Can you put our twitter info on the home page?  Something like, Follow us on Twitter!  and then our username?

Thanks,

Jordann

To Whom It May Concern,

During the course of the past year, I have become familiar with one of L.A.'s most important new initiatives, Levantine Cultural Center. A nexus for cultures of the Middle East and North Africa, the center presents a range of literary, visual and performing arts programs. The center also offers workshops and classes in Arabic, Persian, drumming, dance and voice; and it serves as a needed resource to the mainstream media, looking for alternative voices to comment on Middle East issues.

Levantine Center includes majority and minority cultures in programs that emphasize coexistence. It offers critical support to emerging Middle Eastern artists. It also lends intellectual and contextual support to such large institutions as LACMA, UCLA and others, that benefit from a community organization with deep roots in the Arab, Iranian, Armenian, Turkish, Middle Eastern Jewish, Kurdish and other communities.

I have been consistently impressed by the quality of Levantine programs in which I have participated and it is almost beyond belief that the center has been able to accomplish so much as an essentially volunteer organization operating on a modest budget. Levantine Cultural Center is seeking funding that will provide both for a staff and a permanent home of its own, so that the center can meet the expanding demands on its services and programs.

I urge you to give Levantine Cultural Center every consideration.

Sincerely yours,
Steven D. Lavine, President, CalArts

I just want to let you know how very much I appreciate the work that you do and the work of the Levantine Cultural Center. I depend on your site to keep me informed about authors, artists, films and discussions that are taking place in the LA area. While I do find it difficult to get to LA for most of the events, I am keenly interested and have continued to learn through your descriptions of the programs. I know you have more on your plate than you can handle, but it would be fantastic if the Levantine Cultural Center could spawn another cell...one in Orange County. Thanks so much for your good work. I'll renew my membership which I'm sure has expired.

Marilyn Gottschall
Associate Professor, Religious Studies
Whittier College
Whittier, California

Dear Jordan,

I want to thank you for yet another wonderful and unique event. I enjoyed the talk and the discussion very much. I don't know if you realize the importance of your work for us in the Iranian-American community in Los Angeles. It has so far been a great learning experience, an inspiration and best of all a fabulous time! Keep up the good work and best of luck to you and the Levantine Cultural Center.

Ali Derakhshan

Thanks for all the efforts the Levantine Center puts forth in informing us about cultural events that otherwise will have remained fairly unnoticed. The publicity you give for these events is invaluable. Never before was I exposed and informed about all these wonderful priceless events and functions.

I am so glad that the Levantine Center exists and works towards bringing cultural events to light and light to cultural events.

Thanks for a job Super well done!

Seta S. Khajarian, MBA
Los Angeles, CA

To Whom It May Concern:

For the Torrance Cultural Services Division at Torrance Cultural Arts Center, I want to commend the mission, the staff, and the programs of Levantine Cultural Center.

I am responsible for the production of various cultural programs to serve the residents of Torrance, a community of people from diverse ethnicities. Among the programs I produce are an annual cultural festival, an annual concert series, and an annual theatre series. Each of these programs targets a different audience to meet various goals, but all of them share the common mission of enhancing the quality of life in the community and celebrating our diversity.

I became involved with LCC in 2005, as I was preparing to produce a dramatization of The 9/11 Commission Report. I contacted the staff to enlist their assistance in casting Middle Eastern actors for key roles. The staff responded quickly and positively to my inquiry, and they put me in contact with outstanding artists from their network of members. I mention this because the staff didn't know me. Our programs at Torrance Cultural Arts Center, while excellent, are not widely known outside of the South Bay. Yet the people of LCC saw the significance of our work and its relationship to its own mission, and they stepped forward to help.

Subsequent to my casting artists associated with LCC, the staff asked if we would be interested in posting information about our program on their web-base calendar. Their offer was instantly welcomed. Working with the staff to provide them with the information and then to have it posted was handled with ease and professionalism. It has helped us to extend our current program to people who would reasonably be interested but whom we would ordinarily not be able to reach.

