Our Forum is modest proof that in today’s world we still have the ability to understand each other, whatever our ideology. You won’t find anything here about political struggles in Poland or the United States, about the Church or sexuality. Nor will you find unprovoked attacks or servile flattery. Our Forum respects all views, opinions, convictions, and emotions. This is the forum of Cleveland’s Polonia, created by those who live here, individuals who love to read and write and who value Polish literature and, more generally, the Polish contribution to culture.

 

Forum authors are part of Polonia. Their articles are their own reflections, inspired by their own lives and their own sensitivities. And this, more than anything else, is what makes our newsletter worth reading. The authors write on different topics – sometimes more serious, sometimes completely abstract, sometimes very local about what’s going on in our own backyard, and sometimes going far beyond that, reaching much further into the depths of Polish literature, history, music, and art.

 

We are a group of people who like to write. We are not professionals. We write well, and about everything. This is our „charm”. The desire to spread knowledge of Polish culture is what unites us. But that sounds pretentious. What really united us was the desire to create something beyond the mundane experiences of our daily lives, something that would leave a trace of our lives and our work and our interests, something that goes beyond our own reality.

 

Our Forum came into existence to promote the Polish-American Cultural Center in Cleveland. The PACC is our official publisher. We aim to realize the mission of promoting knowledge of Polish culture, history, and society, in both Polish and English. We also aim to promote Polish national identity among Polonia around the world.

 

Agata Wojno

Editor-in-Chief

 

Translated by Sean Martin