'Speak F**** English, this is America' : Is THIS the America we want to be Great Again?

 'Speak F*@king English, this is America'

but is THIS the America we want to be Great again? 

Global Greek Thanasi Papoulias and his wife Sophia Antonopoulos-Papoulias were doing what most of us who have grown up abroad done very often,  speak Greek amongst ourselves in many countries of the world!

  Greek Americans who have grown up in a country that prides itself for its values of freedom of speech, democracy, for being the melting-pot of cultural and ethnic diversity, the home of multi-culturalism,  Thanasi and Sophia didn't expect the tirade they got from another customer in the LA store, as he explains in his post on his facebook page:

So this just happened...
Sophia and I were in line at the market, and naturally, speaking Greek. Out of nowhere this lady behind us decides to give us a modern history lesson and tells us, "Speak F*@king English, this is America." Furthermore, she demonstrated her well-versed use of the English language by using every swear word to describe us and how we don't belong here. Imagine if we were with our kids.
Huge props to the manager for kicking her xenophobic, racist ass out. I only caught the tail-end on video, but you'll get the point.
Seriously. This. Just. Happened. It's 2017. #SMH

Seeing this video reminded me of the darker years of Greek immigration, years we thought were well behind us, when being a 'bloody foreigner' was akin to being a criminal and For Rent advertisements in countries like Australia for example, contained phrases like 'No Italians or Greeks' were considered quite 'acceptable' for a country that held its own Aborigines in reservation-like compounds.

I even remember something very similar happening to us growing up on the other side of the world.  

Our mum who was a stay-at-home mother and never had an outside job, made sure that we spoke Greek at home so that we didn't lose the ability to speak our birth language. The upside was that we became fully bilingual and the downside was that her English was not the Queen's!
 
Anyway, on that day, as was usual, our Mum was speaking to us in Greek as we walked along a main shopping street and some drunk ignoramus decided that he would attack her verbally with a barely intelligible but loud 'speak bloody English'. 

My response to the bullying  'you're just jealous you don't speak another language'. 

Not bad for an 8 year old I think, but a response that firmly and quietly put the man in his place. It was just one of many such encounters which eventually ceased to happen as people started to travel extensively and experience other cultures and countries,  as 'multi-culturalism' became the word and we were invited to share our culture, food and traditions with the rest of the world. In short it became glam to be Greek and other immigrant nationalities bore the brunt of the latent racism that exists in some people's mindset .

Incidentally while her lack of fluency in English may have resulted in funny telephone conversations with my English-speaking friends, it didn't seem to hamper her when it came to bargaining, and she earned my everlasting respect when she managed to bid successfully at the fruit and vegetable auctions along with the Chinese Market gardeners! Go Mama! 

We hope that the the soon to be POTUS Donald Trump hasn't opened up Pandora's Box with his stance on immigrants, after all he himself comes of immigrant stock as do all his wives!
 
Racism has no place at all anywhere but in a country like the USA where immigrants formed the backbone of the nation, literally building it to the power that it is today and the white man has all but extinguished the only people who are the true Americans - the native  Indians - it is totally unacceptable and we were glad to read that the store manager asked this obnoxious woman to leave. 

Now Thanasi and Sophia want to reward this courageous lady for her supportive stance and send her to visit Greece so they have set up a Go Fund Me account to help get her there! 

Read more about it on Thanasi and Sophia's site Excuse Me, Are You Greek?
Donate if you can.

Let's show the lady the beauty of our people and our homeland!
 

At Global Greek World, We ♥ Greece...and it shows! 

© GlobalGreekWorld 2009-2017 All Rights Reserved

Happy 90th Birthday to Amazing Global Greek Golden Girl Betty White!

 Global Greek Golden Girl Betty White who turns 90 today

'We always made a big thing about birthdays because they were such fun and my mother always taught me never lie about your age - brag about it - never lie about it...' 

From all of us in our Global Greek World 

we want to thank you for all the joy you have given us, 

and to wish you

a very Happy Birthday and many, many happy returns!

In Greek we generally say, 

Na ta ekatostiseis - may you live to be 100- 

but in Betty's case, we'll make it 1000!

Chronia Polla & Kala, Betty! Na ta chiliaseis!

Read about Betty on Wikipedia

Beware of Global Greeks carrying Louis Vuittons...

