemented. But the happy truth is, once they’re all done, there’s no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the great man’s words, “Odesa’s Philharmonic Hall can rival the great concert halls of Europe,” will be right on the mark.
As to repertoire, the OPO performs a wide range of compositions by all sorts of composers each season. We bring a very diverse offering. We recently played two world premieres on tour in Kyiv in May 2013, including a new “Double Concerto” for trumpet and trombone by Austrian composer Reinhard Suess, with friends of mine from student days in Vienna – Principal Trombone of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Dietmar Kueblboeck, and his brother Rainer, Principal Trumpet of the Vienna Symphony. I’d say my own planning is a combination of re-visiting pieces I’ve conducted in the past, and performing compositions for the first time. And, as an added plus, it’s always nice to perform with friends who you don’t necessarily get to see every year.
What role do you think music and the arts play in developing Ukraine?
No question the role is big. Ukraine is a country with a deep tradition in the arts. We’d all like to hope this role will continue to grow. However, I’d be lying if I didn’t say we see a general trend toward ‘popular culture’ on the rise, a trend which was not present so much in the past. There’s no doubt that as time goes by, more and more needs to be done, since as the pace of life picks up, traditional values risk being left behind.
How do you plan on building upon your success at the Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra in the future?
We’ve built a loyal audience in Odesa over the years, and have a number of annual events that are widely followed, locally. We have a number of ideas ‘up our sleeve’ for the future, including various festivals, which the city is well-suited to host. Time will tell. A lot of the chances for future growth depend on the hall’s acoustic potential – and potential as a historic architectural monument – being properly realized. As to my own guest conducting, I plan to continue expanding this aspect of my artistic life.
Читати українською
Hobart Earle, an American music director and conductor
You were the first and only American to receive the Distinguished Artist of Ukraine award and now, the People’s Artist of Ukraine. How did you feel when you learned you were going to receive the award, especially considering your unique status as a foreigner?
I was in Moscow, conducting recordings with the State Symphony Orchestra of Russia (Svetlanov Symphony) in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, when I received an email from a friend in Kyiv congratulating me on the award. My first thought was: “Why is he poking fun at me?” However, within half an hour, my staff had checked the website of the President of Ukraine, and confirmed it was true. I was amazed. Next day in Moscow, there was an unforgettable moment, when the orchestra gave me thunderous applause and played me a so-called “touche” on the stage of the Great Hall of the Conservatory after their inspector announced my new title to them. Of course, the title is indeed quite an honor. While in Moscow, my thoughts turned to my late friend, the eminent Ukrainian actor Bohdan Stupka. Six months ago, the last time I was in Moscow to conduct, I was accommodated in the room where he always stayed at the Ukrainian Cultural Institute (the room now bears a memorial plaque to Bohdan Stupka). Bohdan used to attend my concerts with the Odesa Philharmonic in Kyiv regularly during the 1990s, and invariably came backstage with his young grandson. Later, during his stint as Minister of Culture (end of the 1990s), he once said to me: ‘Hobart, you should be “Narodny Artist”’ and began to investigate the idea, only to be told the law stated a minimum of 10 years had to lapse between ‘Zasluzhyny’ and ‘Narodny’. So, I remembered his words and was thinking Bohdan would be pleased to see this title bestowed upon me, after so many years.
Why were you first attracted to working in Ukraine, and what has made you remain here for so long?
That’s a question I’m asked again and again. And it’s been written up often (including ‘Reader’s Digest’ in 1996: see http://www.odessaphilharmonic.org/press.php?news=50). My ‘fate’ so to speak, has a lot to do with geography, and Vienna is a big part of the reason I ended up coming to Ukraine. Had I not been in Vienna during the end of the 1980s, it’s safe to say I would’ve probably not traveled further east. Indeed, I first met Bohdan Stupka in Vienna way back in 1991, during a guest performance he gave with the Franko Theater at the Wiener Volkstheater. Funnily enough, that night was the first time I ever heard Ukrainian spoken. As I began to realize I couldn’t understand every third or fourth word, it dawned upon me that what I was hearing was not Russian. As to what made me stay in Odesa so long, well, that’s also ‘fate’, although I should add, we conductors travel a lot. I conduct in many different countries each year.
What has been your favorite piece to perform in Ukraine? How do you decide which compositions you are going to conduct?
