We sing, we dance on behalf of the people of Iran
This November, could another Berlin Wall fall?
I am so grateful to all of you who have responded with words, acts, and thoughts of support in response to my post last month about the social uprising going on in Iran. Here are my reflections from another month following the news I am hearing from Iranians and their allies.
I was a freshman at my new high school in The Hague. It was a fall day in November, 1989, and I had just shown up at photography class. The teacher told us that the Berlin Wall had fallen. Instead of class, we watched the news.
I was just a kid. I didn’t know much of anything about the Berlin wall, but Germany was near our new home in The Netherlands. I didn’t know about the terrors that communism had inflicted on people. I didn’t know how important a few of the people who had lived so precariously behind that wall would become to me in the decades to come, and how my life would be touched by the trauma they had endured.
I was just a ninth grader, probably wearing overalls like I am today. But when I saw that news it was as if a big shaft of pure white sunlight opened up in my mind. It felt like something had loosened, something had been freed, something constricted had come undone. I felt relief. It was so strange to feel such relief about something I hadn’t known I was worried about.
I hope you have the chance to feel that kind of relief, too. Maybe this November you’ll feel that strange sensation of expansion, as part of the human family that you hadn’t thought about lately is emancipated. A euphoria as a part of your human body that you’d forgotten is remembered. I pray that we’ll all feel it, on behalf of the people living under the oppression of the Islamic Republic of Iran — the beautiful, brilliant, normal people who may be your future friends, collaborators, lovers, partners.
Inspiring acts on behalf of Iran
Over the past month I have been touched by the incredible thinkers and artists who have come forward in support of Iran.
In Buenos Aires two weeks ago, Coldplay made a powerful gesture in support of love and inclusivity by performing Shervin Hajipour’s gorgeous and haunting protest song Baraye featuring Iranian artist Golshifteh Farahani. Watch it and you’ll get a sense of the richness and beauty of Persian culture that will be pouring into the world once the Berlin Wall of the hijab falls definitively.
Women, policymakers, and thought leaders from all over the world joined to urge the UN Commission on Women to remove the Islamic Republic of Iran from its membership. The open letter was signed by many notable signatories including Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Malala Yousafzai, Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, and over 80,000 others, organized by Vital Voices. Please consider adding your voice.
When asked why he speaks out on behalf of Iran, Dr. Cornel West said, “It is a matter of trying to be morally consistent and spiritually sound so we accent the plight of all peoples no matter where they are, who are wrestling with forms of repression, forms of oppression.” I am touched by the breath and rigor of Dr. West’s loving allyship in this interview in which he is joined by Dr. Annahita West. Please consider listening and sharing.
Keep Iran in our hearts, minds and media
These acts are inspiring, and we need them to continue. Because athletes and artists who express themselves in Iran are unsafe. Countless people are risking their lives and bodies by participating in simple acts of civil disobedience.
In October, pro Iranian rock climber Elnaz Rekabi competed without her headscarf at a championship in Seoul, Korea. The regime arrested her brother, then upon her return placed her under house arrest. I dream of seeing her climb again, whole and shining.
Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi shared a beautiful vision for how the movement will grow nonviolently and transition into a new peaceful governance. He was arrested two weeks ago and is likely facing inhuman harm. I dream of seeing him perform live.
Out, beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a stadium. It is in Tehran and it is called Freedom Stadium. I’ll meet you there. Thank you for this beautiful vision, Gol Farahani.
Dance for the sake of Iran and all oppressed people
It is a new thing for me to be asking for allyship, and through this experience I am understanding what a profound service it is to be an ally.
In my first post on this topic, I made this invitation: If you have the freedom to sing or dance publicly, I invite you to dedicate one song this month to the emancipation of Iran. And some of you did, wow! Now I’m collecting songs for a playlist in affirmation of the emancipation of women in Iran. If you have a song that touches your heart that you see in coherence with this intent please let me know.
Tango to Baraye
Personally, I have been haunted this month by the power of the song Baraye. In Farsi, Baraye means “for the sake of.” The song is a litany of all that Iranians are rising up on behalf of — things they want to protect, transform, move toward.
The song stirred a tango in my heart. At first I wasn’t sure why but it makes sense. Tango is a dance of yearning, and it fits this music perfectly.
I haven’t posted a dance video for a long time but it feels right to step beyond my own reticence to share me and Stefan’s dance here, “for the sake of” all those in Iran who crave to hear a chorus of voices raised in support of them. Perhaps some of my tango dancer or DJ friends will see it and find the inspiration to play it at a milonga to help spread awareness about Iran. Here at our tango house, our housemates joined us to dance together to this song during a recent practica and I am so grateful for this small yet genuine act of solidarity.
In closing
In closing, in the words of Toomaj Salehi:
“Fear, I don’t have fear. But I can express my prediction. My prediction is that with time, the brave and courageous segment of the population that is protesting right now, that have been present in these last two weeks, this segment will continue to resist. Other segments of the population will also join the protests. And this movement will grow….”
May all the walls that separate Iranians from each other, and Iranians from the rest of the world, dissolve now with ease and grace. May school children who barely knew about Iran walk into class one day soon and discover the elation I felt that November. Thank you for any and all authentic acts you take in support of this vision.
#MahsaAmini #WomanLifeFreedom #ZanZendegiAzadi #FreeIran