In this Warner Bros photo from Hangover II
Global Greek Zach Galifianakis (left) wearing THE bag
as a porter pushes the trolley with THE luggage

It's Monday January 2nd, 2012! Happy New Year! Not a very happy one for luxury brand owner LVMH who has filed a suit against Warner Bros according to today's morning frappe from fellow Greek portal Greek Gateway!!! 

LVMH has sued Warner Bros because of the fake LV monogrammed luggage carried by Global Greek actor Zach Galifianakis in Hangover II and the reference he made to it ' Careful...that's a...that's a Louis Vuitton...'

Good luck to the people at Louis Vuitton! We have a great deal of respect for international law but please don't take yourselves so seriously...this is Hollywood THE world of total pretense, the world which gave meaning to the word 'fake'...

When we read this gem, four things sprang to mind...

One: Warner Bros should counter-sue on the grounds that they are giving LV free publicity... just think how many millions of people who saw this movie had never heard of Louis Vuitton, let alone seen their exclusive, astronomically priced, only-for-the-privileged products? How many of the people who saw these would know they were fakes?

Two:Time to copyright the Greek language folks! If Louis Vuitton can sue over the use of a word or a product that it has originated , and thus make money, imagine how much Greece could make if we sued everyone around the world who is not Greek but uses a word of Greek origin... thousands of words are floating around out there which our noble ancestors weren't 'smart' enough to copyright!

Three: We would be very happy if Louis Vuitton successfully sues the Chinese manufacturers who are knocking off its brand of products and shipping it around the world. We are truly sick and tired of these knock-offs cluttering up the streets of Athens, hawked by hundreds of illegal immigrants who play hide and seek with the Greek police!

Four: Warner Bros should have been smart enough to Buy GREEK! There are hundreds of great leather products in Greece...eg KEM  they didn't have to resort to cheap fake LV luggage after all!

A fifth point came to mind while uploading these pictures... maybe Greece should sue Louis Vuitton for allowing a knock-off manufacturer to flood the world with his copies of their goods and cheapen our beautiful Athenian Trilogy buildings...

Academy of Athens - one of Greece's magnificent classic Athenian Trilogy Buildings

Remembering 9/11 - The Day That Changed the World...Lest we Forget!

New York's landmark World Trade Centre ... 

Before 11 September 2001,

the day that changed the world...

Those of us who have been fortunate enough to see the Twin Towers couldn't fail to be impressed by the sheer technical achievement involved.  I took this photo during one of the popular tourist Circle Cruises,  never dreaming that just a few years later I would be watching the devastation of their destruction from our living room in Athens...

For all of us who watched  the dreadful events that unfolded before our eyes in a live, full colour, stream of horror on that day in 2001, it soon struck home that the reality we were watching was so much more horrific and unthinkable than anything Hollywood would ever have been able to come up with. 

As the first plane flew into the tower I don't think any of us could believe what we were watching...as the second one did the same, we knew something terrible was going on... as the day and the day's events unfolded, as more news came to light about the other planes and the crashes, the whole world realised that the unthinkable was happening, the USA was the victim of a carefully planned and meticulously and callously executed terrorist attack... a terrorist attack that would leave its mark for years to come...

The self-sacrifice and heroism of New York Fire Department and Police personnel who rushed to rescue the stranded despite the dangers, the chaos and the appalling conditions which prevailed.

Greek American FDNY firefighter Peter Critsimilios, honoured by the Thessaloniki Fire Department for his heroism, is one of the Greek American firemen who was on the front line during those days. At the honouring ceremony he shared a little of the horror of those days with us...

'The morning of 9/11 the United States, and N.Y.C., the NYPD, the PAPD and the FDNY got knocked to our collective knees. 

That afternoon, we stood back up again.

My fire unites responded to the W.T.C. early the next morning.; We were met with a scene of complete devastation. Fires continued to burn in, around, and under the debris pile. We put on our helmets and went to work. While at the site the FDNY changed, adapted, and evolved. We worked till exhausted and then simply rolled up our coats laid our heads down on them and went to sleep.We woke up again and went back to work. This proved to be too physically and mentally draining, so our tours of duty were changed to 24 hours on and 24 hours off. This schedule was modified even further to allow quicker rotation and quicker rest periods. 

