NEW YORK – In celebration of the bicentennial of Greek Independence, Angie Xidias of One Bean Marketing shared her company’s #WeAreGreece campaign which commemorates and promotes the Greek ideals of democracy, freedom and independence to all corners of the globe. Xidias spoke with The National Herald about the campaign and its inspiration.

“The inspiration came when I was working on my social media posts for International Women's Day,” Xidias told TNH. “Every year International Women's Day awareness campaign has a specific theme with a call to action and hashtag to go along with the theme directing people all around the world to post this theme on their social media in support. This year, #choosetochallenge message was simple. Women have to challenge the status quo in order to advance change, we have to choose to change.

“This made me think, what are we as Greek-Americans doing to celebrate this historic anniversary while still in a pandemic? The parade is cancelled, celebrations are limited. How do we unite our community to celebrate together? That is when I felt compelled to create a Global Social Media campaign to unite people all around the world to celebrate Greece's ideals of democracy, freedom and independence. I went online to see if there was a simple cohesive call to action campaign. I didn't see one so that is when I got to work and created a series of images which reflect our history with powerful messages that are intended to provoke emotional pride. After all we have a lot to be proud of,   from ancient times, the people of Greece have made valuable contributions to humanity in the arts, sciences, philosophy, culture, technology and industry. After centuries of oppression, Greeks changed the course of their history, and fought for their Independence and the images reflect this in the campaign.These images are to be shared along with the hashtag #WeAreGreece on personal and business’s social media accounts on March 25th to unite us all in celebration of this historic anniversary and the ideal of our country which we all love so much. 

“The hashtag #WeAreGreece was created specifically for this campaign. #WeAreGreece unites the people of Greece, the people who love Greece, and the people who support Greece. You don't have to be Greek to participate; anyone who appreciates Greece and the contributions Greece has made to the world can support this campaign and celebrate!  

“In the first 24 hours of the launch our campaign has reached over 10,000 people and has been shared over 65 times. I also created a virtual event via Facebook to remind everyone to post the images they love on their social media on March 25th.”

When asked where in Greece the family is from, Xidias told TNH that “my family immigrated to New York from Patras, Greece in the 1970s, I was born here in New York and studied Classical Civilizations and Hellenic Studies at New York University. My husband, Harry Xidias, was born in Pyrgos and both our boys Demetri and Panagioti were born in New York and attended Greek day schools.”

“Through my company One Bean Marketing, I feel like I have come full circle through this campaign,” Xidias said. “I was able to combine my love for Greece, my tremendous respect for our ancestors, and our hopes for our future with my experience in business development. Using my business as a platform to create an awareness campaign to celebrate this historic event is an honor. I am excited to have created this campaign and I hope it evokes a feeling of pride to all who see it, read it, and I hope it compels them to share it.”

#WeAreGreece

More information about the #WeAreGreece campaign is available online: http://onebeanmarketing.com/campaigns.html.