letters of the living

#13Aban

2009-11-03T17:18:00.004-06:00

Death to No one.

"RT @iranproxy: Remember: MARG BAR HICHKAS! (Death to NO ONE) #iran #iranelection #13Aban"

Love, Respect, and Prayers.

Vote for Omid Reza. Before Midnight.

2009-11-01T18:46:00.003-06:00

Let your votes be counted and Let the First Blogger to Die in Prison Be the Last- Please take a minute now to honor Omid Reza Mir Sayafi and freedom of speech by voting for OR318 blog at the Paley Center for Media ThinkSocial Awards. Send the link to your friends, the deadline is Midnight November 2 and OR318 is currently in 2nd place.

Enduring Freedom

2009-10-21T21:49:00.008-05:00

A recent CNN report on women in Afghanistan revealed that as many as 90% of Afghan women are victims of domestic violence: "Abusers are rarely prosecuted or convicted, and many women do not know their rights or who to turn to."

Huh. What about in the good ol' US of A?

“What is almost as horrifying as rape is how normative it is in our culture: FBI crime statistics tell us that close to 40 % of all men living intimately with women have battered their partners during the course of the relationship. By "battering" we mean the use of and repeated threat of physical force to dominate and control a woman. From this definition and these statistics, we might conclude that battering is "normal" behavior in this culture. Seventy-five to ninety percent of rapes are committed by male acquaintances: family members, co-workers, classmates, dates, boyfriends, husbands. Battering and rape aren't, as many of us would prefer it, being committed by pathological freaks. Women are most often victimized by men they once trusted and loved.”

(Male Violence and Male Privilege, Bathrick, Dick; Kaufman, Gus Jr., Ph.D.)

40%. In the "Land of the Free." Why do we have no problem extending a sin-covering eye towards ourselves with such a high number? Add to the 40% statistic the unaccounted-for intimate violence perpetrated against women by men they do not live with- whether in the form of dating violence, stalking, or sexual violence, and the number would become astronomically higher. Women can usually expect their attackers to be men that they know, friends, family, lovers, husbands. But stranger violence also occurs. One in 2.5 American women is a victim of sexual assault in her lifetime. One in three girls is sexually abused before she turns 18. I'll let you tally up the percentages there. What's more, according to the CDC, violence against women is the second leading cause of death among 20-24 year old American females, and the third leading cause of death among 15-19 year old girls. Well, thank God we're not in Afghanistan, eh? Kind of makes you want to raise a glass to making it past 24.

Speaking of Afghanistan- it turns out rates of "spousal aggression" by US soldiers are climbing. It has become so intense Congress created a task for to investigate domestic violence on military bases:

"One of the first places it visited was Fort Bragg in North Carolina, which became notorious only two years later when four army wives were killed by their husbands or ex-husbands in a six-week period; three of the cases involved Special Operations soldiers who had been in Afghanistan, and two of the perpetrators killed themselves as well. In all, there were 832 victims of domestic violence at the base between 2002 and 2004, according to the army's own figures."

Operation Enduring Freedom, was it? I'm not sure how much longer we can be expected to endure. Not to mention the female soldiers being raped by their male "brothers" while in the line of duty- what vision of enduring American freedom was it they are bleeding to uphold? How again was their being raped going to free Afghan women? Or was it supposed to find Osama bin Laden, I forget....why are we still there again? 60% of women in the US Military Reserves and National Guard report Military Sexual Trauma. My question- if you get raped by Uncle Sam, does that get reported as family violence or a war crime? Again, I forget.

A friend told me today she thinks it's like the guidelines the FDA uses to decide how much rat hair, insect fragments, and feces are acceptable levels of contaminants in any given food product that will be consumed in the US before it's pulled from the shelves. These guidelines are called the "Action Levels." They measure exactly how much shit Americans are willing to swallow. Example: 3 rodent hairs in that vat of Apple Butter? No problem. But, four rodent hairs means the processing plant has to throw it out. A 40% wife-beating level is apparently okay with Americans, no problem in fact. Maybe we'll all benefit from the hidden extra protein- besides, what we don't know won't hurt us. But a higher percentage? One we actually have to talk about and think about and see the broken fragments of on CNN? One that's perpetrated by folks who pray to Allah and not good ol' Apple Pie? Well, that's down-right un-American.

One Million Signatures Campaign Wins Raw in War Anna Politkovskaya Award

2009-10-08T22:45:00.004-05:00

Iranian women won this year's Raw in War Anna Politkovskaya Award, for the One Million Signatures Campaign, marking the first time the Award was won by a group and not an individual woman.

The Award was originally established to support the work of women human rights defenders in conflict zones who stand up for the rights of victims, "often at a great personal risk." It is named in honor of Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist and activist who was assassinated in 2007 for reporting the atrocities perpetrated against civilians in Chechnya.

Congratulations and many thanks to the women of the One Million Signatures Campaign.

the movement is located in the home of any Iranian who believes...

2009-10-07T23:38:00.007-05:00

Shirin Ebadi on Gender Equality:

"Although lacking a leader, headquarters, or branches,
the movement is located in the home of any Iranian
who believes in equal rights for men and women."

And now take a moment of silence to let that sink in.

Check out the rest of what she and Azar Nafisi had to say about Iranian women and gender equality in yesterday's Guardian, Comment is free: Liberty Central.

Also check out the One Million Signatures Campaign, if you haven't already. Lend a hand. And remember to start at home.

Iranian Queer Railroad

2009-09-29T23:02:00.007-05:00

An assertion that crops up repeatedly in the near-1500 comments on my YouTube videos in support of LGBTQI Rights is that Bahá'is support the human rights of all people, including gay Iranians, despite Baha'i teachings that condemn and sanction homosexuality.*

Well, I'm calling you on it, people- here's a chance to literally put your money where your mouth is and help an oppressed group of Iranians gain asylum so they can live free from systemic persecution...sound familiar?

It's the IRQR- the underground Iranian Queer Railroad, and they need your help.