I have conducted in many different halls and theaters throughout Ukraine over the years — and as far as theaters go, the opera houses in Kyiv, Odesa and Lviv are all special. However, there’s no question Philharmonic Hall in Odesa is my favorite concert hall. There’s also no doubt it’s the best concert hall for symphony orchestras in the country. The sad thing is, the hall’s potential is still not realized, as many of the recommendations made by eminent acoustician Russell Johnson in his report on the hall ( http://www.odessaphilharmonic.org/pages.php?page=hallreport) have yet to be implemented. But the happy truth is, once they’re all done, there’s no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the great man’s words, “Odesa’s Philharmonic Hall can rival the great concert halls of Europe,” will be right on the mark.
As to repertoire, the OPO performs a wide range of compositions by all sorts of composers each season. We bring a very diverse offering. We recently played two world premieres on tour in Kyiv in May 2013, including a new “Double Concerto” for trumpet and trombone by Austrian composer Reinhard Suess, with friends of mine from student days in Vienna – Principal Trombone of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Dietmar Kueblboeck, and his brother Rainer, Principal Trumpet of the Vienna Symphony. I’d say my own planning is a combination of re-visiting pieces I’ve conducted in the past, and performing compositions for the first time. And, as an added plus, it’s always nice to perform with friends who you don’t necessarily get to see every year.
What role do you think music and the arts play in developing Ukraine?
No question the role is big. Ukraine is a country with a deep tradition in the arts. We’d all like to hope this role will continue to grow. However, I’d be lying if I didn’t say we see a general trend toward ‘popular culture’ on the rise, a trend which was not present so much in the past. There’s no doubt that as time goes by, more and more needs to be done, since as the pace of life picks up, traditional values risk being left behind.
How do you plan on building upon your success at the Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra in the future?
We’ve built a loyal audience in Odesa over the years, and have a number of annual events that are widely followed, locally. We have a number of ideas ‘up our sleeve’ for the future, including various festivals, which the city is well-suited to host. Time will tell. A lot of the chances for future growth depend on the hall’s acoustic potential – and potential as a historic architectural monument – being properly realized. As to my own guest conducting, I plan to continue expanding this aspect of my artistic life.
August 1, 2013
20 Years of Success: Stories from our FLEX Alumni — “Such international friendships gave all of us an opportunity to review our stereotypes about other nations and cultures”
Posted by usembassykyiv under Education, Exchanges, FLEX Alumni | Tags: Alumni, FLEX, Ohio, success story |1 Comment
This story is part of a series of blog entries to mark the 20th anniversary
of the Future Leaders Exchange program (FLEX) in Ukraine. FLEX is the
U.S. Government’s premier high school exchange program. For more
information about U.S. exchanges please click here.Posted by: Alina Nikulina, Future Leaders Exchange Program 2010-2011, Gahanna High School, Gahanna, Ohio
Читати українською
During the year I spent in the U.S. I re-evaluated my values, changed my life views and saw how other people live. I shared traditions and even recipes from my country with my American friends. I spent the 2010-2011 school year on the Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX) in Gahanna, Ohio.
Alina Nikulina, FLEX Alumni, with her American friends
Besides studying in America, I had a wonderful opportunity to communicate with people there. Now I have an American family that became as close to me as my own. I have friends not only among Americans but also among people from other countries. Such international friendships gave all of us an opportunity to review our stereotypes about other nations and cultures. In America we all represented our own culture. We did not only learn from Americans, but Americans also learned from us.
I believe that such exchange programs present their participants with great opportunities. They also help us understand each other and give us the possibility to hear one another in the world without aggression and wars.
July 30, 2013
Forest Fairytale: How the U.S. Military Transformed a Starychi Preschool
Posted by usembassykyiv under Humanitarian Assistance, U.S. Army | Tags: EUCOM, Humanitarian Assistance, military, renovation, Starychi Preschool, U.S. Army, U.S. Military European Command |Leave a Comment
Posted by: Emma Hutchins, Public Affairs Intern and Major Sven Olson, Bilateral Affairs Officer
Читати українською
While on an official visit to Moscow in 2009, U.S. President Barack
Obama remarked, “[By] mobilizing and organizing and changing people’s
hearts and minds, you then change the political landscape.” On July 17,
the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv and Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC)
translated President Obama’s wise words into action, as they celebrated
the completion of a Humanitarian Assistance renovation project at a
local school in the village of Starychi in the region of Lviv.
This summer’s project builds upon the success of the groundbreaking ceremony at Starychi’s Preschool last July, when the U.S. Military prepared for the upcoming renovations, and ROTC cadets and local Ukrainians worked on joint volunteer projects around the school. Since then, the European Command (EUCOM) Civic Engagement Branch Humanitarian Assistance Program has funded the installation of a new thermal façade, new windows, new entrance steps (including a terrace and canopy), indoor toilets, kitchenettes, and the renovation of six outdoor gazebos. The EUCOM team also brought along a U.S. Embassy photographer, allowing us to capture and share the energy and emotion of the celebration.