This was not an environment to work tired and dulled. If you stood in one place too long the bottom of your boots melted.Large pieces of steel, some weighing 10-20 tons were at every conceivable angle and could crush you at any moment.The air was filled with acrid smoke.The footing was dangerous. There were voids 30-40 feet deep. In some places, the rubble pile was 7-8 stories high and extremely unstable.This was a place that could still hurt you, could still kill you. 

When our knees became burnt, bruised, and cut, we procured kneepads so that we could work more efficiently.If a tool did not work, we modified it; we adapted it to the task at hand.
We were fluid, we thought of our feet.We were getting the job done....'
Read  all of Peter's speech

America's Greek Community counted 39 of its own among the  2983 people who lost their lives so tragically on that day in September in 2001 - a day which started out like so many others but soon turned into one of the most devastating in America's recent history - a  day which would change the world forever, but especially for those who lost their loved ones... 

Joanne Marie Ahladiotis 27
Ernest Alifakos 43
Arlene T. Babakitis 47
Katherine Bantis 48
Peter Brennan 30
Thomas A. Damaskinos 33
Anthony Demas 61
Constantine (Gus) Economos 41
Michael J. Elferis 27
Ana Fosteris 58
Jimmy Grekiotis
Kenneth G. Grouzalis 56
Steven M. Hagis 31
Vasilios G. Haramis 56
Nicholas John 42
John Katsimatides 31
Danielle Kousoulis 29
Thomas Kuveikis 48
James Maounis 42
Philip William Mastrandrea, Jr 42
George Merkouris 35
Stilianos Mousouroulis—-
Peter C. Moutos 44
Nikos Papadopoulos/Papas 29
James N. Pappageorge 29
George Paris 33
Theodoros Pigis 60
Daphne Pouletsos 47
Richard N. Poulos 55
Stephen E. Poulos 45
Anthony Savas 72
Muriel Fay Siskopoulos 60
Timothy Patrick Soulas 35
Andrew Stergiopoulos 23
Michael C. Tarrou 38
Michael Theodoridis 32
William P. Tselepis 33
Jennifer Tzemis 26
Prokopios Paul Zois 46

(source: Maria Karamitsios for USA Greek Reporter) 

Greek American actress Anthoula Katsimatides is the sister of one of those 39 young Greek Americans, John Katsimatides. Anthoula is on the board of directors of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum , and was the liaison to the family members of those who were murdered in the September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 terrorist attacks. She also  served as Governor Pataki's liaison to the September 11th families, and last Friday, September 9, 2011, was chosen to ring the bell at the NYSE, in memory of those who fell so needlessly...

Talking to the New York Daily News about the annual memorial service, Anthoula had this to say...

'These past 10 years, while there has been no memorial yet to visit on the anniversaries, I have found great comfort through the simple, reverent reading of the names on the site of the attacks. I am surrounded by people who are connected to these names, and, like me, they know that each name represents a life of someone who was loved and who was loved by us as family members. I am also reassured to know that my brother and the nearly 3,000 others are being remembered as people - not as numbers, facts or statistics...' Read more:

You can also listen to Anthoula tell John's story tonight on the Discovery and Science series Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero in episodes 5 & 6 from 9-11pm, on the Science channel today Sunday 11 September, 2011 from 5-11pm.

The total destruction of St Nicholas, the little Greek Orthodox church at the bottom of the twin Towers, and the only place of worship in the area, was a great loss for the Greek Community. The ongoing battle with the Port Authority of New York to ensure that this historic little church can be rebuilt on Ground Zero, its original site, continues, after the discussions came to an abrupt close in 2009, despite the fact that all seemed to be going well, and it seems that the case will be decided on in the courts.

Last year we wrote that it is up to all of us in the Global Greek World, and especially the Greek American Community to ALL ACT NOW to ensure the continuing presence of St Nicholas, the little Greek Orthodox Church that was sacrificed on that black day, 10 years ago, when terrorism came to the USA and changed the course of history forever! 

To see how you can help rebuild, go to the St Nicholas website

Welcoming US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Greece - 17 and 18 July 2011

We welcome US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton to Athens today, the start of her official visit to Greece, and wish her every success.

As the First Lady of the USA Hillary Clinton has been to Greece several times but this is her first as Secretary of State, and comes at a critical moment in Greece's recent history.

Greece's economic crisis dominates every discussion at the moment but there are several issues which remain of great concern and which need resolution, so we are taking this opportunity to endorse the letter  the American Hellenic Institute (AHI) sent to  Secretary Clinton prior to her travel to Turkey and Greece, released on  July 12, 2011. 

