I Learned a New Word for Freedom

From Wikipedia:

Azadi (Persian: ) means “freedom, liberty” in Persian, the official and national language of Iran. This Persian word is also borrowed by Kurdish, Urdu, Pashto and Hindi languages.

The past few weeks I have, like everyone else, been riveted by the news from Iran, at least until Michael Jackson’s demise took precedence for so many in the Western world. While it’s tempting to project our own hopes for Iran, we can’t really know for sure who really won the election even if fraud was involved (which I personally think very likely, but I also recognize that Tehran’s young population may not represent all of Iran as much I would like it to.)

Regardless, most of us can’t help but support and empathize with the protesters and the longing so many in Iran have for change, whether fully democratic or simply a more tolerant version of the existing republic.

A few years ago I worked at UCLA’s International Institute as public information officer, editor and designer. While there, I had the privilege of working with a talented Iranian-American singer. The daughter of a well-known poet and writer, Shahrzad Sepanlou left Iran at 12 after experiencing war, revolution and repression –– themes that crop up in many of her songs.

Last night I found this very stirring video set to one of her songs, Azadi (Freedom), and found its strong visuals and Shari’s beautiful voice so compelling I just had to share it.