Woman. Life. Freedom.

These are the cries of the Iranian people.

The cries of 43 years of oppression.

My family was lucky. My father and his siblings were studying in the U.S. when they received that fateful phone call from their parents in Iran, “There’s been a revolution. Don’t come back. Build a life where you are.” My mother and her family were granted asylum (a rarity) due to my grandfather’s high rank within the dismantled Shah’s army. They were able to flee to Germany as his friends and colleagues were hung in the streets.

Every Iranian has a horror story to tell of the revolution and the “morality police”.

For Iranians: those that lived it, are living it, and those that saw it through their parent’s eyes, the pain runs deep.

• Pain for the separation of families who were never able to reunite.
• Pain for the beautiful country they lost.
• Pain for those still in Iran who are often violently oppressed and lack basic human rights.
• Pain of assimilating to a new culture and country where they were often unwanted and unwelcomed.

It’s a generational trauma.

To the brave women in Iran who are risking their lives for basic human rights, THANK YOU.

To those in Iran that stand with them in the streets, THANK YOU.

To those who have already lost their lives, THANK YOU.

To the allies who are sharing their stories and reaching out to their Iranian friends to lend support, THANK YOU.

To my parents who risked everything so that I could be born free, THANK YOU.

Woman. Life. Freedom

🎵 quote: “Baraye” by Shervin Hajipour