The American Hellenic Institute is a Washington based, non-profit Greek American public policy center that works to strengthen relations between the United States and Greece and Cyprus, and within the Greek American community regularly taking significant initiatives to enhance the bilateral relationship.

The letter written by AHI President and COO, Nick Larigakis, raises issues of great concern to the Greek American community (and to the Global Greek Community, we would add) :

issues that exist in southeast Europe and the eastern Mediterranean and which are problematic in the context of the Greek American relationship;

issues which are based within the universally accepted principles of the rule of law and international law, including U.S. laws;

issues which include Turkey's Occupation of Cyprus, the suppression of religious freedom and violation of the minority communities, as well as FYROM's continuing intransigence and irredentism which makes resolution of the name issue a near impossibility...

 The first page of AHI's 9 page letter to Secretary Clinton

 To read the rest of the letter, download AHI’s letter to Secretary Clinton, here

We were pleased to see that Secretary Clinton's schedule included a visit to the Patriarchate in Istanbul (Constantinople). Photos below are from an independent blog on Hillary Clinton http://secretaryclinton.wordpress.com/

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I

at The Patriarchate, Fanari, July 16, 2011.

REUTERS/Ahmet Dumanli/Anatolian

The GABBY Awards 2011: Celebrating Greek America's Best and Brightest!

Ellis Island today...

a historical and meaningful setting for the prestigious GABBY Awards

Picture Source: 2011 Gabby Awards

The curtain rises on the second Gabby Awards this evening in New York, most appropriately on Ellis Island - a place with such tremendous significance - both emotional and historical - for all Greek Americans. 

As the first point of entry for most of America's immigrants it was the place where desperation gave way to hope, the place which saw the birth of their own American Dream for many of our ancestors as they flocked to the New World fleeing persecution, poverty and war in Europe, ready to start a new life.  

That new life wasn't a bed of roses,  but our fellow countrymen didn't give up easily.  

It took a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears but many of them would do what it took to make it to the top, if not for themselves at least for their children and the future generations.

The Gabby Awards are a tribute to Greek America's Best and Brightest , a tribute to all those people whose hard work made Greek America what it is today, present, active and a force to be reckoned with, in all walks of American life.  

Created in 2009 to celebrate and reward the excellence Greek Americans have achieved in various fields, the awards recognize the best and brightest individuals who have excelled in their respective fields and strive for excellence in all they do and are the top achievement awards for Greek Americans.

Tonight's ceremony is a  spectacular event of immense interest not only to the Greek American Community but also to the Global Greek Community.

All of those nominated for the Gabby Awards are people who deserve to win, whether they  get to collect the statuette or not and we are glad to see that the Science/Medicine category was added this year - something that wasn't included in 2009 and which we thought was a category worth adding , as there are many prominent Greek Americans who have excelled in this particular category, as we pointed out in our 2009 article.



Because of the special circumstances of the 2011 Gabby Awards taking place at Ellis Island, the committee has decided to award two Lifetime Achievement Awards to outstanding individuals who have each left their impact on society and each of whom has a connection to the sacred location of Ellis Island. 

Former Massachusetts governor and US Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, whose mother entered Ellis Island, as well as internationally-acclaimed artist Stephen Antonakos, who arrived on Ellis Island in 1930.

For us, one of the high points of this year's Gabbys, is the Tribute to Greek America's ancestors - a collection of family stories published in a book entitled simply "Tribute". 

A Tribute to Greek America's Ancestors

Picture Source: 2011 Gabby Awards

You can find some of these stories on the Gabby website - Living their Dreams. Beautiful, warm stories told not only by descendants of the first immigrants, but in some cases by the immigrants themselves. People like Michael Dukakis, Gregory Pappas, Melina Kanakaredes and many others narrate their family history...a wonderful tribute indeed. 

Melina Kanakaredes

The Gabby Awards were founded to celebrate excellence amongst Greek Americans and to reward those who embody it, bringing together people from all over America who have excelled in their field and who have one very significant factor in common - their Greek Heritage.

Created and hosted by the Greek America Foundation, the Gabbys are the brainchild of its founder Gregory C Pappas, dynamic publisher of  the nation’s most widely-circulated periodical for Greek Americans, Greek America Magazine.

