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OUR LIFE M o n th ly , p u b lis h e d b y U k ra in ia n N a tio n a l W om en's L e a g u e o f A m e ric a VOL. XLVII MARCH 1990 Editor: M arta Baczynsky T H E R E A L T A R A S S H E V C H E N K O T. Shevchenko. Self-portrait. Many books and thousands of articles were writ ten about Taras Shevchenko and so many speeches were delivered on the subject that one can hardly say anything new. In this is the actual secret of the Shev chenko cult, a most unique one in the world, for no mat ter that his work was analyzed to the n’th degree, to us he is always new and timely. It is easier to write about Shevchenko in 1990 than it was in previous years, since now we are witnesses to a historical revolution against communism and within this revolution we are observing new erruptions of the struggle for freedom. Today, Shevchenko’s poem “Meni Odnakovo...” (“It’s all the same to me..”) became real, in which he feared for his nation lest it be awakened from its sleep, when in the shadow of the Caucasus moun tains, Azerbaidzhan, Armenia and Georgia are raising against the Moscow invaders and for these acts the streets of their cities are running with blood. One remembers now how in April 1917, 100,000 Ukrainians marched down the grand Volodymyrs’ka Street in Kiev, down to the square by St. Sophia, singing Shevchenko’s “Jak Umru” (“When I die...”), which was then the national anthem. 1989 was a year of surprising events, the first sur prise being the successful rebellion of all six European satellite countries of the Soviet block, which rid them of the Moscow supremacy. Then the nations within the Soviet Socialist Republic itself awakened. Those not thoroughly victimized by the russification crazyness, who had managed to preserve their national awareness, appeared on the political arena with strenght and cour age. Other nations announced their presence in a more sedate manner, but in massive demonstrations which heralded the beginning of their rebirth. One of the manifestations of this rebirth in Ukraine is the search for mutual understanding and mutual action with fellow Ukrainians outside of the homeland. And here again is the importance of Shevchenko. In the organizational and ideological confusion of Ukrainians in diaspora, he is the one force uniting us with our homeland. In further dwelling into the Shevchenko cult, it has been written at times — that he was not the only great poet. Many nations in various parts of the world had their national bards and writers of genius status. The Italians had Dante, Victor Hugo was in France, Byron in England, Isben in Norway, Mickevich, Slovackyj and Krasinskyj in Poland, Pushkin and Lermotov in Russia, Petefi in Hungary, Goethe and Schiller in Germany, Edgar Allan Poe in the United States and Pabindranat Tagore in India. These were spiritual titans, as were wri ters such as Shakespear, French writer Balzak, the German Hauptman or Kalderone in Spain. But which country dedicates a month every year to a writer or poet, designating it “his month.” March is Shevchenko’s month because he was born and died in the month of 16 ’’НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, БЕРЕЗЕНЬ 1990 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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