"The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th century Black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and mainly to Canada with the aid of abolitionists who were sympathetic to their cause. In Canada they had their freedom. In the past few years one of our major activities was about asylum seekers who must escape Iran due to their sexual orientation and we will continue this work under IRQR. Iranian queer refugees are resettling in Canada, and also in United States and in parts of Europe."

IRQR is "an international, non for profit, queer human rights organization that helps Iranian gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered refugees all over the world." They:

"help when Iranian queers are threatened with deportation back to Iran.
assist Iranian queers in obtaining asylum in friendly countries."

IRQR's founder, Arsham Parsi, was recently featured on the blog of the Moral Courage Project for his outstanding commitment to human rights.

So, let deeds not words be your adorning....
Donate to IRQR, and support the human rights of all.

*And while you're at it, speak up against Bahá'i discrimination against the LGBTQI community. Sign the Petition.

Green Scroll

2009-09-24T13:04:00.002-05:00

Time to Turn Our Irons On, NY

2009-09-23T13:51:00.002-05:00

United4Iran's Balatarin photo:
Every Citizen=A Media

Bird's Eye View posted by @joannemichele.

Some protest coverage can be found here:

http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

http://www.cnn.com/live/

And live tweeting from NY can be found here:

http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23greenNY

I will keep updating http://twitter.com/lettersoftheliv with new developments.

To all the thousands of protesters in New York today, we are all there with you. Thank you. To all those still protesting in Iran, we are all there with you. Thank you. New York is Green today.

Iran Freedom Caravans/Project Green Light

2009-09-19T22:55:00.001-05:00

People who believe in human rights and a free Iran are gathering in New York next week to protest the visit of Ahmadinejad to the United Nations. Follow Iran Caravans on Twitter for news and updates:
http://twitter.com/IranCaravans

You can also visit Iran Caravans on Facebook and http://iranfreedomcaravans.wordpress.com/:

"Please Join Us:

Iran Peace and Freedom Caravans will begin to assemble together in the morning of Wednesday, September 24 at:

Dag Hammarsskjold Plaza, First Ave. and 47th St., Manhattan, New York

We will join together again on Thursday, September 25 in the a.m. and will join the rallies on that day.

Please look for banners saying Peace and Freedom Caravans for Iran. Caravans are encouraged to have signs indicating Peace and Freedom Caravans for some of their banners.

We respect all Iranians who seek freedom, democracy and human rights for an independent Iran. We strongly condemn Ahmadinejad and the despotic theocracy suppressing Iranian people. We call for an end to theocracy and the establishment of a parliamentary secular democracy in Iran. We demand the immediate and unconditional release and freedom of all political prisoners. We call on the United Nations to appoint a special rapporteur to investigate widespread human rights abuses in Iran."

Please join the Caravans in New York and sign the petition:
"We, the signatories of this statement, declare our solidarity and support for the Iranian people in their struggle for democracy and human rights and voice our opposition to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s expected presence at the United Nations annual gathering. To this end, our caravans will gather in New York City on September 23 and 24 to witness and affirm our solidarity with our fellow compatriots before the world body. In as much as human rights are a matter of global necessity, we ask all world citizens who believe in and seek freedom for themselves and others to join us in our just cause. Together we will demand the immediate release of all political prisoners and call on the United Nations to establish a special rapporteur to investigate widespread human rights abuses in Iran."

The Petition.

And in the meantime......

http://united4iran.org/

We Are All Together

2009-09-16T22:41:00.003-05:00

September 18, we think of you, we stand with you .

Thank You, Mideast Youth

2009-08-30T19:28:00.004-05:00

The latest video from the Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights, of Mideast Youth- speaks for itself. And you and me. Thank you. This is what solidarity looks like.

Enlighten Me Now, Bitch

2009-08-26T15:06:00.002-05:00

Here's a little Ms. Manners bit of Feminist Etiquette Advice for my Male Readers, with a special bonus factoid treat for you to savor at no additional charge. A tip from me to you. You're welcome.

We'll start with the factoid- think of it like a gooey Rice Krispy Treat, wrapped up in wax paper and ribbon, made especially for you- yum yum:

Did you know your ignorance (about women) is a symptom of structural sexism? Yes, that's right! You have caught yourself a social disease. Minus the itching. (Okay, now deconstruct it- first take off the ribbon)

1) Yes, you are ignorant. There is an invisible world you do not know or likely see. It is vast. Yes, kind of like the Matrix. No, this is not a mean Rice Krispy Treat. Eating it is good for you, I promise. It was wrapped in ribbon, that means it was made with love.

Why are you ignorant? Perhaps, even despite being otherwise quite clever? How did you catch this social disease?

2) Because you, a MAN, are a victim of structural sexism.

"WHAT?!"
"Me, a man, a victim of anything, especially of girlypants sexism?! Impossible!! What do you think I am, some kind of....."

Ahem.

Yes, you are a victim of sexism, or rather of "structural sexism," the way sexism shapes and permeates society. We can also call that patriarchy. "How is this possible?" you say. "Isn't sexism only about keeping *women* down?" I mean, isn't that what all these women are always telling you? Well, not entirely. Here's how it started for you, gentleman reader. You were not always a man. You were once a tiny, cute little baby, and then a little boy. We women know this about you because when you wake up first thing in the morning sometimes you are so adorable and still kind of look like one. It is awesome, in a manly kind of way. But, when you were a boy, you relied on grown-ups to teach you about the world, and my friends, what they taught you was something like this:

The very small fucked up tip of a very invisible iceberg. But that, sirs, is way, way, way too much to go into right now. And you are no longer little boys. You are men. And you are now not only victims of structural sexism, but also profiting off it's drippings, so you will have to do some of this homework on your own.

But here's a way to begin navigating doing that homework. The etiquette.

Ms. Manners Instructs...

