When the sources we depend on to inform us are silent, it’s up to us to tell the stories. Many major news outlets have been ignoring the revolution happening in Iran right now - the brutality of the regime killing its citizens, the courage of the women- and student-led uprising against them, the acts of grassroots solidarity around the world in response. Coupled with the internet shut-down in Iran, it means these stories aren’t amplified nearly enough to the rest of the world. I know I mostly share about music on here, but this feels deeply relevant. The people of Iran are standing up to a cruel and dogmatic regime, and risking their lives for liberation. For musically-relevant context, this is a culture that birthed the sacred, sensual poetry of Rumi in the 1200s, the pop revelation of a miniskirt-rocking Googoosh in the 70s, and infinite creative depths in-between - but since the mullahs took over in 1979, there have been laws banning women from singing alone, playing music with men, playing music while unmarried, sharing songs that don’t "strengthen national identity and observe Islamic values”, and dancing to music in mixed-gender settings. Any of these offenses can be punishable by inprisonment or worse. This is not a reflection of the Iranian people, but a dogma-drunk dictatorship using religion as a patriarchal weapon. This hits home on a personal level, for one, because my partner is a Persian woman. I fell in love with her, then in turn, with her family, and what I’ve witnessed of their culture. But we’ve always known I could never go to Iran with them because same-sex partnerships are punishable by death under this regime. So of course, it feels extra significant in those personal ways, but it’s far beyond that - not just a queer issue, or a feminist issue, or a young person’s issue. It’s deeply intersectional, and interconnected with all life. Please take a moment to tune into what’s going on in Iran right now. The more we pay attention, the more we speak up, the more their courage reverberates around the world, and sends a message to this regime, and similar forces everywhere. زن، زندگی، آزادی - “woman, life, freedom” #mahsaamini #nikashakarami