The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1984 (11. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1984-01-01 / 1. szám
FERENC F. SAJGÓ: THE HUNGARIAN LIFE-LINE Beginning with the issue of January, 1984 a new column, Hungarian Life-Line (HLL) has started. In fact this addition will be more than a new column, it will be a new, and ambitious project. The launching of the HLL will coincide with the tenth anniversary of the Eighth Hungarian Tribe magazine. Thanks to the dedication and efforts of the Editor, the staff and the contributors, the EHT magazine became a bridgehead of the Hungarian Heritage in the USA. Now, it is the time to »move forward from the bridgehead and expand in scope. The HLL will be one of '.he means of the growth. The HLL is a versatile project embracing a variety of subjects, but basically its purposes are: improve the communication among the Hungarian Americans and their organizations, foster the Hungarian Heritage, maintain the awareness of ethnic identity and explore the opinion of the reader. The first objective of the column is to improve commurication. The readers are well aware the results of the official 1980 Census. In this, close to 1-8 million Americans claimed to be of Hungarian ancestry. The ethnic identity of the Hungarian Americans is maintained mostly by local cultural, religious and civic organizations helped by radio and TV programs. Above the local level there is an important link, the Hungarian American Press. About 40-50 periodicals appearing regularly in the USA. In spite of the apparently large number of publications the communication among the Hungarian Americans is far from effective. There is a huge communication gap caused by the language barrier. Except a few, these periodicals are written in Hungarian. The great majority of the Hungarian Americans do not read Hungarian, consequently, what is written in these publications does not reach them. The Hungarian American periodicals carry articles and news of great interest and value to the public. Among the contributors there are respected journalists, writers, and poets. Their writings, their messages deserve broader readership than the actual one. In order to overcome the language barrier in the HLL excerpts, eventually entire articles will be reprinted in Engiish from the Hungarian American newspapers and magazines. 1 have already approached several periodicals proposing permanent cooperation in interchanging articles and news. In every geographical area where the Hungarian American population is certain concentration, Hungarian radio and in some parts TV programs are transmitted. In the HLL opportunities will open to announce special programs in advance. I invite the program managers to contact me about their future plans. There are several Hungarian American cultural, historical, educational societies and hobby related associations which have nationwide membership or are active at regional level. The HLL will provide forum for these organizations to report their programs, meetings, conventions or exhibitions and excerpts will be included from their publications. 1 am asking the readers to spread the message about th»s opportunity in their organizations and urge the officers to contact me about their activities. Many Hungarian Americans have reached prominent posiiions in the American society. We know of them, and we are proud of them. But there are many more Hungarian Americans who have made the news and we do not know what we should about them. Reading the news-DONATION FOR MAGAZINE PUBLICATION EXPENSES Kolozsvári .......................................................................... 100.00 Stephen and Elizabeth Mazura .............................. 25.00 Your special donation to defray the expenses for this magazine gratefully acknowledged. Our first nim is to purchase the ownership-rights to this magazine from the Bethlen Press. We thank you for your donations, small or large, they are very much appreciated, for it shows that there are a few who care. PLEASE NOTE: Due to increase in the production cost of this magazine we are forced to raise the subscription rate to $15.00 per year in the U.S. and Canada. Foreign $20.00. The combination of Membership-Subscription re mains the same: $25.00. In due respect to all those who for many years were subscribers of this magazine, can renew their 1984 subscription for $12.00, if they send it in by the end of March. As we are passing our tenth year of publication and entering into a new one - - our readers will find many new sections and wider coverage of many events In the January issue we’ll introduce the “New Jersey Section” edited by Paul Pulitzer. Also, the “Hungarian Life-Line” column by Ferenc F. Sajgó will start. papers, magazines, watching TV, very frequently, names disttctly of Hungarian origin strike one’s eyes. These people are scientists, inventors, writers, artists, business or sportpersons, politicians or community leaders. Behind each of these names there is a story. A story which started, it might be one half of a century or more ago, somewhere in the Duna-Tisza basin, in Transylvania or in the Hungarian Highlands. We are interested in knowing their stories, the stories behind the names of the people who made the news. The “discovery” of the people in the news is more than a one man’s job. I need the cooperation of the readers to do this task. A nationwide network of “name watchers” will be organized to report, eventually, to interview the Hungarian Americans who made the news, in order to publish articles about them. The second objective of this column is to help to maintain the awareness of ethnic identity. The title of this magazine and the name of the Foundation behind it clearly states that the Hungarian Americans are the allegorical eighth tribe of the Hungarian Nation. The word “eighth” indicates that there are other seven tribes. Yes, there are dcscendents of the seven tribes. They live in the Old County. It would be a great mistake to under estimate the importance of maintaining cultural ties with the Old Country. In this column excerpts, eventually, entire articles or essays will be presented in English from Hungarian magazines. The SZÜLŐFÖLDÜNK (Our Motherland) radio service broadcasts programs in English. The program is sponsored by the Hungarian World Federation. I have contacted the Federation to obtain the titles of the programs and the dates of broadcasting in enough advance to be able to include in the column. Also, I would hope to get January 1984 Page 3
