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(E) some optimism on the situation for this past year |
By Nenad N. Bach |
Published
12/23/2001
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(E) some optimism on the situation for this past year
Since it's the Xmas season, we should, I think, in the spirit of the holiday, put some optimism on the situation. Here are some "Top 10" positives for this past year: First, apropos of PBS, there was a show that played on WNET, the local PBS station in NYC, last month called "Croatian Roots" which this Croatian-American young woman put together concerning her roots on Brac (her parents were born in South America and moved to the US). It was a half-hour program which was shown at least twice and was excellent. Second, the E! Channel featured Croatia on its Wild On show which was shown in August; in addition to this, the show's host (I can't remember her name off hand) featured Croatia on her pin-up calendar for 2002 (I saw this by accident on E! the other night). Third, I believe the Rick Steven's travel show (also shown on PBS) featured Croatia this year as well (thanks to Hilda for that!). Fourth, the recent movie "Behind Enemy Lines" (which I admittedly haven't seen yet) puts Serbs in an extremely bad light. Fifth, Croatia was on the cover of Newsweek's European edition this summer. Sixth, the NY Times ran two excellent articles concerning Croatia this year. The first appeared in early September and concerned the exhibition of Trogir art treasures in Venice. The second appeared this past Sunday - a full page (no ads!) concerning the current art scene in Croatia. A third article concerning Istria appeared in the Travel Section in the spring. Seventh, concerning the International Hamptons Film Festival - some good news here. Because of our vigilance in responding to the calumnies on their web site we succeded in having it changed (similarly, it appears a correction will be made in next month's Harper's Magazine re the "600,000" Serbs supposedly expelled - Hilda's fine work came through again) - this, by the way, s a credit to CroWorldNet, Brian, Tony and other people who have these e-mail links and were able to get the word out quickly and effectively. Eighth, the CAA successfully organized a Congressional hearing on Capitol Hill concerning the status of Croats in BH. AMAC organized a seminar on Vukovar at Georgetown whose speakers included Jean Kilpatrick. Ninth, Goran won Wimbledon and was on Late Night With David Letterman (where he made a pretty good showing). Tenth, Janica won the world championship in the women's downhill and came in 3rd or 4th in a recent BBC (I believe) poll for woman athlete of the year. This is obviously all terrific and I think all of us should be proud of being descended from a country that can produce such talent. Now, to "rain on our parade" a bit. All of the things I listed above came about as a result of individual efforts. The article in this past Sunday's NY Times, for instance, was written by a woman who went to Zagreb for an international art critics conference - it otherwise would not have been written. Hilda lobbied Stevens to do his Croatia show. The woman who did the show "Croatian Roots" certainly got no help from the Croatian government to do her work. The story of Janica Kostelic is typical - she and her dad had to often sleep in their car when they went to compete because they had no money. The successes of people like Ivanisevic and Visnjic in a sense came about despite the fact that they were from Croatia! How much more could be done if Croatia finally hired a PR firm? Or established cultural centers abroad? Or engaged in lobbying efforts? With all due respect to Mr. Maglica and any other Cro-Am tycoons, these are things the govt should be doing but, after 12 years, it continues to fail to understand that it has these responsibilities (and I am criticizing here both the HDZ govt and the current govt on these points) (and I emphasize it is a responsibility that a country promote itself abroad as a meand to acheive its foreign policy objectives - its not for nothing that the US, UK, France, etc. have cultural centers in Zagreb; its not for nothing that countries hire PR/lobbyists in Washington). Concerning things we can do, as much as a hunk of cash from a rich fellow is most welcome, if many Croatians contribute reasonable amounts of money, we can be (and have in the past been) effective. My sense is that in the past 3-5 years the pool of contributors has slackened off greatly. However, I also beleive, from personal experience over the past several months, that our community is begining to turn a corner. It is normal that there be an ebb and flow in a community's activities. After 1995, for instance, many people became "deactivated" (I noticed a similar deactivation after Jan. 15, 1992 which lasted until the war broke out in BH later that year). However, I sense there is an upsurge. Here in NYC, I put together a dinner for people that I knew had been active in the past. I was pleasently surprised that we got over 20 people to come together to discuss things we should do on a local basis. Two of the woman at that meeting (Dinka Kalinic and Visnja Brdar) subsequently organized a social get together for Cro-Am professionals which took place last Friday. Though a call for the gathering only went out within about 2 weeks prior to the event and it was all done by e-mail and word of mouth, over 50 people showed up. Concerning things everyone can do, let me remind everyone, as the end of the tax year approaches, that donations made to the NFCA Cultural Foundation, 1329 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036) are tax deductible! I will, by the by, put together a list over this weekend of tax-exempt Croatian American organizations that I am aware of which I will circulate next week and to whom I urge everyone to make contributions. John Kraljic Just to add a few more positive notes regarding Croatian accomplishments in the year 2001, this time with a Canadian perspective: 1. The Croatian Embassy project in Ottawa wins a prestigious award from City Council in the 'Heritage Building - Adaptive Use Category" (and I am very proud to say that my father, Josip Milcic, University of Zagreb alumni, was the Design Architect). The old historic building (built in 1875 and in awful shape) was purchased and repaired with donations of funds and labour by the Croatian-Canadian community, and is a sign of just how much we CAN accomplish when we set our minds and hearts on a goal and work together; 2. The premier hockey player in the NHL today, Joe Sakic of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, identifies himself in a newspaper interview as of 'Croatian origin'. An interview with his parents discusses Croatia in more detail; 3. Pete Mahovlich, former NHL great and current member of the Canadian Senate, publicly 'discovers' his Croatian roots; 4. Janko Peric, member of the Liberal Party of Canada, is re-elected to the Canadian Federal Parliament representing his riding of Kitchener (Ontario); 5. The Croatian pavilion at the Carassauga Multicultural Festival in Mississauga, Ontario, is highly visited; guests included Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion (always a great friend of the Croatian community). This is the same lady that, at a Serbian picnic she was invited to, started her speech with (I quote) "Dragi moji Hrvati". :-) Needless to say, she has never been invited to a Serbian event again, but has had countless invitations to the "Father Kamber" Croatian picnic grounds since :-) 6. My good friend Sandra Priselac was published in the University of Toronto science journal (psychology department); a high honour indeed. There are more achievements, but, unfortunately, it's time for work :-) Kind regards to all contributors, Allen Milcic Mississauga, Canada Notice: This e-mail and the attachments are confidential information.If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail and the attachments is strictly prohibited and violators will be held to the fullest possible extent of any applicable laws governing electronic Privacy. If you have received this e-mail in error please immediately notify the sender by telephone or e-mail, and permanently delete this e-mail and any attachments. distributed by CROWN (Croatian World Net) - CroworldNet@aol.com
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