When engaging in conversation with the ladies about sexism or on any topics regarding gender, feminism, or their oppressed status, if you find yourself in over your head as a neophyte, lacking the lived experience of your conversation partners and perhaps not as familiar or well-read on the topic at hand as they are, several scenarios can emerge.

1) The most-likely scenario, and one you have no doubt knowingly or unknowingly encountered, is one where your female conversation partner will simply not present any facts you might find distasteful. Conditioned to do your conversational bidding and to please, (remember the iceberg) and fearful of being called a bitch if she makes an assertion or thesis-statement (having certainly experienced that before,) she will likely avoid the subject entirely or sit quietly by while nothing interesting is said about the topic at all. She is probably afraid of the word feminist, like the two women you see standing next to their husbands being interviewed in this video. If this happens, she is being your self-esteem fluffer, and not a genuine conversation partner. This is an etiquette violation on her part. However, she may be motivated into voluntary silence by substantial fear-based conditioning, or know the costs she will pay for speaking truth are greater than she would like to ante in that moment. We hope she feels better soon.

2) If you are lucky enough to converse with women who actually know what feminism is, and are not afraid of it, you are likely to hear a declarative sentence or two. This means your conversation partner will make assertions without her voice going up at the end like she is a little girl asking you for candy, or as if she is asking for your permission to proceed. Don't be scared- some sentences end with questions marks: "?" (that high, rising sound at the end of sentences) and others with periods: "." or, even exclamation points: "!" indicating that they are statements of fact or opinion. This is normal, even when coming from a woman. It is not the end of the world. Nor is it a sign she is actually getting her period.

Although it's very impressive, it is counter-intuitive and dumbassed to respond to your conversation partner with hostile demands for on-the-spot, immediate, lengthy explanations of basic feminist ideas you have yet to read a single book about or encounter in your privileged, XY chromosomed life. The reason? Little-known fact: Infantile narcissistic rage is a poor quality in a conversation partner who is ill-informed. The More You Know...

Instead of insisting on being immediately and urgently conversationally serviced like a sex-addict with a 5-spot by your lady friend, here is what you should do first:

Take a deep breath. You will be okay.
Remember that, yes, assertions can and should be backed up with evidence and proof, and it is a delightful thing that you are in the presence of a lady who has uttered such an assertion. Take another deep breath in gratitude for living in such a wonderous age as this, where a new lady miracle occurs every moment.
Do not, under any circumstances, barrage the woman with 5011 arguments when she is:

Doing something else, goddamn it!! (Examples: Going about her life, on line at the Tesco's, just chatting with her friends, eating a burrito, discovering radioactivity, etc.) In other words- respect the Marie Curie, Hannah Arendt, or Mileva Einstein in question and do not expect her to literally drop Science so that she might drop science for you at the drop of a hat. Homegirls are busy. Get in line. Make an appointment.
Not interested in talking to you. No.means.no.
Hip-deep in another conversation already that is 14 layers deep and requires graduate-level course work in gender studies OR an hour and a half of lived experience as a 14 year old girl.
Telling you to stop talking to her.

Happily, and much to your relief, there is a simple two-pronged solution to your conversational dilemma. Prong One, just have some manners. Say please and thank you and act like you've got some sense and some dignity. Not like you've got woman-explaining coming to you as your birth-right. That kind of sexist entitlement grates on the nerves and is a conversation stopper. How would you approach a man who knew more about something than you did? Probably by doing a little homework and with a little respect. Not with hostile demands for informational breastfeeding.

Prong Two? It begins with the use of a revolutionary new technology made possible by your brother, Johannes Gutenburg, and his forebears in Asia- possibly for this very purpose, and it is called:

A Book.

Read something. Google a bit. Go to a library. Take a class. Even give Wikipedia a whirl. Educate yourself. Why in the world should every unfortunate woman you ever meet be responsible for taking you to raise and bringing you up to speed on Feminist Theory 101. And, for free? We paid tuition for this learning, my brothers. In cash, and sometimes with our blood. So either fork over the cash and get in line or get yourself a library card and a little initiative. We ain't yo' mamma.

Take a look. It's in a book. A Reading Rainbow...

Read You This

2009-08-25T08:43:00.005-05:00

Fighting Without Violence. The latest post from Feminist Collective deserves a read, my friends. Thanks to The UnDomestic Goddess for pointing it out. It begins,

"Why, at every juncture, with such frequency, do I feel like being a woman is having to fight?"

Verbally, linguistically, physically, economically, reproductively.......and with no acknowledgment that her struggle is political, it makes a girl tired. Listen to what Feminist Collective has to say. Her reflections on a night getting pushed and shoved by a harami, groped by a male acquaintance, and discursively blotted out by her most trusted friend reveal an often boundary less world where a woman's words weigh less than a mans. So she is left with only the power of her screams.But, look at what she screams.

(Beautiful image above from http://feminist-collective.blogspot.com/
She is shouting "woman.")

50 Ways to Leave Your Dictator

2009-08-10T00:04:00.006-05:00

I will tell you a truth. Passing on the news from Iran becomes a challenge when the IRI hogs the mike and spouts nothing but lies and propaganda like bad karaoke all weekend. Hey, Islamic Regime- it doesn't matter how loudly, how long, or how badly you sing. We've heard the original. We know what truth and dignity *actually* sound like. Your audience in Iran and abroad both know the difference. You won't have that mike forever.

One thing we've learned in recent days? According to the IRI, The Velvet Revolution was brought to you by Google Translate. And Facebook. Yes, every time you fill out a "Which Sex and the City Girl are You" Quiz, a member of Hojjjatieh loses his wings.

"I did it, it was me, the Velveteen Rabbit. I planned the legal, constitutionally valid, non-violent protests against election rigging....I mean evil British Velvet Revolution-ing.
I am most like Samantha."

Ugh.

But here's something cool, brought to you by the same folks who brought you, "Hey, Dictator, Watch Me Confess!" Behold! It's the Top Ten Ways to Overthrow a Regime Using Google Translate Contest!