When the school’s Director, Lubov Kmilyovska, expressed her
gratitude, she referred to her newly renovated school as a “forest
fairytale,” and the parents’ community noted that the facility had
become a beautiful second home for their children. The completed project
dramatically improves energy savings, the winterization of the
preschool, and the safety and quality of life for children and teachers,
as the persistent danger presented by falling stones from the old
façade and deteriorating play areas has now been eliminated.
The Starychi Preschool was a particularly fitting location for a Humanitarian Assistance project, as the village maintains a strong relationship with the International Security and Peacekeeping Center (ISPC), and the school community is a close partner with the locally based Ukrainian military unit. In fact, the school’s ribbon-cutting ceremony was scheduled to coincide with Distinguished Visitor (DV) day at the multinational military exercise Rapid Trident 2013, which is based out of the ISPC. As a result of the concurrent scheduling, U.S. Ambassador John F. Tefft, Major General David Baldwin, ODC Chief LTC Tracey Rueschoff, and ODC staff all attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the beautifully transformed school. The juxtaposition of these two events highlights the many facets of military work, including international partnership, public diplomacy, and civilian stability.
While regional contractors usually carry out these projects, the U.S.
government also requires a significant amount of local collaboration to
orchestrate these efforts. Many previous project locations – roughly 25
in the past decade – were suggested by USAID and its regional
contractors, illustrating how a number of different players are involved
in improving the quality of life across Ukraine. For many Military
Humanitarian Assistance (MHA) projects, the United States’ commitment to
the health, safety, and success of Ukraine’s students does not end
after the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The U.S. Military is invested in the
continuing success of local communities like Starychi, and recently
provided a large shipment of school supplies to support Ukrainian
students.
Beyond the new building and school supplies, the most rewarding result was the spirit of optimism that residents exuded in the aftermath of the project. The smiling faces of the Ambassador and other Distinguished Visitors, military leaders, ROTC cadets, teachers, parents, and most importantly the school’s students, spoke volumes about the U.S. Military’s commitment to giving back to communities and building global partnerships, even if only one “forest fairytale” preschool at a time.
Photos
Читати українською
U.S. Military European Command Transforms Starychi Preschool – Group Photo with Ambassador Tefft
This summer’s project builds upon the success of the groundbreaking ceremony at Starychi’s Preschool last July, when the U.S. Military prepared for the upcoming renovations, and ROTC cadets and local Ukrainians worked on joint volunteer projects around the school. Since then, the European Command (EUCOM) Civic Engagement Branch Humanitarian Assistance Program has funded the installation of a new thermal façade, new windows, new entrance steps (including a terrace and canopy), indoor toilets, kitchenettes, and the renovation of six outdoor gazebos. The EUCOM team also brought along a U.S. Embassy photographer, allowing us to capture and share the energy and emotion of the celebration.
U.S. Military European Command Transforms Starychi Preschool – ROTS Cadets Talk to Kids
The Starychi Preschool was a particularly fitting location for a Humanitarian Assistance project, as the village maintains a strong relationship with the International Security and Peacekeeping Center (ISPC), and the school community is a close partner with the locally based Ukrainian military unit. In fact, the school’s ribbon-cutting ceremony was scheduled to coincide with Distinguished Visitor (DV) day at the multinational military exercise Rapid Trident 2013, which is based out of the ISPC. As a result of the concurrent scheduling, U.S. Ambassador John F. Tefft, Major General David Baldwin, ODC Chief LTC Tracey Rueschoff, and ODC staff all attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the beautifully transformed school. The juxtaposition of these two events highlights the many facets of military work, including international partnership, public diplomacy, and civilian stability.
U.S.
Military European Command Transforms Starychi Preschool – Major General
David Baldwin and Preschool Director Lubov Kmilyovska
Beyond the new building and school supplies, the most rewarding result was the spirit of optimism that residents exuded in the aftermath of the project. The smiling faces of the Ambassador and other Distinguished Visitors, military leaders, ROTC cadets, teachers, parents, and most importantly the school’s students, spoke volumes about the U.S. Military’s commitment to giving back to communities and building global partnerships, even if only one “forest fairytale” preschool at a time.
