Captive Nations Week 2020

Captive Nations Week was first recognized in 1959 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the urging of future Cleveland Mayor Ralph Perk Sr. and Congressmen Charles Vanik and US Senator Frank Lausche. Captive Nations Week has been supported each 3rd week in July by every US president since.

Judge Ralph Perk Jr. is the current (and only the third) president of the American Nationalities Movement. The first president was his father, the late Mayor Ralph Perk. He was followed by Irene Morrow. All three have been inducted into the Cleveland International Hall of Fame for their significant contributions to the region's ethnic diversity and heritage.

 

Judge Ralph Perk Jr.

The American Nationalities Movement was formed for the purpose of uniting all the nationalities in the United States in the goal to educate, advocate and represent their interests of all the diverse ethnic groups to the public and mostly to the political leaders of the United States. This pursuit of our common interest to achieve an understanding of the complex issues that confront each group individually and collectively and that without our united efforts all of us will be endanger.
Judge Perk gave some opening remarks and then read the current proclamation from President Donald Trump.

Czech Cultural Garden in Cleveland

Joseph Meissner

The annual Captive Nations week dinner event could not be held because of the Coviv19 pandemic so Judge Perk and a few community leaders gathered (socially distant) in the Czech Cultural Garden in Cleveland.

Michael Patterson, Joe Meissner, Pierre Bejjani, Ralph Perk and Paul Burik

Photos and videos of Captive Nations Week in Cleveland

Vietnamese Cultural Garden in Cleveland Cleanup for One World Day

A hard-working crew spent time in the beautiful weather on Saturday getting work done in the Vietnamese Cultural Garden preparing for One World Day which will be Sunday August 27 from 11 AM to 7PM.

Four leaders of the Vietnamese Cultural Garden: President - Gia Hoa Ryan, Vice President - Oanh Loi-Powell, Legal Counsel - Atty Joseph P. Meissner, and Secretary - Michael Powell, raked up branches and debris from the entire area, hard-edged and added 20 bags of mulch to the flower bed.

See more from the Vietnamese Cultural Garden

Vietnamese Cultural Garden in Cleveland

Joseph Meissner received the Freedom Award at the American Nationalities Movement of Ohio’s 56th annual Captive Nations Dinner on July 20, 2017.

Meissner called up Gia Hoa Ryan and Oanh Loi-Powell to tell about the new Vietnamese Cultural Garden in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens chain.

Vietnamese Cultural Garden update - photos and video

Gia Hoa Ryan

Oanh Loi-Powell

4 famous novels of China

Lt. Colonel Joseph Meissner spoke to the ClevelandPeople.Com Food Adventurers at The Pearl Asian Kitchen.  The Food Adventurers travel to authentic ethnic restaurants in the Cleveland area and, besides enjoying a special traditional menu, learn about the culture of the country.

Meissner spoke about the 4 most famous novels:

1. Romance of the Three Kingdoms,
2. Dream of the Red Chamber,
3. Water Margin and 
4. Journey to the West

See more about the Food Adventures

Cleveland Chinese community

‘Different’ people moving to town – Joe Cimperman, Global Cleveland

Joe Meissner asked Joe Cimperman, former Cleveland councilman and now president of Global Cleveland, how to reach the people in the suburbs concerning new and “different” people moving in.

This was at the ASIA Inc. Friendraiser event at the Ariel International Center.  Joe gave some personal stories as an answer and told people to bet on people who are broken, who have an accent and so on.

He also praised Dan Hanson and ClevelandPeople.Com and the Cleveland International Hall of Fame for their efforts to make this happen. Sorry about the lighting.


http://clevelandinternationalhalloffame.com and http://www.clevelandpeople.com

Joe meets 12 new people in Australia by Joseph Meissner

We love traveling, but not just to see the tourist sites. You could simply sit on your plush living room couch at home and eye Rick Steves travels, if your only goal was see the sights. No, we like to meet real people and dialogue with them. In Australia we met many people and made many new friends. This article is dedicated to twelve of the wonderful people we chanced upon.

Read the rest of Joe's travel experience

The Hill of Crosses in Lithuania

Joseph Meissner told the history of the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania.

It is believed that the first crosses were placed there after the 1831 Uprising. Over the generations, not only crosses, but giant crucifixes, carvings of Lithuanian patriots, statues of the Virgin Mary and thousands of tiny effigies and rosaries have been brought here by Catholic pilgrims.  Estimates say over 100,000 crosses were there in 2006 and it keeps growing.

Meissner spoke at the ClevelandPeople.Com Passport Adventure to Lithuania at the Cleveland Lithuanian Club.  The Passport Adventurers visit traditional ethnic restaurants and showcases the food, culture, history of the country – in this case Lithuania.

More on Lithuanians in Cleveland

Jadwiga (Hedwig)’s place in Lithuanian and Polish history

Joseph Meissner told the story of Jadwiga, aka Hedwig who was a leader of Lithuania and Poland as a teenage girl.  She was later canonized by the Catholic Church.

He spoke at the ClevelandPeople.Com Passport Adventure to Lithuania at the Cleveland Lithuanian Club.  The Passport Adventurers visit traditional ethnic restaurants and showcases the food, culture, history of the country – in this case Lithuania.

http://www.clevelandpeople.com/groups/lithuanian/lithuanian.htm

Youth speak out for Life By Joseph Patrick Meissner

It is Thursday, January 22. This is the Forty First Annual Youth Rally for Life. Normally we have held this event on Cleveland Public Square at noon in the midst of all the lunch-time crowds.

Despite the usual freezing cold, the young people have always come from their high schools and colleges to deliver their messages of hope and love. We more "mature young people" come to listen and find inspiration.


Read the rest of Joe's account of the Rally for Life