Here's a little background from the creators:

...the thought that Google Translate can be part of a global conspiracy is so amazing that we thought we would invite all of you creative people out there to help us understand this claim by coming up with a list of imaginative ways in which this could be possible. We invite you to comment on this post with different ways to overthrow the Iranian government using Google Translate. We will then try to pick out some of the best and compile a list of the top 10 ways to overthrow a regime using Google Translate!

I say, have at it. The real threat posed by Google Translate is that it enables people to harness the power of language- and THAT, my friends, is no small thing. THAT has these freakshow hardliners quaking in their boots. Google Translate is essentially a glorified dictionary. Who's to stop it's users from looking up what words mean? The Orwellian IRI karaoke rhetoric currently monopolizing the airwaves has the intention of obscuring meaning, which is actually the opposite of what effective communication should do. But no word, no matter how beautiful, that the regime manages to croon out in coming days, and no matter whose mouth it manages to force that word out of by means of torture, can hide the writing on the wall:

That Velayat-e Faqih has come to mean, and come to be, a giant Velayat-e Fuck You to the People of Iran.

For Darya, the Color Blue, Mothers & Daughters, And for My Dad

2009-08-02T18:55:00.000-05:00

Shadi Sadr released her first note since being released from Evin Prison on Friday. I am profoundly affected by it. It deserves more attention than a simple link can provide, so I have provided the full text below. As the daughter of a former political prisoner, her words describing her thoughts on her own daughter being impacted by her imprisonment touched me deeply. It is my wish that every parent who is imprisoned for their sense of conscience, for their commitment to right and wrong, and in the faith that their sacrifice will ultimately "change the world," know that your sacrifices are not wasted. You change your childrens worlds- you create them. And in taking the stands that you do, day after day, you teach us that we are worth fighting for. That Justice is non-negotiable. And because you are the best-beloved in our sight, we listen. We learn. And we will never forget. It is a gift you pay for dearly, but we recognize it for what it is. A powerful, powerful gift. A sign of love and kindness. Because that's what all this fighting is for, at the end of the day. It is for love. We want the people we love to be free.

It was been two days since I have been outside the tall barred walls. Two days ago at this time I was in a long narrow hallway on the second floor of 209 (Evin Prison), wearing a prison chador and blindfolds, sitting and waiting for someone to come take me outside and after 12 days tell me: take off your blindfolds!
And this is the meaning of freedom, which in all those days did not reveal its azure face; on all those days, which I paced back and forth in my cell with thoughts of Darya; a girl, who like all the children in the world, had not chosen her mother. On all those days, in the morning, noon and night I would tell myself, you have chosen your own career but she has not chosen to have a mother who is active in the women’s movement, a mother who runs from day until night and at night falls asleep while still in front of the computer. She has not chosen for her mother, for the second time, to end up in 209, a place that you neither have control over going to nor control over leaving, a purgatorial place filled with the crippling sense of paralysis.

Being a prisoner, in a place like 209 is a predicament that when combined with the state of motherhood changes your experience of pain; a change that is difficult to explain and contingent on the moods in each solitary moment of imprisonment. In one moment you tell yourself, wasn’t it for Darya’s that I started to work on women’s issues? Wasn’t it for this that I promised I would build her a better future? What now? Didn’t you know from day one that you are threading on a rocky path? . . . The next moment, when the confining walls, the blinding light in the cell which was forever alight, and the July heat in Tehran unhindered by any cooling agents would press down on you, you would remember that it has been many nights that you were unable to sleep, an anger surfaces and take over your entire being, all this injustice! And you ask yourself: Why should my daughter be subject to so much injustice.

But at times the guilt of motherhood sometimes when I am confronted with Parvaneh in the public cell who after 15 years of hardship and violence, with broken teeth and a broken nose, was able to divorce her husband who was her cousin and in doing so had to leave her 9 and 13 year old daughters with their father who has all the money, a house and a job, while she is left with no job and no education to return to her father’s house, a house crowded with 6 people. Parvaneh was arrested on the streets, and like me she was accused of acting against national security by encouraging people to protest in violation of the police. It had been weeks that she had not seen her daughters, not because she had been imprisoned but because her ex-husband was granted custody of the children and he had taken them to a far off village to his mother.

For days and days, I am trapped in the deadly head of the cell devoid of a cooler except for the monotonous and bothersome sounds that pass through its air ducts circulating through all the wards until they finally arrive at each prison cell. I think about Darya, and all the daughters and mothers that are deprived from seeing each other and being with each other. But there are also thoughts and memories of others who in the words of Nima Yooshij: “Keep me Alive,” those who are near and unreachable, and those who are far and unreachable.

Those closest to me, somewhere in an adjacent cell, or in the barred cells in behind, lying on the carpet or military issue-blankets, those who without a pen or paper, through scratches made by their nails, mark the days of their imprisonment on the walls. Shiva Nazar Ahari, one of my clients whom I could not even help when I was outside of jail due to the lack of communication from the revolutionary government’s prosecutor’s office; Jila Bani Yahghoub, a journalist who suffers from Thyroid disease and is in danger if she drinks water from the faucet; Mahsa Amrabadi, whom I don’t know, but I have heard is pregnant, and I know how damaging the anxiety of interrogation and the uncertainly that comes with having no access to news which consumes the space in 209 can be for a pregnant women; and many other whom I know or whose letters I have read in newspapers.