Photos
July 29, 2013
Standing Ovation: American Musical Conductor Hobart Earle Emerges as People’s Artist of Ukraine
Posted by usembassykyiv under American Music Series, Art | Tags: Hobart Earle, music, Narodny Artist Ukrainy, Odesa, Philharmonic Orchestra |1 Comment
Posted by: Emma Hutchins, Public Affairs Intern
Читати українською
When Hobart Earle, the Music Director and Principal Conductor of
Odesa’s Philharmonic Orchestra, received an email from a friend
congratulating him on the title of Narodny Artist Ukrainy
(meaning People’s Artist of Ukraine), Earle thought he was being
pranked. But just thirty minutes later, the exciting reality began to
set in when Earle’s staff confirmed the award through Ukrainian
President Viktor Yanukovych’s website. The honor, which originated under
Soviet rule in 1922, is the most prestigious performing arts award in
Ukraine and can only be granted to artists ten years after they receive
the title “Distinguished Artist of Ukraine.” Considering neither title
had ever been awarded to an American, Earle’s recognition has been all
the more impressive.
Earle is no stranger to firsts: he was the first artist to receive the Friend of Ukraine award established by the Washington Group; he introduced the first performances of a number of classics (Mahler’s 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 9th symphonies and Strauss’s “Four Last Songs”) in Odesa; and under his leadership Odesa’s Philharmonic became the first Ukrainian orchestra to cross the Atlantic and cross the equator – and was the first orchestra to increase its status from local to regional to national funding after the establishment of an independent Ukraine.
Indeed, in a career marked with international awards and sold-out
performances, Maestro Earle is perhaps best known for elevating Odesa’s
Philharmonic Orchestra to international prominence. In August 1996, Reader’s Digest
journalist Lucinda Hahn charted Earle’s impressive achievement of
transforming a regional group of musicians into an
internationally-recognized orchestra. The article’s headline suggests
the enormity of the task: “Maestro of Their Dreams: He promised to turn a
disheartened band of musicians into a world-class orchestra, but even
they doubted him.” Hahn noted how at the end of a performance in one
Ukrainian town, shortly following the end of the Soviet Union, Earle
closed his show of American songs by turning to the audience and
declaring in Ukrainian, “We really can’t leave without playing a little
Ukrainian music!” – at which point his orchestra played Ukraine’s
unofficial national anthem as the crowd erupted with excitement.
That’s what makes Earle’s recent award so fitting: while he brings international attention to Odesa’s classical music scene, he also brings Ukrainian music to the world – and to Ukrainians. In a telephone interview after his award was announced, Earle gave back credit to the country where he’s built his musical empire, noting that “the great thing about Ukraine is that a lot of people are involved in the arts.” Asked what advice he would give young Ukrainians interested in pursuing careers in classical music, Earle responded, “It’s important for musicians to learn other languages because it’s the key to learning other cultures… there’s no question that learning German gives you better understanding of how German music flows.”
Earle’s encouragement of global learning and commitment to expanding
the international reputation of Ukrainian music helps him serve as a
successful cultural ambassador between the United States and Ukraine. In
fact, Earle conducted a performance at a 2012 gala concert celebrating
the 20th anniversary of U.S.-Ukraine relations. After the performance,
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John F. Tefft – a classical music aficionado
himself – publically thanked Earle on stage.
While Earle begins a well-deserved summer break from traveling the world with his orchestra, he keeps his eye on the future, looking for new ways to improve the Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra. With an internationally renowned orchestra, a loyal Ukrainian audience, and an infectiously optimistic attitude, Earle’s future as the newest People’s Artist of Ukraine continues to look bright.
Want to learn more about Hobart Earle and the Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra? Check out the following links:
The Hall
Hobart Earle’s Biography
Hobart Earle’s Facebook
“Maestro of Their Dreams” Article in Reader’s Digest
Report on the state of Odesa’s Philharmonic Hall
Читати українською
Since
1922, the “Narodny Artist Ukrainy” (“People’s Artist of Ukraine”) has
been the highest honor bestowed upon performing artists in Ukraine and
the former Ukrainian SSR
Earle is no stranger to firsts: he was the first artist to receive the Friend of Ukraine award established by the Washington Group; he introduced the first performances of a number of classics (Mahler’s 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 9th symphonies and Strauss’s “Four Last Songs”) in Odesa; and under his leadership Odesa’s Philharmonic became the first Ukrainian orchestra to cross the Atlantic and cross the equator – and was the first orchestra to increase its status from local to regional to national funding after the establishment of an independent Ukraine.
Musical
Conductor Hobart Earle becomes the first American to receive the
prestigious “Narodny Artist Ukrainy” (“People’s Artist of Ukraine”)
title
That’s what makes Earle’s recent award so fitting: while he brings international attention to Odesa’s classical music scene, he also brings Ukrainian music to the world – and to Ukrainians. In a telephone interview after his award was announced, Earle gave back credit to the country where he’s built his musical empire, noting that “the great thing about Ukraine is that a lot of people are involved in the arts.” Asked what advice he would give young Ukrainians interested in pursuing careers in classical music, Earle responded, “It’s important for musicians to learn other languages because it’s the key to learning other cultures… there’s no question that learning German gives you better understanding of how German music flows.”