The Gabby Awards Nominees are divided into nine categories: 

• Arts, 
• Culture & Media, 
• Performing Arts, 
• Science & Medicine,  
• Business & Entrepreneurism, 
• Politics & Public Service, 
• Promotion of Hellenism, 
• Philanthropy, 
• Athletics and 
• Education.

There are  3 nominees in each category, and these include such Global Greek notables as Dr Andreas Tzakis, George Behrakis, Tina Fey, Louie Psihoyos, Senator Olympic Snowe, Arianna Huffington, Harry Markopoulos, Jamie Dimon and Ted Leonsis,  and organisations such as the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the American Hellenic Institute.

The Gabby Weekend celebrations started on Thursday with a spectacular  Tribute to Hellenic Film at the historic Jersey City Loews Theatre and a  sparkling reception for the sponsors hosted by celebrated jewellery designers Bulgari, themselves of Greek heritage. 

The Awards Ceremony today will be attended by hundreds of our most notable Global Greeks and will be followed by a glittering After Party which once again promises to be an unforgettable evening of celebration of Greek food and dancing!

We congratulate Gregory Pappas and all those responsible for the Gabby Awards, for their wonderful initiative and wish them the greatest success tonight! 

Keep up the great work... and of course - ΚΑΛΗ ΔΙΑΣΚΕΔΑΣΗ!

Source: The Gabby Awards 2011

Broadway Honours Oscar Winning Global Greek Theoni Aldredge: 19xx - 2011

 Theoni Vachliotis Aldredge

Source: Costume Designers Guild

Broadway theaters will turn off their lights for one minute this evening to honour one of our Global Greeks, legendary costume designer Theoni Aldredge, who died last Friday in Connecticut in the USA.

A fitting tribute to one of Greece's most talented daughters of the diaspora!

Born in Thessaloniki, Theoni Athanasiou Vachliotis studied at the American College of Greece in Athens and went to the USA to study at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago. 

Her Broadway career began when fellow Global Greek Elia Kazan, prompted by actress Geraldine Page,  asked her to design the costumes for his stage production of Tenessee Williams’ Sweet Bird of Youth in 1959.

“I made three outfits for Gerry — a negligee, a robe and a beaded navy blue evening dress with a lighter front because a bird’s stomach is always lighter than its back,” she told Architectural Digest in 1993. “So there you had Tennessee Williams writing, Geraldine Page and Paul Newman acting, and I thought, ‘Where do I go from here?’ ” (Source: NYT Obit)

Our answer to that is simple: Up, in fact right up, to the very top!
 

For more than fifty years she was a favourite of top producers on and off Broadway,  designing fabulous costumes for more than 80 productions, and winning three Tony Awards in this category, namely for Annie, La Cage aux Folles and Barnum.

Theoni Aldredge's remarkable career in costume design, either as herself or under the name of Denny Vachliotis, her alter-ego,  included a wide range of films for Hollywood, with  The Great Gatsby topping the list, the film which gave her the Best Costume Design  Academy Award in  1974 for her stunning creations, and ensured a lifetime spot for her on the Academy.

Her talent also ensured a place in the Theatre Hall of Fame for her in 1986, as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1976. 

Other memorable films with Aldredge costumes are Moonstruck with Cher and Nicholas Cage, Other Peoples' Money, The First Wives Club, Three days of the Condor, Network, The Rose, Ghostbusters and many others.

Theoni Aldredge was cremated. Her family will be bringing her ashes to Greece, the land of her birth, to be placed in her final resting place at Athens' First Cemetery.

Kalo Taxidi, Theoni...

Αιωνία σου η μνήμη...

To read more about Theoni Aldredge/Denny Vachliotis

New York Times Obituary by William Grimes

Ta Nea Obituary by Dimitris Danikas (In Greek) 

Oh and by the way, we don't mention her age...we'll leave that to others... It is never polite to mention a lady's age and certainly not a Greek lady's, especially when nobody seems to have got it right! She would probably be most upset with her New York Times Obituary though, they aged her by a decade...unless they know something we don't! 

Sources: Ta Nea, Greek News Agenda, NYT Obit, Wikipedia

Global Greek Maria Menounos: As a First Generation Greek American, I Desperately Wanted to Do Something to Help Greece...

