EDITORIAL: Orange Wave = unity (12/19/04)

EDITORIAL

Orange Wave = unity

During the past few weeks we have been witnesses to history being made in our ancestral homeland. We followed the news from Ukraine relentlessly, we shared that news with each other (sometimes over and over again, as the in boxes of our e-mail can attest), and we became stressed or elated as developments warranted. It's been a hell of a roller coaster ride. And it's not over yet.

Each and every one of us, it seems, has been experiencing the Orange Revolution and, along with that, been preoccupied with the fate of Ukraine.

Indeed, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine was quickly transformed in all parts of the Ukrainian diaspora into the Orange Wave (ergo the headline on our pages of diaspora activities in support of the pro-democracy movement: "Ukraine's Orange Revolution begets Orange Wave in the diaspora."). There were scores of demonstrations, rallies, vigils, meetings, liturgies and prayer services, and marches to manifest our concern about the rapidly changing developments in Ukraine.

Ukrainians from Winnipeg to Toronto, from Philadelphia to Crawford, Texas, from Australia and Italy, and countless points in between proudly wore the orange color of the revolution. They wore orange to Ukrainian school; they wore it to dances and church; they wore it to work (you should see the orange in this building!). They were joined by non-Ukrainian supporters who also took up the wearing of the orange. Why, The New York Times' Nicholas Kristoff even suggested that President George W. Bush should wear an orange tie to better demonstrate his support for democracy in Ukraine - something that the columnist said the president should be doing more clearly and more strongly.

Among the most notable aspects of our Orange Wave has been the composition of its participants: young and old, people of various political leanings and religious affiliations, Ukrainian-speaking and not - and, established diaspora types and members of the Fourth Wave. What the Orange Wave has done is bring out our Fourth Wave in great numbers. And the Fourth Wave was joined by representatives and descendants of all the preceding waves of immigration to the countries of our settlement.

Voila! Proof that all of us in the diaspora do have much in common, beginning with a deeply felt concern for Ukraine - the glue that has united generations of our communities beyond the borders of Ukraine.

Dare we hope that the unity engendered by Ukraine's Orange Revolution can translate into a long-lasting unity among our communities abroad? Could it be that since we have met at these public gatherings we will build on those encounters to work toward revitalizing our community life in the diaspora? Is it possible that we can attract newly arrived Ukrainians into our ranks and that they would actually feel welcome among us? If we believe in the power of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, we should believe also in the strength of the Orange Wave.

In the words of the rap song that has become the de facto anthem of the Orange Revolution: "Razom nas bahato - nas ne podolaty." (Together we are many - we cannot be defeated.) Or, to put it another way: in unity there is strength.

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