Hobart
Earle receives applause after conducting at the gala celebrating the
20th Anniversary of U.S.-Ukrainian relations in January 2012
While Earle begins a well-deserved summer break from traveling the world with his orchestra, he keeps his eye on the future, looking for new ways to improve the Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra. With an internationally renowned orchestra, a loyal Ukrainian audience, and an infectiously optimistic attitude, Earle’s future as the newest People’s Artist of Ukraine continues to look bright.
Want to learn more about Hobart Earle and the Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra? Check out the following links:
The Hall
Hobart Earle’s Biography
Hobart Earle’s Facebook
“Maestro of Their Dreams” Article in Reader’s Digest
Report on the state of Odesa’s Philharmonic Hall
July 23, 2013
Striking Down DOMA: An Advancement to Human Rights
Posted by usembassykyiv under Civil Rights, Human Rights, LGBT | Tags: civil rights, Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA, LGBT |1 Comment
Posted by: Doris Hernandez, Political Intern
Читати українською
In
a speech delivered on August 16, 1967, the civil rights leader Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. declared, “The arc of the moral universe is long,
but it bends toward justice.” On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
unconstitutional the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a federal law that
had denied equal protection under the law for legally wedded couples on
the basis of sexual orientation. Commenting on the court’s ruling,
Secretary of State John Kerry echoed Dr. King, saying that “despite
setbacks along the way, the arc of our history on this issue has bent
towards inclusion and equality, perhaps never more so than today.”
The history of DOMA recalls earlier struggles for equality in the United States, and it demonstrates how citizens even today continue to engage their government to promote and protect equal rights for all. When DOMA was enacted in 1996, it prevented the federal government from extending the protections of over 1,000 federal laws to those same-sex couples who were legally able to marry in their respective states. In response, activists and civic groups used all the tools available to citizens in a democratic society to press the government to ensure equal rights for all citizens. For nearly two decades they organized education and awareness campaigns, reached out to their elected representatives through letter-writing campaigns, initiated voting campaigns to work toward changing state and local laws, conducted publicity events through the media, filed lawsuits in the courts and pursued other strategies to promote equal rights. As a result, they helped to raise awareness about the law’s inequality, shifted public opinion, changed the legal landscape, and prepared the way for the landmark Supreme Court ruling that ruled DOMA to be unconstitutional.
The success of those civic groups also illustrates how civic campaigns to defend human rights can work wherever citizens engage their governments. In Ukraine, the U.S. Embassy helps civic organizations by providing training and support, education, and tools that empower citizens to take action to defend the rights of all Ukrainians. The programs include support to foster civic activism, strengthen independent media, promote a more accountable judicial system, and improve the legislative process. By strengthening democratic institutions, Ukraine’s activists are helping to create the conditions that can bring equal protection under the law and the rights that are due to all citizens.
The Supreme Court’s ruling on DOMA was not only a success for advocates and supporters of equal rights in the United States, it was a reassurance that civic activists—both in the United States and throughout the world—really can create meaningful change to protect human rights. The process can take years, and it sometimes requires the concerted efforts of hundreds or thousands of committed citizens working at every level. But as the DOMA ruling showed, while the arc of history is long, when citizens commit to remedying an injustice, they can indeed bend that arc toward justice.
Читати українською
In
a speech delivered on August 16, 1967, the civil rights leader Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. declared, “The arc of the moral universe is long,
but it bends toward justice.” On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
unconstitutional the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a federal law that
had denied equal protection under the law for legally wedded couples on
the basis of sexual orientation. Commenting on the court’s ruling,
Secretary of State John Kerry echoed Dr. King, saying that “despite
setbacks along the way, the arc of our history on this issue has bent
towards inclusion and equality, perhaps never more so than today.”The history of DOMA recalls earlier struggles for equality in the United States, and it demonstrates how citizens even today continue to engage their government to promote and protect equal rights for all. When DOMA was enacted in 1996, it prevented the federal government from extending the protections of over 1,000 federal laws to those same-sex couples who were legally able to marry in their respective states. In response, activists and civic groups used all the tools available to citizens in a democratic society to press the government to ensure equal rights for all citizens. For nearly two decades they organized education and awareness campaigns, reached out to their elected representatives through letter-writing campaigns, initiated voting campaigns to work toward changing state and local laws, conducted publicity events through the media, filed lawsuits in the courts and pursued other strategies to promote equal rights. As a result, they helped to raise awareness about the law’s inequality, shifted public opinion, changed the legal landscape, and prepared the way for the landmark Supreme Court ruling that ruled DOMA to be unconstitutional.