Furthermore, I have attended several events produced by LCC. These events have been entertaining and informative. The audiences have been diverse, and everyone is made to feel welcome by the staff and the guest artists.

LCC is a unique and outstanding resource in the greater Los Angeles area. We at Torrance Cultural Arts Center value our relationship with it. LCC merits the strong support of individuals and funding organizations alike.

With regard,
John Powers, Program Producer
City of Torrance Cultural Arts Center

To Whom It May Concern,

These days, when it seems that the world has gone crazy and we are witnessing the polarization of social, political and religious sides, it is heartening to see an organization like Levantine Center try to create a bond between so many various groups. The Center is one of the very few sane and lucid voices in Los Angeles, and within the past five years I have seen Jordan Elgrably bring together a fascinating group of talented, inspiring people from diverse backgrounds and create a synergy which is essential to the mental and spiritual health of a community.

Albert Schweitzer said "In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." I believe that the Levantine Center is the forum where one meets those people, and I am thankful to Jordan for creating that opportunity.

Vahé Berberian

Levantine Center: a culture for the opening and healing of wounds through music, song, voices , words and images that express and bridge dissent, misunderstanding, thaw hatred and make life not only tolerable but worthwhile. While the possibility of this transformation exists through the persistence of a core few meeting in hard-found new places, I hope the new owners of Blackwelder have the heart, vision and spirit to facilitate an on-going home for this life-afirming attempt.

With respect, Ginette Mizraki, artist

Dear Jordan,

Our community was so happy to feel that we belong to a center that revived our cultural heritage and embraced the cultures of the “Levant” so, if you go, we will be devastated. We finally had found a place to go to meet other members and enjoy the same cultural heritage. We are here to support you!

Sonia Karroum, President, Culver City Sister City Committee

Dear Jordan and the new owner of the Blackwelder home of the Levantine Cultural Center,

I just want to say how much I have appreciated and enjoyed the events I have attended of the Center in recent months. The accommodation has been ideal for the Center and I am sorry to hear that you will have to move. I certainly hope that the moving can be postponed until you find a new home.

Cheers, Karen Leonard, UCI Professor of Anthropology, author of American Law and the Transformation of Muslim Life in the United States

Hi Jordan,

When I was on staff with the LA Times, I found your insights on the Middle Eastern community invaluable, and not only included you as a source on a couple of articles, but also consulted you as a backstop when I was unsure whether I was being "spun" by some other Middle Eastern specialist.

Now that I have resumed life as a freelance writer, I find the Levantine Center, once more, to be a tremendous cultural treasure in Los Angeles—perhaps even one of a kind, with its mix of Jews, Christians, and Muslims all trading cultures. I've been amazed at the amount of work you've done for this cause you so obviously believe in, and the number of "near death" experiences you have had in your work. Hopefully, this experience will just be another one of them - which one day you will turn into an interesting memoir, perhaps something like "While American Slept: Keeping Middle Eastern Culture Alive and Well."

Best, Joseph Hanania

Dear Jordan,

I have been in touch with the Levantine Center through my friend Soula Saad, who I met through our mutual interest in Khalil Gibran, about four years ago. I have always enjoyed being kept up to date with your happenings, including the fabulous concerts, cultural events, and movies. It is through the Levantine Culture Center I have the possibility of connection with the culture of the Middle East, which is so rich and beautiful, in Los Angeles. I admire your dedication and tireless efforts to continue on behalf of this community service.

Sincerely, Elizabeth Davis

I am sorry to hear about the news, hopefully everything works out and you can continue on on Blackwelder. Best wishes to you and your center for the meaningful and worthwhile work that you do. Your center fills a great void in the entertainment and arts industry. It allows voices from the Middle East to be heard and encourages solidarity among the different Middle Eastern cultures. You also encourage the arts in cultures that often overlook the importance of the arts and the artists who give so bravely and generously of themselves. You give so much to all of us and I wish you the best of luck and look forward to more events through the Levantine Center.

Warm Regards, Farrah Assadi