Maria Menounos with her Mum and Dad at the end of their run in the Kallimarmaro Stadium

 Photo Source: Maria Menounos via www.self.com

Gorgeous and multi-talented Greek American Maria Menounos, actress, journalist and television presenter, Access Hollywood and NBC News Correspondent, is one of our wonderful Global Greeks who always does her bit for Greece, the land her parents left to emigrate to the US in the 1970's. 

Her love for Greece brought her to Greece in 2006 to host the Eurovision Song Contest along with Sakis Rouvas, something she did with a lot of love, taking a few days off from her busy work schedule so that at the end of the contest she could enjoy some quality time with her relatives in the Peloponnese.

Just recently she anchored a great little video clip called "Heck Yeah! We Invented Democracy" for the Greek American organisation Next Generation Initiative, featuring many prominent Greek Americans who had a great time getting together to encourage Americans to do get out and "Vote, it's the Greek thing to do"
 

At the end of October this year, she came to Athens to take part in the Marathon of Marathons, the 2500 year celebrations for the Marathon. Not only did she host the celebration at the Zappeion Centre but she also participated, accompanying both her parents in the 5 kilometre run!

We listened to a visibly moved Maria speaking to reporters after she finished the 5 kilometre run with her parents and declared that she would love to come back and do the Classic 42.195 kilometre Marathon one day, in fact she said,  everyone should come to Greece for the Classic Marathon!  

We were thrilled that she participated, along with George Papandreou, the Prime Minister of Greece and a lot of other people, famous and not so famous, and we loved what she had to say shortly afterwards, to her friends on Twitter...

Finished the 5k marathon today w/my parents.I didn't know that the 5k finishes thru the original olympic stadium..omg it was so moving!!

I almost lost it coming thru-such a historic day-truly honored to have participated-i recommend the classic athens marathon to all!

A few days later she wrote  an exclusive diary for self.com magazine and we thought we would share it with you ...


"Believe it or not, the economic conditions in Greece are even worse than those in our country's. As a first generation Greek American, I desperately wanted to do something to help. That something came in the form of hosting the 2010 Greek marathon. 

This year was the 2500th anniversary commemorating the mythic run of Greek messenger, Pheidippides, from the Battle of Marathon to Athens. Way back in 490 BC., Pheidippides job was to spread the word that Athens had defeated Persia at the battle. 

In 2010, it was my job to spread the word that the Greek marathon is THE premiere marathon in the world and that Greece, despite its economic setbacks, is THE premiere vacation destination and tourist attraction as well. 

After all, what other marathon is so authentic and rich in history? 

And what other country offers travelers such a wide range of assets from gorgeous island paradises to ancient historical wonders to a booming night life? I can't think of many. 

Yet, as awe-inspiring as Greece and the marathon was and is, it was my decision to run the 5K portion of the race that may have given me the most inspiration.

Honestly, I wouldn't even think to attend this event without my parents. As Greek natives who moved to the United States in their twenties, this was an experience they could not miss. Growing up in mountain villages that lacked electricity and running water, this was quite their triumphant return. 

However, what truly inspired me, and what I hope inspires others, is the fact that they decided to actually run the race with me. 

Mind you, these are not the parents who play tennis, do aerobics or have gym memberships. 

They are working-class folk. Dad, Costas, was a janitor and a handyman. Mom, Litsa, was a cafeteria worker. They had kids to feed in a foreign culture whose language they did not speak. 

What compounded their struggles was the fact that Dad's a Type I diabetic, prone to severe low blood sugar attacks. He's had the disease for forty years and has even been pronounced dead on more than one occasion due to its effects. As you can guess, there just wasn't room for extracurricular activities like exercise. 

Yet, this 66-year-old diabetic and his 56-year-old wife, who battled medical setbacks of her own including thyroid issues and a deviated septum, were determined, despite everything, to help the cause and to show their support by running the race. They lacked exercise experience and they lacked youth but had something, perhaps, more valuable. They had their minds in the state of 'possibility.'....

Thanks Greece, and thanks Mom and Dad, for reminding me to keep MY mind in possibility when I want to give up. I hope others out there can be reminded, too."

Read the rest of the article here...

Thank YOU,  Maria! 

Thanks for the generous and unstinting support that you and your parents, along with the rest of our Global Greeks, have given, and continue to give our homeland, especially at times like these ...We're keeping our minds in the state of possibility too! We know Greece will overcome!

Ευχαριστούμε πολύ! Νάσαι Πάντα Καλά!