The memory of my far-away dear ones, those who are on the other side of the walls, and suffer my pains, and breath-in the seconds of anxiety, keep me alive. My family, who I know have fallen-away from sleep, food, work and life, whom I know toil aimlessly each day from Evin prison to the Revolutionary Court. My lawyers, who instead of pursuing profitable cases that can bring home the bread spend their time tirelessly suffer the burden of hearing self-righteous answers from authorities; my friends in Iran and all over the world, who through their minutely news reports shared in my pain and the pain of all prisoners; this unity which is based on solidarity amongst people; people whose kindness was like a shield protecting me in those difficult moments; a unity which ultimately led to my freedom.
Now it is exactly two days since the doors of 209 have been closed behind me. They took back my blindfold and I returned my prison chador at the door of Evin prison, where I was not greeted by anyone; a place, however, where many were standing in wait. Waiting for their sons, daughters and spouses who were suppose to be freed. A place where everyone asks you: Have you seen our loved one?! And again and again I recounted the rule of blindfolds, the rule of silence and the rule of censorship. When I climbed down the steps, I knew that I owed these stairs, the shade of the bridge in front of Evin, and the taxi that I was riding to many people; many people whose remembrance will light the way for my today as well as my tomorrow; all those who kept my memory and the memory of all political prisoners alive.

Sadr's description of the suffering of women, so close to each other, but separated inside prison walls also reminded me of the suffering of women outside prison walls. It reminded me of the suffering of women over generations, mother-to-daughter, separated by years and by silences. We are closer than each others life vein, but isolated and remote. I think of the phone calls from friends in far-away places going through mirror-images of my life by nature of what our bodies and society dictate. Blindfolded. Scratching out our sentences with our finger nails on the wall:

“Keep me Alive,” those who are near and unreachable, and those who are far and unreachable."

This is what we are fighting for. For freedom. "And this is the meaning of freedom, which in all those days did not reveal its azure face..."

"Why should I stop, why?
the birds have gone in search
of the blue direction.
the horizon is vertical, vertical
and movement fountain-like;
and at the limits of vision
shining planets spin...
a bird which died advised me to
commit flight to memory. "
-Forugh Farrokhzad

What Power Looks Like.

2009-07-30T12:05:00.012-05:00

This photo was taken today in Tehran, during the demonstrations marking the 40th Day of Mourning after the Murder of Neda Agha Sultan.

Mourners again, demonstrated en masse- carrying flowers to cemeteries where those slain in the days since the June 12th Election are buried. Public grieving for those slain by the regime has been banned, and police and basiji attacked and arrested many at prayer at grave sites today. A twitterer remarked that now prayer is illegal in the Islamic Regime.

But the Iranian people continue to demonstrate to their government and to the world what actual human power looks like. It does not look like the batons of the thugs patrolling the streets of Tehran. It looks like the young woman sitting nonviolently, unarmed in protest on the ground in front of a line of armed militia on the anniversary of another young woman's death at their hands. It looks like protesters throwing flowers at forces who are throwing pepper gas at them .

It looks like the looks on the faces of the protesters, compared to the basiji, in these photos:

Or, today- the spirit of people as they ride the metro:

The photoblogger, Jarvo, today points out, in his Sunflower for Iranian Prisoners:

"You can grow a flower behind barbed wire, but that will not destroy it's beauty. You can keep a man behind barbed wire, but that doesn't mean you can destroy his spirit."

And he offers the following from Viktor Frankl:

“The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose ones attitude in any given circumstance.”

There simply comes a point when there are not enough guns, not enough batons, not enough lies or jails- to break the spirit or the will of the people. Like wildflowers- no matter how hard you try to cut them back, they simply find new and hardier ways and places to grow. There is nothing more powerful than that.

(Thanks to @madyar and @onlymehdi for wonderful photos and links.)

Global Day of Action – Respect for Human rights

2009-07-24T23:10:00.000-05:00

Saturday July 25, 2009

Global Day of Action for Human Rights in Iran Chicago, Illinois

Federal Plaza, 12 Noon Dearborn and Adams Street, Chicago, IL 60604

(This action has been designated by the organizers as

“a non-partisan collaborative of individuals and human rights organizations”. Full details concerning the genesis and aim

of this initiative may be found at http://united4iran.com/)

Roxana Saberi, Iranian-American Journalist, recently released from jail in Iran, will be flying to Chicago to speak at this event. Other Speakers will speak as well.

Chicago is one of more than 60 cities throughout the world that will hold such a Rally.

Please bring your family and friends for this event and publicize it in your ListServs. Chicago Needs to Show a Strong Support!

Nonviolence & Revolution: "I Know the One Thing We Did Right, Was the Day We Started to Fight...."

2009-07-03T12:41:00.000-05:00

Today Americans are gearing up for 4th of July events, buying fireworks and getting out the grills to celebrate the success of the American Revolutionary War.

(Photo: http://www.vivekhegde.com/photos/index.php?showimage=48)

Journalist Ann Curry, whose work on Iran I respect, penned the following tweet this morning:

RT @AnnCurry: On July 4th, praise revolutionaries, without whom, America would not have won independence

Marjane Satrapi, Iranian graphic novelist and author of Persepolis, wrote a very powerful Op-Ed for today's New York Times titled, "I Must Go Home to Iran Again." In it she captures a portrait of today's revolutionaries:

"The question much of the media asked before the election was: “Are Iranians ready for democracy?”
“YES!” came the answer, loud and oh, so clear.
With a voter turnout of 85 percent, they started to dream that change was possible.
They started to believe “Yes they can,” too.
It’s likely needless to remind you that this was not the first time Iranians showed how much they love freedom. Look only at the 20th century: They launched the Constitutional Revolution of 1906 (the first in Asia); nationalized the oil industry in 1951 (the first Middle Eastern country to do so); mounted the revolution of 1979; and engineered the student revolt of 1999. Which brings us to now, and that deafening cry for democracy.
Almost 20 years ago, when I started studying art in Tehran, the very idea of “politics” was so frightening that we didn’t even dare think about it. To talk about it? Beyond belief!
To demonstrate in the streets against the president? Surreal!
Criticize the supreme leader? Apocalyptic!
Shouting “Down with Khamenei”? Death!
Death, torture and prison are part of daily life for the youth of Iran. They are not like us, my friends and I at their age; they are not scared. They are not what we were.
They hold hands and scream: “Don’t be afraid! Don’t be afraid! We are together!”
They understand that no one will give them their rights; they must go get them.
They understand that unlike the generation before them — my generation, for whom the dream was to leave Iran — the real dream is not to leave Iran but to fight for it, to free it, to love it and to reconstruct it.
They hold hands and scream: “We will fight! We will die! But we won’t be humiliated!”
They went out knowing that going to each demonstration meant signing their death warrants.

