Schools will be closed on Thursday in the Los Angeles and Glendale unified school districts to commemorate Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, marking the 110th anniversary of the start of events widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.
The LAUSD Board of Education adopted a policy in 2020 to close schools on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. Students and teachers in the Glendale Unified School District have been given the day off on April 24 since the 2013-14 school year.
A bill establishing Genocide Remembrance Day as a state holiday to be observed on April 24 and permitting public schools and community colleges to close in observance of the holiday was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022.
To mark Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, a religious ceremony and the placement of flowers will be conducted at the Armenian Genocide Martyrs Monument in Montebello at 10 a.m.
The “Rally Four Our Future” will be at noon outside the Turkish Consulate General in Beverly Hills, organized by the Armenian Youth Federation.
The “Demand For Justice Community Rally” is set to begin at Glendale City Hall at 5:30 p.m.
The Truth And Accountability League will conduct a tribute event from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Glendale Central Library’s auditorium, remembering the victims of the genocide and honoring eight elected officials and community leaders for their public service, visionary leadership and unwavering empathy, organizers said.
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Assemblymember Nick Schultz, D-Burbank, will be among the honorees and the featured speaker. Other honorees include attorney Mark Geragos and Los Angeles County Assessor Jeff Prang.
The commemoration is free and open to the public. It will include speeches by dignitaries, a pre-program reception and an awards ceremony.
The league bills itself as a nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 2020 in response “to a significant increase in anti-Armenian racism, defamation, hate crimes and Armenophobia.” It monitors and confront bias, disinformation, propaganda, and slander of the Armenian people and culture at the media level, including social media, academics, intelligentsia and public policy.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted April 15 to declare April 24 as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in Los Angeles County.
“Honoring the victims of the Armenian Genocide is both a solemn responsibility and a powerful act of remembrance,” Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger said in a statement.
“We must ensure their stories are not forgotten and that we continue to raise awareness about the atrocities they endured — and those that are still happening today. The recent forced displacement of Armenians from Artsakh underscores the ongoing struggle for justice and recognition.
“Los Angeles County will continue to be a voice for truth and human dignity.”
The Los Angeles area is home to the largest population of Armenians in the world outside of Armenia itself.
On April 24, 1915, Ottoman authorities arrested Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople, leading to an estimated 1.5 million people being killed.
Turkey denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.
