ࡱ> _a^#` U.bjbjmm *N/&%       &&&8&$'T6,~'~'"''''''~6666666$+8h:~6 1''116  ''6:6:6:61 ' '~6:61~6:6:6  :6'r' pϥ\&v3:6~6606:6;*5;:6; :6D'**:6,.L'''665j'''61111"&&        Noosheen Hashemi PARSA Community Foundation Persian Garden Gala 2008 November 15, 2008 Good evening. I hope you have had an enjoyable time so far. I see many familiar faces here tonight; its wonderful to have you. Thank you for coming out and supporting this community effort. Tonight, We are drawing inspiration from Persian Gardens to share the beauty of our culture, to acknowledge the remarkable contributions of our leaders, and to cultivate our sense of community. And by community I dont mean only the Persian community, but also our wider American community How do we fit in? How have other ethnic communities or diasporas fit in? How did they make America their home? Bolster its economy, Enrich its culture Strengthen its democracy? How have some reached the highest heights of society, shed their hyphenated identity, - or at least use it optionally - and enjoy being called, simply, American First lets establish that an ethnic community is a collection of people who enjoy the same food and traditions and romanticize about their home country. A diaspora on the other hand, takes the idea of community to a whole new level Here are seven habits of highly effective diasporas: 1. They are organized and participate daily in the civic process 2. They have a common cause 3. Their members feel a sense of responsibility to one another, and to the common cause 4. They are vital to the economy of their adopted country 5. They are American to the core but are also fully in touch with their heritage; 6. They are extroverted: as in, they donate and volunteer outside their communities, serve in public office, and engage others in their story and their struggle 7. AND finally, they are big givers In fact, those who have given the most have risen the highest. These seven factors are interconnected Only when you combine economic capital, philanthropic capital and political capital, can you have true social capital. How do these habits manifest themselves in action, what kind of work do diasporas take up? Well 1 They vote Eighty six percent of Arab-Americans are registered to vote, compared to 72% for all Americans. 1/2 - They advocate for trade between adopted and home country 1/2 - They secure aid Armenian Assembly of America that was enlisting support for Armenias struggle for self-determination, for example, secured 1.4 billion dollars in aid for Armenia from 1988 to 1998 1/2 - Diasporas also affect policy towards home country Indian-American Security Leadership Council, founded in 06, encourages closer ties between India and the U.S. for security purposes. It recruited organizations representing three million American veterans to urge Congress to support the United States-India Nuclear Cooperation and Non-Proliferation Enhancement Act which was approved, and signed by President Bush in October of this year. The act overturns a three-decade ban on supplying nuclear fuel and energy to India and grants it the same civilian nuclear technology afforded to many other industrialized nations. 6 Serving in public office is important: An Armenian American has served as governor of California and an Indian American serves as governor of Louisiana today You hear about Bobby Jindal as a possible Republican presidential candidate for 2012 Born to Punjabi parents in 1971, Bobby had thought of a career in medicine or law Sound familiar? and was accepted by Harvard Medical School AND Yale Law School, BUT he chose to pursue a political career. So he settled for a master's degree in political science from Oxford, and becaming a Rhodes Scholar. 6- Yet another example of being extroverted is the Jewish community's valiant fight in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and its anti-defamation efforts which reach far outside of their own community. 7 Diasporas also take care of their own An estimated 7.6M Filipinos live in 190 countries And between 1990 and 2005, they sent home 62 billion dollars Diaspora giving is responsible for keeping an estimated one million people above local poverty line in the Philippines. 