Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Zahra Amanpour Explains Iran’s Theocracy, Fear, Faith, & Resistance image

Zahra Amanpour Explains Iran’s Theocracy, Fear, Faith, & Resistance

E291 · Unsolicited Perspectives
Avatar
20 Plays9 days ago

What’s really happening in Iran beneath the headlines?

In this powerful conversation, Zahra Amanpour breaks down life under a theocratic regime—protests, crackdowns, internet blackouts, women’s restrictions, political prisoners, and the long shadow of the 1988 massacre.

This isn’t just geopolitics. It’s a deeply human story about fear, survival, resilience, and resistance—and why global silence can be just as dangerous as open violence. Zahra also explains what many Iranians are demanding right now: freedom, democracy, a secular future, and the right to determine their own path without foreign interference.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed or disconnected by the news cycle, this episode gives context, clarity, and humanity back to the conversation.

Drop your thoughts in the comments: What does “bearing witness” really mean today? #IranProtests #ZahraAmanpour #HumanRights #WomenLifeFreedom #Geopolitics #Unsolicitedperspectives

🔔 Hit that subscribe and notification button for weekly content that bridges the past to the future with passion and perspective. Thumbs up if we’re hitting the right notes! Let’s get the conversation rolling—drop a comment and let’s chat about today’s topics.

🚨 Get access to the Uncensored conversations — raw, unfiltered, and unapologetically bold.

💥 Tap in for exclusive episodes, spicy extras, and behind-the-scenes chaos you won’t find anywhere else:

🔓 Unlock it on YouTube Memberships: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL4HuzYPchKvoajwR9MLxSQ/join

💸 Back us on Patreon: patreon.com/unsolicitedperspectives

This isn’t just content. It’s a movement.

Don’t just watch — be part of it.

Thank you for tuning into Unsolicited Perspectives with Bruce Anthony. Let's continue the conversation in the comments and remember, stay engaged, stay informed, and always keep an open mind. See you in the next episode! 

#podcast #mentalhealth #relationships #currentevents #popculture #fyp #trending #SocialCommentary 

Chapters:

00:00:00 Iran Resistance Explained — Survival, Protest, and Hope 🔥🕊️

00:00:17 Welcome to Unsolicited Perspectives 🎙️✨📢

00:00:45 Meet Zahra Amanpour — Resistance, History, and Stakes 🧭🗣️⚖️

00:01:35 Beyond Headlines — The Human Reality Behind Iran News 📰➡️❤️

00:04:06 Fear, Loss, and the Death of a Father 💔⚰️🔥

00:10:00 From Personal Story to Public Voice and Activism 🎤🧭✨

00:13:50 What Headlines Miss About Daily Life in Iran 📰🚫👁️

00:18:04 Theocracy, Distorted Law, and Social Control ⛓️📜⚖️

00:20:23 The Shocking Reality of Women’s Restrictions 🚺⛓️😳

00:25:22 “Down With the Dictator”: Freedom, Democracy, and a Secular Future ✊🏽📣

00:31:10 The Transition Plan and Fight for Self-Determination 🗳️🧭📜

00:34:39 Billionaires in Uniform: Who Really Profits From the Regime? 💰🪖🐍

00:36:29 Choking the Regime: Sanctions, Isolation, and People Power 💵✂️🧱

00:45:14 When the World Goes Quiet: Silence, Appeasement, and Bombs 🎧🤐💣

00:48:24 The Real Solution: Sanctions, Isolation, and Telling Iran’s Truth 🌐🧩📢

00:50:33 How to Find Raw Sources and Verify Reality Yourself 🔎📲🧠

00:53:23 Carrying the Weight: Faith, Family, and Not Burning Out 🙏🏽👨‍👩‍👧‍👦💪🏽

01:01:48 Don’t Scroll Past This: Bearing Witness So Truth Doesn’t Black Out 📵👁️‍🗨️🕯️

Follow the Audio Podcast: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unsolicited-perspectives/id1653664166?mt=2&ls=1

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/32BCYx7YltZYsW9gTe9dtd

www.unsolictedperspectives.com Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io Produced By White Hot


Recommended
Transcript

Introduction and Host's Welcome

00:00:00
Speaker
We're talking Iran and resistance with Zar Alampoor. We gonna get into it. Let's get it.
00:00:17
Speaker
Welcome. First of all, welcome. This is Unsolicited Perspectives. I'm your host, Bruce Anthony, here to lead the conversation in important events and topics that are shaping today's society. Join the conversation and follow us wherever you get your audio podcasts. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for our video podcasts, YouTube exclusive content, and our YouTube membership.
00:00:36
Speaker
Rate, review, like, comment, share. Share it with your friends, share with your family, hell, even share with your enemies.