To read more about Maria, Click Here

To follow Maria on Twitter, Click Here

Heck Yeah we Invented Democracy! The Greek American Candidates in the US Mid-Term Elections!

With the US Mid term elections coming up tomorrow in the USA, some of our most famous Greek Americans have got together to encourage people to vote, telling them that Democracy was their idea first and that Americans shouldn't mess with democracy, but get out and vote! 

George Stephanopoulos, Bob Costas, Nick Galifianakis, Maria Menounos, and Chris Sarandon star in the hilarious little video which they called "Heck Yeah! We Invented Democracy." and even Tina Fey has a guest spot with her phrase from her SNL skit...'Drepome, Drepome, which means I'm ashamed....', as do Arianna Huffington and Betty White.

The video was made by Hellenext, one of our Global Greek Organisations, whose aims are to engage the next generation of Greek Americans and have them embrace the core values that their Greek Heritage represents - a respect for education, an entrepreneurial  spirit and a striving for excellence! 

Hellenext's founders and friends reads like a Who's Who of the Greek American Community - among them Thalia Assuras, Dr. John Brademas, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Dr. James Dimitriou, Michael Dukakis, Ted Leonsis, Gregory Maniatis, Barbara Spyridon Pope, Sen. Paul Sarbanes, Sen. Olympia Snowe, George Stephanopoulos, and George Tenet to name but a few...To read more about this very worthwhile organisation, Hellenext, Click here

The Greek American involvement in politics has always been particularly strong and in 1988 got the closest to the top of the political ladder, when Governor Michael Dukakis, the Democratic Party Presidential Nominee lost to George Bush. 

The first Greek American who had ever got so close to the Presidency was Spiros Agnew,

who served as Richard Nixon's Vice President from 1969 to 1973, but had to resign because of criminal charges, otherwise he may well have become the first Greek American President when Nixon was impeached.

Recent US politics have seen an increase in the number of Greek Americans standing for office, something we welcome, but we would like to see more of them, as Greek issues become more and more complex, issues on which Greece needs as much support as possible. 

For that reason, we thought we would help all those who would like to VOTE GREEK AMERICAN in tomorrow's elections, by listing them for you in this post. 

We tried but didn't manage to find a central list of Greek American candidates (perhaps that is something which one of the Greek American Organisations such as AHEPA or AHI could put together, irrespective of party affiliations) but we are able to provide this list thanks to Andrew Kaffes of A.G. Kaffes and Associates in Washington.

If you want to read more about them, please click on the link to each candidate's website. 

It is worth noting that Gus Bilirakis, Zack Space, Dina Titus, Shelley Berkley, Niki Tsongas and Suzanne Kosmas are  members of the Hellenic Caucus in Congress, while Gus Bilirakis is the Co-Chair and a very active proponent of Greek Issues such as the rebuilding of St Nicholas at Ground Zero and protection of religious sites and artefacts in Cyprus. 

US House of Representatives

Incumbents

Gus Bilirakis (R-FL)           Website http://www.bilirakisforcongress.com 

Zack Space (D-OH             Website http://www.zackspace.org    

John Sarbanes (D-MD)       Website http://www.johnsarbanes.com 

  

Dina Titus (D-NV)              Website http://www.dinatitus.com 
 

Shelley Berkley (D-NV)       Website http://www.berkleyforcongress.com
 

*Niki Tsongas (D-MA)         Website http://www.nikitsongas.com

and 

*Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL)     Website http://www.kosmasforcongress.com

who, although not Greek by blood, but via marriage, or osmosis, as Niki Tsongas says, carry their Greek surnames proudly, and are very much part of the “Greek American” delegation. 

Candidates

Dean Scontras (R-ME)        Website http://www.scontras2010.com

US Senate

Candidates

Alexi Giannoulias (D) IL  Website http://www.alexiforillinois.com

Charlie Crist (I) FL         Website http://www.charliecrist.com

We wish all our Greek American candidates, including all those running at local level, such as Mariyana Spyropoulos , Maria Pappas, and Frank Skartados, and regardless of party affiliation, the best of luck in tomorrow's elections and look forward to seeing them cooperate positively with, and support the Greek Government as much as they can at this difficult time in Greece's history!

Καλή Επιτυχία!!!

P.S We had already posted our article when we found it, but we found the relevant post and brief bios of each candidate at USA Greek Reporter  useful.