We Are Not Free Until All of Us Are Free

Nilly Barr and Shoray Kirk on Iran and the fight for freedom

We hear a lot about the disfunction of academic departments, but I am lucky that my department is like a second family. My dear colleague Terry and his wife Nilly live right down the street from us, and they have been so generous, welcoming me to the Upstate when I moved here ten years ago, and then being a constant support as my own little family grew. Nilly is from Iran, and she and her sister, Shoray Kirk, are psychotherapists in Greenville (Associates At Park Avenue). Nilly and Terry met when Nilly was a student at the University of Tennessee (where Shoray completed her studies as well). There is a small but vibrant community of Iranian Americans in the Upstate, part of the more the 1.5 million Iranian American community nationwide.

Nilly and Shoray hosted a birthday party for their mother a few years ago, and I was moved to tears to hear the stories about her dedication to women’s education and civil rights in Iran. I’m so grateful to Nilly and Shoray for sharing their thoughts on the current struggle. As Audre Lorde declared “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” I stand with the women and girls in Iran fighting for their rights and their country.

Nilly and Shoray:

It might come as a shock to most to learn that Iranians have a long history of standing on the side of human rights. In fact, the very first declaration of human rights is attributed to a Persian king. The original cylinder is displayed at the UN headquarters in New York, alongside the world's oldest peace treaty. It dates back to 500 BC when the Persian emperor, Cyrus the Great, wrote:  “I respect all the traditions and religions of Babylon, Akkad and all other countries under my command. All people in the lands under my command are free to choose their religion, work, and place of residence. As long as I am alive, no one will be allowed to take over others’ property by force. I will not allow work without pay. I will stop slavery of men and women, and I command my government to do so until this ugly tradition is removed from the earth. I will build the ruined cities and their places of worship so that their inhabitants, who were previously brought to Babylon as slaves, may return to their homes.”

It might also come as a surprise that Iran has a long and rich history of women’s rights. In fact, the Persian empire has had at least two queens who reigned over the vast nation, dating back to the sixth century BC.

Photo from the 1979 women’s uprising against the first announcement of compulsory head covering by the newly established Islamic republic.

Sadly, Iran has been invaded by other forces. Governments that failed to adhere to the same principles of human rights for all, raped, pillaged, and burned cities, imposing their own religions, languages and cultures on Iran. The last one, and the longest lasting, was that of the Muslim conquest of Persia in the 600 AD—an occupation that endured for  the next three hundred years, and which has resulted in the Islamization of Iran up to current times. But underneath centuries of oppression, there has continued to beat the heartbeat of an ancient culture that was bred by the notions of equality and freedom.

Fast forward to modern times, Iranian efforts for democracy have been repeatedly quashed by internal fanatics and direct or indirect foreign interference. The first of these was the ultimate defeat of the constitutional revolution in 1905-1911 by the Islamists of the time. Then came the 1953 CIA-backed overthrow of a democratically elected government and reinstalling of the escaped Shah (king). This coup was to ensure cheap supply of oil and to keep Iran from nationalizing its oil companies. In 1979, the movement for democratic rights, including the freedom of speech, freedom for political prisoners, freedom of assembly was usurped by the Islamists with the support of the United States government. This attempt was to support a religious replacement to the shah out of fear of the Soviet Union’s influence.

The Iranian people have risen up again. With empty hands against a ruthless regime armed with a heavy military might, it is the modern version of David and Goliath. The world has a chance to finally stand by the side of the Iranian people. The United States has the opportunity to redeem itself by supporting the Iranian people’s fight for freedom from tyranny. America can seize this historic moment to right the wrong of their previous errors (1953 and 1979) and back the Iranian people. To put a total halt to any negotiations with the Islamic Republic. And to provide the Iranian people’s movement with support more tangible than words of empathy and pride.

Back in 1979 when women (and some men) rose up in protest to the first despotic hammer of a newly formed oppressive Islamic Republic (compulsory head covering for women), we women were alone in our fight. Our movement was crushed with brutality and our voices silenced. And a truly dystopian life, especially for women, ensued. 

Once again, the Iranian women have risen up. This time the world seems to be paying attention. Women, men, and all people in between, are shouting: 

Women’s Rights are Human Rights!

This time, there are millions of Iranian diasporas and their allies all around the world amplifying the Iranian people’s voices. 

This time, so many factors are coming together to create an unprecedented, watershed moment for change in Iran. 

This is a historic opportunity that not only Iranians, but the whole world, can’t afford to let slip away. 

And they can’t succeed without international support. 

The Iranian freedom movement is asking the governments of the world to strongly stand against this gender apartheid. We could all do the same by contacting our representatives asking them to support freedom for all. 

And of the people of the world all they ask is: 

Be our voices!

They are saying, loudly and clearly, they are a people no longer willing to live under this siege. They are saying that they’re fully aware of the price for standing up to such a vicious regime (imprisonment, torture and even death). And they are rising up anyway: 

Their chants: Woman, Life, Freedom! 

This time, our hope is for a loud and strong message of solidarity echoing back to them from every corner of the planet. Saying: We see you! We hear you! We stand by you! This time you are not alone! 

Let’s finish with one of the many powerful expressions of hope reaching us from Iran:

“They did not know that the women whose feet they tied up would bear daughters who would grow wings and fly in freedom.”