Today I read somewhere that “the velvet revolution” of Iran became the “velvet coup,” with a little note of irony, but let me tell you something: This generation, with its hopes, dreams, anger and revolt, has forever changed the course of history. Nothing is going to be the same.
From now on, nobody will judge Iranians by their so-called elected president.
From now on, Iranians are fearless. They have regained their self-confidence.
Despite all the dangers they said NO!
And I’m convinced this is just the beginning."

These young people have given her the hope that she will one day not only be able to return to Iran to die, but return to Iran to live. There is nothing more revolutionary than hope. And this generation of young people has given Iran back this gift.

Another Tweet from today:

RT @IranRiggedElect “There is no hope unmingled with fear, and no fear unmingled with hope.” -- Baruch Spinoza

I remember on this celebration of revolutions past, the words spoken by Commander Nathaniel Greene inspired by the fight in my own hometown:

"We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again."

It is a strategy that works. So is nonviolence. Keep your eyes on the prize, my readers inside and outside of Iran. Peace in every step. Nothing can defeat you if there is no place for defeat inside you. Here is a picture, taken from The Negarponti Files, of what a people who will have justice, who will have freedom, who have already won the most important battleground- the battle of the psyche, looks like to me:

Tehran, A city transformed by love and silenced by force.

We shall overcome one day.

Oh, SNAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and So You're Back, From Outer Space

2009-07-02T12:45:00.009-05:00

We now take a brief break from our recent discussion of (still) unfolding events in Iran. We digress, not because of Michael Jackson's death and a subsequent feeling of obligation to initiate a global media Michael-Jackson-Muharram in his name, but because something *actually important* has happened:

SWEET JESUS ON A BISCUIT, THE CONTRACEPTIVE SPONGE IS BACK!!!!!!!

If you have a uterus and live in America, there is no need for me to explain the great auspiciousness of this occasion. De profundis clamavi ad te, oh, Sponge. Gloria in excelsis Walgreen's. I have remarked on this before, but the cat-and-mouse repeat disappearances of the Sponge from the American market are profoundly impactful on the lives of American women. If you are a man- (He jests at scars that never felt a wound)-imagine ALL condoms being inexplicably pulled from the market. And then imagine that any emissions that exited your body and made contact with a woman would then grow, magically attached to *your* body, tapping your folate stores, bank account, and will to live for the next nine months to twenty years. Scary, huh?

I wrote this the last time the Sponge was pulled off the shelves, the beginnings of a meditation on reproductive bodily authority and social control, but I got too spooked to keep writing down to the marrow:

"The Means of Production

There are two kinds of “onslaughts of fucking” that can occur after a trip to the Family Planning section of your local pharmacy. The first is what I like to think of fondly as, “the good kind,” and requires no explanation. The second, or “the bad kind,” is what happens when you are a woman and your pharmacy has run out of contraceptive sponges. You walk briskly down the aisle, the Family Planning aisle, that is- let’s be clear, scanning the shelf for the familiar item you have come to depend on. The one semi-reasonable method of over-the-counter contraception that can be controlled entirely by you, and you alone. That requires no consent, technological savvy, math, or due diligence on the part of your male partner, and may, in fact, protect you from any “pilot error” on his part. You scan the aisle again….not there. “Maybe they moved them…” you tell yourself, feeling the cold wash of panic sink your stomach to the floor as you hear yourself tell this micro-lie in the solitude of your panicking mind. You push thoughts of the 1995 disappearance of “the sponge” to the back of your mind… “Let’s see…not mixed in with the condoms, the 4,492 different brands of condoms….no….Not next to the vaginal film, foam or other magical thinking-make-a-wish devices…Not even wrongly shelved next to the basal body temperature thermometers that can only protect you if you are willing to forgo sex during the phase of your cycle you crave it most.”
Hmmm…Not giving up hope just yet, you venture to the counter, and with a slight edge in your voice, you say to the very male and very young and very embarrassed clerk, “I don’t see the Today’s Sponge on the shelf. Do you still carry them?” You think back on the days back in high school and college when you were embarrassed to even purchase tampons, much less contraceptive devices, and would certainly have never dared speak their names aloud. You recall the “beard” purchases that went along with those midnight acquisitions: “Yes, I’ll take one pregnancy test, a box of matches, and a Cadbury Cream Egg." So much for camouflage. But now, the utter nakedness of your question is an urgency hanging in the air between you and the male pharmacist behind the counter, who is a lovely pink color by now, as he musters the professionalism to answer your question.

Pharmacist: "No, they are off the market."

You: "Fuck." "Fuck." "Are you serious?!" "Fuck."

Fuck. A great, nationwide, "Fuck." The "Fuck." heard 'round the world. Why? Because we are all fucked, sisters. We are all greatly and monumentally, Fucked."

American women, like many women the world over, have been experiencing escalating hits to our reproductive freedom in recent years. I do not use the word "freedom" here lightly. When women are not allowed or empowered to control when and with whom we become pregnant, it is one of the gravest forms of human suffering and oppression. Access to birth control that a woman can control herself, is a basic human right. There are very few forms of safe and effective birth control that a woman can buy over the counter, and have complete bodily sovereignty over. The Sponge saves lives. Not only that, it makes enjoyment of sexuality possible for a lot of women. There is no greater turn-off than the constant fear of an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. Forget giving her a Justin Timberlake/Andy Samberg inspired gift in a box, give her a box of Sponges.

