Reflecting on Anais Salibian's Presentation

Today our class was privileged to meet Anais Salibian, an Armenian woman whose parents survived the Armenian Genocide. Anais shared many of the horror stories she was told as a child, reflecting on the tortures and cruelties her relatives faced. Her presentation brought things to life for me- it put a face to the victims, and gave me insight into other people's worlds. Although I will probably never fully know or understand what victims of genocide have gone through, and continue to go through, hearing stories like Anais's and taking this class will surely move me closer to full awareness, and teach me how I can be an ally.
There were two things Anais said today that will stick with me for a very long time. The first thing she said was "it's not over when it's over." Just because the torturing and murdering of the Armenian people is over, doesn't mean their suffering is. Once one has experienced something has awful and gruesome as genocide, his life can never be the same again. The second thing Anais said was, "Don't look at everything in black and white." She used this quote with the story of an Armenian woman who was married to a Turk but eventually divorced him and moved to the United States where she married an alcoholic and abusive Armenian man. Anais reminded us not to see all Turks as bad, and not all Armenians as good. The same goes for any situation. This really gave me something to think about.
All in all, I think it took a lot of courage for Anais to get up and speak to our class today. This woman has clearly been through a lot, even though she wasn't a direct victim of genocide herself. It was a pleasure to listen to her speak, and I'm sure her article will be wonderful when I read it as well.