The success of those civic groups also illustrates how civic campaigns to defend human rights can work wherever citizens engage their governments. In Ukraine, the U.S. Embassy helps civic organizations by providing training and support, education, and tools that empower citizens to take action to defend the rights of all Ukrainians. The programs include support to foster civic activism, strengthen independent media, promote a more accountable judicial system, and improve the legislative process. By strengthening democratic institutions, Ukraine’s activists are helping to create the conditions that can bring equal protection under the law and the rights that are due to all citizens.
The Supreme Court’s ruling on DOMA was not only a success for advocates and supporters of equal rights in the United States, it was a reassurance that civic activists—both in the United States and throughout the world—really can create meaningful change to protect human rights. The process can take years, and it sometimes requires the concerted efforts of hundreds or thousands of committed citizens working at every level. But as the DOMA ruling showed, while the arc of history is long, when citizens commit to remedying an injustice, they can indeed bend that arc toward justice.
July 15, 2013
20 Years of Success: Stories from our FLEX Alumni — “In the U.S., I saw how people want to help their own country, how citizens strive to work and sacrifice for their motherland”
Posted by usembassykyiv under Education, Exchanges, FLEX Alumni | Tags: FLEX, Oklahoma |[2] Comments
This story is part of a series of blog entries to mark the 20th anniversary
of the Future Leaders Exchange program (FLEX) in Ukraine. FLEX is the
U.S. Government’s premier high school exchange program. For more
information about U.S. exchanges please click here.Posted by: Andriy Bryn, Future Leaders Exchange Program 2004-2005, Eldorado High School, Eldorado, Oklahoma
Читати українською
Why do people from my country want to benefit from Ukraine, but don’t want to do anything for its development? Why do people not want to volunteer? I was asking myself these questions again and again when I lived in the United States. I got a chance to study in the U.S. with the FLEX Program. I had my life changed after coming back home, because I already had a goal. I wanted to change the situation in my native country.
Andriy Bryn, FLEX alumni
These professional activities were valued by the International Visegrad Fund, which granted me a scholarship to study at one of the best European schools – Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, where I got a Master’s degree in International Economic and Political Studies. Later, I was offered a position of Vice-Chairman of the Lviv regional organization of the political party “Ridna Vitchyzna” (“Native Homeland”) and the Chairman of its Youth Department. I worked on projects not only in Ukraine, but also in Prague, Czech Republic. I initiated a series of presentations about Ukraine at Charles University. At the same time I ran for Lviv regional council of Ukraine (Lvivska oblasna rada). I gained fourth place out of 13 candidates. More than a thousand people voted for me and I think it is a great result for a 23 year-old young leader.
After successfully completing a Master’s Degree in International Economic and Political Studies I was accepted into a PhD program in Management, Finance, Environment, Institutions in the Global Economy at the La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. I became the only foreigner in this PhD program, who received a full fellowship offer from the University. My research topic is “Geoeconomic Priorities of Ukraine in the Global Integration Context: Ways of Realizing a Geo-economic Model of Ukraine.” I hope that the topic of my thesis will help me to combine my research work in Italy with political and community activities in Ukraine.
July 4, 2013
The Fourth of July 2013
Posted by usembassykyiv under Holidays, Independence Day | Tags: Independence Day |Leave a Comment
Source: www.census.gov
Читати українською
On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, setting the 13 American colonies on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation. As always, this most American of holidays will be marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across the country.
How Do We Know?
As we celebrate this Independence Day, we reflect on how the U.S.
Founding Fathers enshrined the importance of statistics in our
Constitution as a vital tool for measuring our people, places and
economy. Since 1790, the U.S. Census has been much more than a simple
head count; it has charted the growth and composition of the nation. The
questions have evolved over time to address our changing needs. Today,
the Decennial Census, the Economic Census and the American Community
Survey give Congress and community leaders the information they need to
make informed decisions that shape the U.S. democracy. These statistics
are how we know how our country is doing.The U.S. Census Bureau has launched more infographics and interactive features that provide a look at “How Do We Know?”
2.5 million
In July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation.
Source: Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970
316.1 million
The nation’s estimated population on this July Fourth.
Source: Population clock
Flags
$3.6 millionIn 2011, the dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags. The vast majority of this amount ($3.3 million) was for U.S. flags made in China.
Source: Foreign Trade Statistics
$663,071
Dollar value of U.S. flags exported in 2011. Mexico was the leading customer, purchasing $80,349 worth.
