By Burton Bollag, Special
Correspondent, America.gov
6th annual procession held in New York City
during Nowruz
New York — A dozen colorful floats — richly
decorated open trailers, each pulled by a small truck and depicting historical
scenes and landmarks from Iran — were waiting in a cross street on either side
of Madison Avenue. Groups of young dancers in flowing costumes were practicing
nervously in the street as friends and family members took photos. Marching
bands rehearsed while sound operators tried out the giant speakers each float
carried, producing at times a deafening cacophony.
Finally, at a few moments past noon, the Persian
Parade took off. Five mounted New York City police officers, one of them a
woman, rode their horses at the head of the procession. One carried an American
flag. Another carried Iran's pre-Islamic Revolution flag, the same Iranian flag
carried by hundreds of participants and spectators.
For the next two hours about 1,000 members of the
Iranian immigrant community in the United States and Canada marched or rode
slowly down this elegant avenue in the heart of New York City. Thousands of
other Iranian Americans lined the route, cheering in the shadows of New York's
skyscrapers.
The March 29 parade was staged in the middle of
the traditional two-week period of celebration for Nowruz, the Persian New Year.
Many Iranian Americans celebrate the holiday in the traditional way, with family
visits and sometimes-larger festive gatherings. But for six years, a typically
American way of celebrating — with a parade — has been growing in popularity.
The idea started with a married couple. Both were
born in Iran but moved to the United States when they were young, and they met
in their new homeland. Several years ago the two were watching a U.S.-produced
Persian-language television program that showed a Nowruz celebration in a park
in Montreal, Canada, with a singer and a few dancers.
"We thought we could do the same thing, but
bigger," said Niki Shabnam Rezzadeh, a dentist living in New Jersey, which
neighbors New York.
Her husband, Rudy Rezzadeh, a cardiologist, added
that the couple thought a parade was a good way to help keep alive the culture
of the large Iranian immigrant population in the United States, especially among
their children born here.
"Instead of reading a book to them, I'd rather
show them a small aspect of the culture," he said. "I'd like the kids to be
proud of their culture."
Rudy said he feels equally attached to the
cultures of the United States and Iran, but political tensions between the two
countries, and misconceptions among Americans, sometimes make the immigrants'
Iranian identity a burden.
"There is a lot of pain that goes with it," he
said. At times of heightened tension, "people are reluctant to identify
themselves as Iranian Americans" for fear of being treated with suspicion.
A similar sentiment was expressed by
American-born Saba Javadi, 15, who came with her mother and older brother to
watch the parade. Each year she goes with her family to spend the summer in
Iran. "At school, all my friends know I'm Iranian; everyone's OK with that. But
when I tell them we're going to Iran they say, 'Oh my God, isn't that dangerous?
Don't they have bombs there?'"
Her mother, Iranian-born Roya Zahedi, brought the
children to the parade from their home in Commack, New York, on Long Island, 45
miles away, where she works as a head bank teller. Although the family speaks
Persian at home, and Zahedi often prepares Persian food, she said the parade was
a welcome opportunity to acquaint her children with more aspects of Iranian
culture.
Mostly, she said, the event was a joyous occasion
to celebrate the Persian New Year. Nowruz, she said, "is an escape from the
darkness of winter; it represents a new beginning."
New York is world-famous for its dozens of major
annual parades. Among the best known are the Columbus Day Parade in October,
commemorating the Italian explorer who "discovered" America for Europe in the
15th century, and the St. Patrick's Day Parade celebrating Irish-Americans. The
most famous procession is Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, put on by the Macy's
department store chain in November each year since 1924. Hundreds of thousands
of people turn out to watch volunteers pull the parade's giant helium-filled
balloons in the shape of well-known cartoon characters.
The Rezzadehs, along with a committee of
like-minded Iranian Americans, organized the first Persian Parade in 2004.
Staged yearly, it has grown since then. Last year's parade had a literary theme,
and there were floats dedicated to the great Persian poets Ferdowsi, Omar
Khayyám and Rumi.
This year's theme was Persian history, with a
float dedicated to the 6th century BC emperor Cyrus the Great. A group of male
students from George Mason University, in Virginia, put on displays of Varzesh-e
Bastani, a type of traditional wrestling, along the parade route.
The organizers say the parade is strictly
nonpolitical. Niki Rezzadeh said the only difficult decision was which version
of the Iranian flag to fly at the event. The committee decided to use Iran's
historic flag, featuring a lion, and not the newer flag adopted by the current
Islamic Republic.
The parade ended at a park, where participants
and spectators socialized while eating sandwiches and listening to Iranian pop
music.
About
America.gov: U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Information
Programs (IIP) engages international audiences on issues of foreign policy,
society and values to help create an environment receptive to U.S. national
interests.
... Payvand News - 04/09/09 ... --
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