But, as with any fickle, inconstant, oft-disappearing lover, I am now afraid to give the Sponge my heart again. To give it my open hand and my trust. It monthly changes in it's circle orb, and it's love may again prove likewise variable. Paloma Negra, you Sponge:

Ya me canso de llorar y no amanece
Ya no sé si maldecirte o por ti rezar
Tengo miedo de buscarte y de encontrarte
Donde me aseguran mis amigos que te vas
Hay momentos en que quisiera mejor rajarme
Y arrancarme ya los clavos de mi penar
Pero mis ojos se mueren si mirar tus ojos
Y mi cariño con la aurora te vuelve a esperar

Quiero ser libre vivir mi vida con quien yo quiera
Dios dame fuerza que me estoy muriendo por irla a buscar.

Or, in other words,

"At first I was afraid
I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never live
without you by my side
But then I spent so many nights
thinking how you did me wrong
That I grew strong
And I learned how to carry on...
and so you're back
from outer space
I just walked in to find you here
with that sad look upon your face..."

But, I will forgive you, Sponge, sad-look and all, for leaving me high and dry in my hour of need. Twice over. For disappearing and reappearing at the random will of a largely male controlled corporate logic. (Don't they realize women would give up chocolate and Manolo Blahniks, bread, roses, and printer cartridges for a constant, reliable brand of Contraceptive Sponge? Know your demographic, menz!)

I will forgive you, Today's Sponge, because I have to. Me, and the 150,000,ooo other American women you've burned before. Weren't you the one who tried to break us with goodbye? Did you think we'd crumble? Did you think we'd lay down and die?

Oh no, not I.

--------------

"as long as i know how to love I know I'll stay alive"
Remember, ladies. The Sponge doesn't protect you against STD's. Be smart. Do your homework. Ask questions. Be safe.

Info:

Planned Parenthood
Our Bodies, Ourselves
You've got all your life to live
You've got all your love to give
Make sure You survive.

Cry Freedom, Cry/How Can I Turn Away

2009-06-30T11:19:00.003-05:00

"How can I turn away
Brother/Sister go dancing
Through my head
Human as to human
The future is no place
To place your better days

Cry freedom cry
From a crowd 10,000 wide
Hope laid upon hope
That this crowd will not subside
Let this flag burn to dust
And a new a fair design be raised
While we wait head in hands
Hands in prayer
And fall into a dreamless sleep again
And we wave our hands

Hands and feet are all alike
But gold between divide us
Hands and feet are all alike
But fear between divide us
All slip away

There was a window and by it stood
A mirror in which
He could see himself
He thought of something
Something he had never had but hoped would come along
Cry freedom, cry
From deep inside
Where we are all confined
While we wave hands in fire
Wave our hands

Hands and feet are all alike
But gold between divide us
Hands and feet are all alike
But fear between divide us,
Slip away
In this room stood a little child
And in this room this little child
She would remain
Until someone might decide
To dance this little child
Across this hall
Into a cold, dark, space
Where she might never trace her way across this crooked mile
Across this crooked page
Cry freedom, cry
From deep inside where
We are all confined
Till we wave our hands

How can I turn away
Brother/Sister go dancing
Through my head
Human as to human
The future is no place
To place your better days

Hands and feet are all alike
But gold between divide us
Hands and feet are all alike
But fear between divide us
Hands and feet are all alike
Hear what I say
Hear what I say
Oh, so be it

How can I turn away
Brother/Sister go dancing
Through my head
Human as to human
The future is no place
To place your better days"

Who By Fire

2009-06-29T15:46:00.000-05:00

If Solidarity Fell in the Forest, Would It Make a Sound: (#cnnfail- the whole world is watching YOU, too)

2009-06-26T11:39:00.025-05:00

And now, I will translate the last few day's of US headlines for my stalwart readers, not from Farsi to English or English to Farsi, (for that you must go here,) but from complete and utter BS to transparency. Take any newspaper, magazine, or mainstream Internet/telecommunications headline from the last few days and hold it up to the screen- secret-decoder-ring-style. Ready? Go:

"Americans Deprived of Pop Icon/Iranians Deprived of Life, Medical Care, Body Parts, Votes, Loved Ones, Media Coverage"

THIS is what democracy looks like?

(Photo cnn.com)

What Does Solidarity Look Like?

This is certainly NOT what it looks like:

Jackson dies, almost takes internet with him:

"Twitter crashed as users saw multiple "fail whales" -- the illustrations the site uses as error messages -- user FoieGrasie posting, "Irony: The protesters in Iran using twitter as com are unable to get online because of all the posts of 'Michael Jackson RIP.' Well done." The site's status blog said that Twitter had had to temporarily disable its search results, saved searches and trend topics"

Not to mention that CNN, et al. have all but dropped any new Iran coverage (yes, fair readers- the crisis and resistance is STILL going on in Iran, even though Michael Jackson is dead) since TMZ leaked news of the pop star's 911 call. TMZ, CNN, and Perez Hilton- pumping clouds of thick and obscuring Michael Jackson-media-smoke over the already burning streets of Tehran: Just in case ANY news could escape the Islamic Regime based media black-out. Who needs to arrest journalists when you can get them to stop covering real news by distracting them with shiny things?

(AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

This is ALSO not what Solidarity looks like:

Protesters Break Into Iranian Embassy in Sweden.

Truth- I do not know who was behind this. Fact- I am deeply suspicious that this was NOT carried out and motivated by the same masses in Iran who have struggled nonviolently at great personal cost for the last two weeks. Has some violence occurred from some demonstrators in Iran? Yes. Have hundreds of thousands of other demonstrators remained peaceful, holding silent marches, quoting Gandhi? Yes. Has the leadership of the reform movement demanded nonviolence from the protesters? Yes. So- who broke into the Embassy in Sweden? A handful of angry protesters, breaking from what the rest of the Iranian diaspora is peacefully doing? Maybe. But, if anyone here remembers the 60's or is familiar with how state powers often respond to nonviolent resistance, in following this story I advise you to follow the "money" so to speak. Who benefits from world attention picking up a story that Iranian protesters have gone wild and are (gasp) taking over embassies? Who? (Pause for reflection.........) Yes, you guessed it- the same regime that brought you the faked Khomeini Shrine shoe-bomb of last week. Clever trick, if it was them. Undermine the movement. Plant agitators in the nonviolent crowd. Especially because it plays into Western stereotypes of Iranians. Was it them? I don't know. But I know I saw a hailstorm of "stay nonviolent" on Twitter when the story broke.