Source: Foreign Trade Statistics
$302.7 million
Dollar value of shipments of fabricated flags, banners and similar emblems by the nation’s manufacturers in 2007, according to the latest published economic census statistics.
Source: 2007 Economic Census, Series EC0731SP1, Products and Services Code 3149998231
Fireworks
$223.6 millionThe value of fireworks imported from China in 2011, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imported ($232.5 million). U.S. exports of fireworks, by comparison, came to just $15.8 million in 2011, with Australia purchasing more than any other country ($4.5 million).
$231.8 million
The value of U.S. manufacturers’ shipments of fireworks and pyrotechnics (including flares, igniters, etc.) in 2007.
Source: 2007 Economic Census, Series EC0731SP1, Products and Services Code 325998J108
Patriotic-Sounding Place Names
Thirty-one places have “liberty” in their names. The most populous
one as of April 1, 2010, was Liberty, Mo. (29,149). Iowa, with four, has
more of these places than any other state: Libertyville, New Liberty,
North Liberty and West Liberty.Thirty-five places have “eagle” in their names. The most populous one is Eagle Pass, Texas, with a population of 26,248.
Eleven places have “independence” in their names. The most populous one is Independence, Mo., with a population of 116,830.
Nine places have “freedom” in their names. The most populous one is New Freedom, Pa., with a population of 4,464.
One place has “patriot” in its name. Patriot, Ind., has a population of 209.
Five places have “America” in their names. The most populous is American Fork, Utah, with a population of 26,263.
Source: American FactFinder
Early Presidential Last Names
138
Ranking of the frequency of the surname of our first president, George Washington, among all last names tabulated in the 2000 Census. Other early presidential names that appear on the list, along with their ranking, were Adams (39), Jefferson (594), Madison (1,209) and Monroe (567).
Source: Census 2000 Genealogy
The British are Coming!
$107.1 billionDollar value of trade last year between the United States and the United Kingdom, making the British, our adversary in 1776, our sixth-leading trading partner today.
Source: Foreign Trade Statistics
Fourth of July Cookouts
Almost 1 in 3The chance that the hot dogs and pork sausages consumed on the Fourth of July originated in Iowa. The Hawkeye State was home to 19.7 million hogs and pigs on March 1, 2012. This estimate represents almost one-third of the nation’s estimated total. North Carolina (8.6 million) and Minnesota (7.6 million) were also homes to large numbers of pigs.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
7.2 billion pounds
Total production of cattle and calves in Texas in 2011. Chances are good that the beef hot dogs, steaks and burgers on your backyard grill came from the Lone Star State, which accounted for about one-sixth of the nation’s total production. And if the beef did not come from Texas, it very well may have come from Nebraska (4.6 billion pounds) or Kansas (4.0 billion pounds).
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
6
Number of states in which the value of broiler chicken production was estimated at $1 billion or greater between December 2010 and November 2011. There is a good chance that one of these states — Georgia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi or Texas — is the source of your barbecued chicken.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
Please Pass the Potato
Potato salad and potato chips are popular food items at Fourth of July barbecues. Approximately half of the nation’s spuds were produced in Idaho or Washington state in 2011.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
July 3, 2013
Fourth of July – Even Strangers are Feeling Pride for America
Posted by usembassykyiv under FLEX Alumni, Holidays, Independence Day | Tags: FLEX, Holidays, Independence Day, Washington |Leave a Comment
Posted by: Olena Maryenko, 1998 FLEX Program Alumna
Читати українською
My first 4th of July celebration I marked in Washington D.C. with all its festivities, grandness, and thousands of people who came to participate and observe. The parade on Constitution Avenue was a picturesque kaleidoscope of American history and American heroes. All participants were dressed up in costumes to represent various important events in U.S. history, and in between the historical personas high school music bands and orchestras entertained the crowd. Thousands of tourists with cameras, alongside TV journalists, were filming the procession. The parade started at Capitol Hill and continued to the White House, thus representing the importance of two major pillars of U.S. Independence. Like everything else in the American capital – the parade was well organized, supported by dozens of police officers, rescue and ambulance teams.
I spent my second 4th of
July celebration in Annapolis, a little Maryland town just outside of
D.C. This one was totally different, but at the same time quite an
entertaining experience. The city of Annapolis’s parade was a true
tribute to city heroes and city residents. The police chief, fire
brigade, city mayor, zumba class for senior citizens, and high school
dancing group were all marching down the main city street dancing,
playing music and giving out sweet treats to little observers. The
atmosphere of joy and festivities was definitely welcoming and cheerful.
