Reza Pahlavi’s family celebrated Nowruz with Farah Pahlavi

Full transparency—I felt incredibly bittersweet about celebrating Persian New Year this year. Being means regularly trying your best to reconnect with the innate joyfulness of our culture at the same time as we compartmentalize the inherited sadness of our experiences. Since the senseless death of Mahsa Jina Amini on September 20, 2023, people have been united in their message: the so-called “government” of must go. They have oppressed and deprived them of basic human rights for far too long. And yet, the fight to make that happen has cost us so many lives—men, women and children. According to Iran Human Rights (IHR NGO), there have been 145 total executions of protestors during 2023 so far, but the number of protestors who are currently missing or sitting in prison sits at more than 19,600. How can I feel hopeful when these facts are such a heavy weight to carry? How can I celebrate when so many of us did not survive to see spring?

March 20, 2023 | 9:25 pm