EDITORIAL: In praise of smaller communities (11/05/00)

EDITORIAL

In praise of smaller communities

Last week and this week, The Ukrainian Weekly has given its readers a glimpse of community life beyond the usual corridor of our Ukrainian American society. The occasion was the 25th anniversary of the Ukrainian American Cultural Club of Houston, which provided an extraordinary opportunity for a reporter to get acquainted with this unique community and, in turn, to inform the broader public about its achievements and its strengths.

To be sure, stories about some of the activity of Ukrainians in Texas had appeared on the pages of this newspaper. Our readers knew, for example of Ukrainians' participation in such major events as the Texas Folklife Festival and the Houston International Festival, but there were many other multi-ethnic festivals and special occasions throughout the state, such as the American Bicentennial and the Millennium of Christianity in Rus'-Ukraine where Ukrainians were very visible. At all these events, the Ukrainians of the Lone Star State succeeded in giving Texans a taste of Ukraine through educational materials, cultural displays, scholarly presentations, artistic performances, etc. Their work with other Slavic organizations has been exemplary; one of the best examples is the annual Ss. Cyril and Methodius Slavic Heritage Day.

Ukrainian Houstonians, through their premier organization, the Ukrainian American Cultural Club, have played a major role also in establishing contacts between the American world and Ukraine in the realms of politics, humanitarianism, education and business. And that role - especially in the world of business - was buttressed earlier this year when a local Ukrainian was appointed honorary consul of Ukraine.

No less important is the organization's charitable activity: aid to Ukraine, its athletes, its medical professionals, libraries, victims of Chornobyl and others. The community has supported myriad projects in this country as well, from Ukrainian studies at Harvard University to the work of the U.S. Commission on the Ukraine Famine.

These activities have succeeded in binding together Ukrainians who have settled in Texas - many of them from other parts of the country or other parts of the world. As we heard over and over from locals, the principal strength of that small community is that, despite its diversity, all can and do work together toward common goals. And, all are welcome as everyone understands that false divisions are impediments to success.

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Ukrainian American Cultural Club of Houston, we salute these Ukrainian Texans, and, by extension, all small communities of Ukrainian Americans who, oftentimes out of the public eye or, to be more precise, outside of the consciousness of the big Ukrainian communities of the East or the Midwest, exist, function and flourish, benefiting its members and generations to come. In the process they enrich all of us in the diaspora, wherever we may live.

Though these communities may be geographically far removed from the mainstream Ukrainian communities, and their numbers may be considerably less than those of our major centers, they have not forgotten their roots and have worked hard to nurture them in order to provide for a promising future. We salute their vision and wish them all many, many more years of fruitful activity.

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