The parade continued on to the yacht club, where everyone could enjoy a
beautiful water view. Later in the evening under the sunset light, the
Marine Academy orchestra was in full swing. People were laughing,
dancing, eating ice cream or simply enjoying the beautiful melodies
under the darkening skies…it was hard not to fall under the 4th of
July celebration spell. I fully immersed myself into the spirit and
shared the tremendous pride and joy that Americans have for their
country and fellow countrymen. It’s impossible to describe how different
people, often total strangers, are unified by a strong feeling of pride
for America, American people and American Independence.
Читати українською
My first 4th of July celebration I marked in Washington D.C. with all its festivities, grandness, and thousands of people who came to participate and observe. The parade on Constitution Avenue was a picturesque kaleidoscope of American history and American heroes. All participants were dressed up in costumes to represent various important events in U.S. history, and in between the historical personas high school music bands and orchestras entertained the crowd. Thousands of tourists with cameras, alongside TV journalists, were filming the procession. The parade started at Capitol Hill and continued to the White House, thus representing the importance of two major pillars of U.S. Independence. Like everything else in the American capital – the parade was well organized, supported by dozens of police officers, rescue and ambulance teams.
I spent my second 4th of
July celebration in Annapolis, a little Maryland town just outside of
D.C. This one was totally different, but at the same time quite an
entertaining experience. The city of Annapolis’s parade was a true
tribute to city heroes and city residents. The police chief, fire
brigade, city mayor, zumba class for senior citizens, and high school
dancing group were all marching down the main city street dancing,
playing music and giving out sweet treats to little observers. The
atmosphere of joy and festivities was definitely welcoming and cheerful.
The parade continued on to the yacht club, where everyone could enjoy a
beautiful water view. Later in the evening under the sunset light, the
Marine Academy orchestra was in full swing. People were laughing,
dancing, eating ice cream or simply enjoying the beautiful melodies
under the darkening skies…it was hard not to fall under the 4th of
July celebration spell. I fully immersed myself into the spirit and
shared the tremendous pride and joy that Americans have for their
country and fellow countrymen. It’s impossible to describe how different
people, often total strangers, are unified by a strong feeling of pride
for America, American people and American Independence.
July 2, 2013
Celebrating Independence Day in the USA and the Lessons I Learned
Posted by usembassykyiv under Holidays, Independence Day | Tags: 4th of July, fireworks, Independence Day, San Diego |[3] Comments
Читати українською
Coming from a country with a Soviet history, I grew up with national holidays being marked by soldiers marching, tanks rolling, and military muscles flexing. During these parades, the celebrations seemed more like choreography and even the sports clubs’ performances felt forced. It seemed to me that some of these organizations existed only to participate in such events. The holiday seemed to be made by state officials for higher state officials.
I observed similar parades in the United States as well, but I was surprised to discover one difference – the holiday is celebrated by the people, not just the state. This particular Independence Day began as an all day party at a beach in San Diego and included grilling on an industrial scale followed by burger consuming on similar par while storytelling and arguing whose role was more important in winning World War II and who played the key role in the Soviet Union’s collapse, all which culminated in fireworks – the good kind. With the first whistling light, rocketing into the night sky, everyone on the beach stood up, every boat in the harbor and every car on the roads stopped to watch the scene. As the multitude of independence displays broke out along the beach and in the neighborhoods throughout the city, framed by the city’s own spectacular backdrop, I could hear the spontaneous hooting, clapping, and chanting and even found myself donning the nearest cowboy hat and joining the crowd in hollering, “America! Hell yeah!” Sadly, I was so excited that I dropped probably the best burger I ever had in my life.
My
group on the beach actually included more foreigners than natives, but
that night everyone was proud to be an American. Because you can read,
you can study, you can take polls and surveys, but an opportunity like
the Fourth is a chance to feel on many levels that America is first and
foremost an idea, a way of life, and an unusual perspective on the world
that has made our planet a better place.That day in San Diego was the first time I realized that in a country with more minorities than most could even imagine, it is possible for millions to be united by an idea that isn’t about one race or one religion or even one language, but about celebrating the freedom to be different, yet also reveling in the choice to come together.
I had never seen something before like that in my life. But in a lot of ways the 4th of July was merely a more extravagant way of expressing the day-to-day attitudes I saw displayed the next day at the airport. While waiting in line, I saw an elderly man come over to a young soldier and shake his hand, and with his hand on his shoulder he simply said, “Thank you for your service, son.” The sincere exchange made me realize that a country’s greatness cannot simply be measured by military muscle, but must be appreciated by the respect freely given from the people to institutions like the military.
I guess to sum it all up, there is a difference between drinking to forget a past that
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