Think critically, consumers of news media. Practice discernment. (You want a piece of allegorical advice from an ex-Baha'i atheist apostate? Here's a good working (allegorical) definition of prejudice and it's etiology, taken from the Baha'i sacred writings: Thus have their superstitions become veils between them and their own hearts and kept them from the path of God.) I have been horrified at the lack of empathy or common sense emanating from certain quarters of the American media-consumer-bloc in trying to grapple with Iran. People who would normally respond to this level of human atrocity with good-will, decency, respect, and love- have instead exhibited a kind of soul-paralysis when it comes to these events. How is that? What cobwebs are filtering this information from actually impacting people's hearts? Why the bypass around basic human decency to a cool, ignorant apathy?

بنی آدم اعضای یکدیگرند، که در آفرینش زیک گوهرند.... چو عضوی به درد آورد روزگار، دگر عضوها را نماند قرار.... تو کز محنت دیگران بی غمی نشاید که نامت نهند آدمی" سعدی

Human beings are members of a whole, In creation of one essence and soul. If one member is afflicted with pain, Other members uneasy will remain. If you have no sympathy for human pain, The name of human you cannot retain.
- Sa'adi

See how a story fits in with your preexisting narrative about a people or a situation (your superstitions) before you metabolize it completely. See how the absence of a story does the same. Sniff it's bouquet before drinking it down. Because, despite everything, I still believe that people are generall y good at heart. So if you find yourself reacting to the situation in Iran without empathy or humanity- without heart, start inspecting what's come between you and your four-chambered, blood-pumping soul.

Stories fitting into current American preconceptions of people from the middle east get more news coverage than stories that exist outside our preconceptions, and they put us to sleep. They do not engage our hearts to feel and act and ask. Iranians feminists? Freedom-lovers? Gandhi and MLK-inspired nonviolent demonstrators? These stories don't mesh well with our superstitions of who Iranians are.

What if this is the face of the next Martin Luther King:

What if this is the face of Gandhi reincarnated:

And what if they don't make it onto the news because this is the only face you can see:

(Not Iranian, btw.)

Or, this:

You better check yourself, American media (and consumers) before you wreck yourself.

---

Worst question I've received so far, over the last two weeks: "This is all so scary- does it have anything to do with the terrorism and the terrorists?"

Uh, no. No, it doesn't. But I'll meet you after this is all over with a a first-grade level history book and the hope you've washed the racist stink off of you. And hopefully, some forgiveness if I can manage it. Inspired by the love I have witnessed again and again in the nonviolent actions of Iranian demonstrators over the last two weeks.

Yes, America, I hold you accountable for where you put your eyes. If you mean it, that you want the world to be a better place and the divisions between the so-called "East" and "West" to come down- that you want to heal from the Bush years and everything that happened before- put your eyeballs where your mouth is. Pay attention to what is happening in Iran. The Iranian people are showing you who they are, who they have always been. Will you believe them? Will you take it in? Will you bear witness?

I'm talking to the Man in the Mirror. I'm asking him to change his ways.

Just bear witness. That's all anyone is asking. Why is it so goddamned hard?

--------------------
Coming up:
It's been a big day in Iran. Human kindness, nonviolence, hope, and determination- still going strong.

Offensive.

2009-06-25T17:49:00.007-05:00

#cnnfail:

"iDeskWe have CNN International Bureaus and Reporters all over the World on standby on the Michael Jackson story. www.cnn.com"

The above tweet appeared at approximately 3:20 pm, PDT, Thursday June 25, 2009. The 911 call from his house was made at 12:21 p.m.

Apparently it takes a pop star a maximum of 3 hours (not counting waiting for the ambulance, traffic, arriving at the hospital, and time for it to leak to the press) from 911 call to full CNN global mobilization.

Shame on you, CNN. How many hours did it take you to cover Tehran like you had any sense?

It was around 3 am in Tehran when you mobilized "International Bureaus and Reporters all over the World on standby" because "There is no doubt Michael Jackson story will be Global."

They will be waking up for prayers soon in Tehran. Let's hope you remember them in your prayers. They remember you.

Here's a prayer you remember what journalism is actually for:

The facts of this world seen clearly are seen through tears

2009-06-21T19:08:00.012-05:00

The last Revolution, in 1979, was not an Islamic Revolution. It did not start that way. It was an Iranian Revolution- everyone working together, communists, atheists, Muslims, clerics- all with the goal of ending the oppressive regime of the Shah. Azadi.

It became Islamic, largely because the mosques were the only safe place to gather and coordinate. To move forward.

What about Iran now? Today? Bleeding in our arms? Fighting forward, daily, on the streets? Where is it's refuge, it's safe place? Where is the sanctuary of this Revolution?

It is, in part, online- in the sustained, concentrated gaze of bloggers and tweeters and citizen journalists who will not allow Iranians voices to fall to the ground. Every sound- every sound- that is being inscribed into 140 character messages, into YouTube videos, into flickr images, into Facebook and Twitter, into strategy, hope and memory- is the sanctuary of this Revolution. Social media is just one manifestation of the human relationships, untiring discipline, and bonds of community, of love- that are the refuge of this Revolution. I do not use the word Revolution as a prediction or inflammatory reference, but in it's truest, most literal sense: a radical and pervasive change. The Iranian people are taking shelter in the tabernacle of each other. And in the solidarity of global attention. We must not look away.

(Title from Margaret Atwood's Notes Toward a Poem That Can Never Be Written.)

Iran Is On Strike- Spread The Call: Neda ندا

2009-06-21T01:46:00.007-05:00

Iran is On Strike.

Spread the Word.

#Neda-

ندا

Noun A 1. Calling, proclaiming. 2. A voice, a proclamation

.