7- Now, in terms of giving BIG About 30 billion dollars were given in mega gifts, those gifts that are 10 million dollars or bigger, between 1995 and 2000 The Jewish community made 188 of the total 865 mega-gifts representing 5.3 billion dollars While the Jewish community consists of about 2.5% of the overall U.S. population, it gave 22% of all megagifts. Keep in mind that few mega-gifts, just 10%, from Jewish philanthropists actually go to the Jewish community This is a great example of giving BIG AND being extroverted In the case of Iranians in America, We are in a tough spot as our beloved adopted home and our homeland are at odds with each other Our leaders jockey for allies and exchange belligerent rhetoric Where does that leave us? Do we duck until its over? Are we powerless? Or is there still a role for us to play? What can WE do? Well, We can kick up our civic participation a whole serious notch - We can stand up and be counted at the 2010 Census - Register 85% of our eligible population to vote in the 2010 midterm elections Our business leaders can set up a mentorship program for high school and college students and connect local business networks into a national force like Indian communitys Tie.org We can make Norooz the cornerstone of our cultural outreach in 09 - Combine resources with other Persians parents at our kids school and put on a BIG Norooz show, or with neighbors for a BIG Norooz block party - Invite American friends to Persian cultural events - Get to know the Persian art collections in US museums, take American friends to go visit Persian collections at museums near us We can extend our nonprofit work to benefit the greater community - We have various scholarship funds around the country, we may want to support scholarships for disadvantaged youth in whatever community those funds are based - We can join The Thank You Foundation, an all-volunteer nonprofit who gives hugs and thanks as well as ongoing support to Veterans - We can experience volunteering at our local food banks and homeless shelters - We can tutor kids in after school programs in low income neighborhoods - We can organize book drives at our local libraries Through PARSA, we can pool our funding to get a lot more impact, leverage and recognition for our community. We can fund more Iranian Studies programs or beef up the ones we have, we can set up cultural and community centers, grow our bilingual schools, invest in our college student organizations so they can be enduring institutions on campuses around the United States we can make sure that Persian arts are represented, accurately and adequately, in major museums in the land.and so on From a policy stand point, With a new administration taking affect and potentially opening the doors for positive dialog, - We can advocate that US sanctions relative to nonprofit giving be lifted so that all of us can support humanitarian causes in Iran increasing good will from the United States and its citizens which include us - We can lend our knowledge of cultural nuances and technical assistance to negotiating parties via Track II diplomacy (so we dont use carrot and stick analogy with Iranians who consider such language appropriate only for donkeys) - We can work to upgrade the State Departments people-to-people exchanges to include official visits from business people, museum curators, youth groups, etc. As outrageous as it sounds today to think that the relations between U.S. and Iran can normalize, and our children and parents, and friends and neighbors and, yes, we too, can travel there freely, they can normalize as they once were Social change takes a long time, at least a generation, but it does happen Just look back at Irans recent history 1925 to 1953 was roughly a generation 1953 to 1979 was roughly a generation 1979 to today was roughly a generation While 30 years sounds like a lifetime, in the game of social change, its not long at all and, good or bad, a lot can happen in just one generation Ferdowsi took 30 years to write the Shahnameh, was that worth it? So we have to make the most of our next 30 years here in America There are no short cuts to transforming ourselves from an ethnic community to a diaspora or to becoming a highly effective diaspora. And yet, following the tested path of those whove come before allows us to do in the next thirty years what they may have done in the last fifty, or a hundred. At PARSA, we are three years into a thirty year path. Each one of us in the community is a leader, has a sphere of influence, has means and resources to mobilize, and no sacrifice is too small As individuals, we dont have enough resources to do all thats possible. But as a group, we can tackle anything, we can do anything, we can be anything. We must not worry about being Iranian OR American, The tumultuous struggle with being one or the other or a bit of this and a lot of the other, is unnatural, and unnecessary. Being multi cultural is what keeps America alive and dynamic. There is only one way to fall in love, all in, with both of our homes. Like other highly effective diasporas, we can be good American citizens and keep our deep connection to our heritage at the same time. I want to thank you again for being here. I want to thank all PARSA volunteers and staff, and especially Laili Javid who organized tonights event. Now I would like to invite Hamid Moghadam, a founding partner of Meadowood Social Venture Fund to come on to the stage.     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