Interview with Zahra Amanpour

00:00:43
Speaker
On today's episode, I'll be interviewing Zahra Amanpour.
00:00:48
Speaker
She's a Iranian freedom fighter. We're going to be talking about Iran, the history and its current state. But that's enough of the intro. Let's get to the show.
00:01:06
Speaker
Today's conversation is one of those conversations that go beyond headlines, beyond politics as usual, and beyond borders. Because sometimes what's happening in another part of the world isn't just international news.
00:01:18
Speaker
It's a human story. And human stories concern all of us. You've probably seen flashes in the news about protests in Iran, mentions of crackdowns, internet blackouts, arrests, and violence.
00:01:31
Speaker
But most coverage only gives you fragments. It doesn't always give you the lived experience, the history underneath it, or the voices of the people that's connected to it.

Zahra's Early Life and Resistance Background

00:01:42
Speaker
Today, my guest Zahra Amanpour, she was born during the Iranian Revolution and raised within the resistance movement.
00:01:51
Speaker
She's a daughter of a political prisoner who was killed during the 1988 massacre, and her life has been shaped by firsthand experience with repression, resistance, loss, faith, and resilience.
00:02:03
Speaker
Today, she works to bring clarity and truth to what's happening inside Iran, not just at a policy level, but at a human level. This isn't a geopolitical conversation. This is a conversation about courage and about what it means when people risk their lives for freedom.
00:02:20
Speaker
and what happens when the world looks away, and what happens when people pay attention. We're going to talk about what daily life under crackdown really looks like, why protests continue even under deadly risk, and how history still lives inside families decades later, and what the Iranian people are actually demanding for their future.
00:02:41
Speaker
Most importantly, we're gonna talk about why this matters to all of us, not just as Americans, but as human beings. Here's the end of you.
00:02:52
Speaker
Like I said at the top, ladies and gentlemen, I'm here with Zar Armanpour, and we're going to be talking about something really important that's going on in another country that we're kind of vaguely familiar with, but don't really have a lot of details.
00:03:07
Speaker
And she is going to fill in the blanks so that we become more informed about something that's going on that's very, very important. Zar, want to just... Thank you for coming on the show and talking about this subject that's very personal and near and dear to your heart.
00:03:24
Speaker
And i know this is going to be a good conversation that everybody can learn from. So thank you so much for coming on the show. Thank you for having me. and And thank you for this platform. This conversation is not everywhere right now, and it should be in more places. And I i really appreciate Well, this is the place where we have conversations where it's not everywhere, but it needs to be.
00:03:44
Speaker
yeah ah So with that being said, you were born during the Iranian Revolution and raised in actually a resistance camp.

Life in Resistance Camps

00:03:53
Speaker
yeah When you think about your earlier life, what moments or memories shaped how you see power, fear, and survival?
00:04:02
Speaker
Yeah, and we it's a it's a huge question. But I think when I think about resistance, which has been with me my whole life, I was born into it and it stays with me to this day.
00:04:15
Speaker
I think, where does the power really come from? Why can such a small group of people hold so much power over such a richer, more more grand entity like the Iranian government?
00:04:30
Speaker
And I think one of the things that always has stood out to me is the idea that when you're sure about what you're doing, when you're steadfast in what you're doing, there comes this element of peace.
00:04:43
Speaker
And and ah actually, a lot and it's this goes kind of counter to what people think about it, a lot of joy. in in the moments, in the day-to-day, in the connection with your people, in the connection with your bigger ah ah hope and vision for what you're going after.
00:05:03
Speaker
And I think being able to create that connection and being able to create that power through ah clarity and through Joy with one another and joy in in the idea of hope, I think, gives you power and gives you power over a much greater, strong, what on the surface might seem to be a much greater, stronger force than what you are.
00:05:28
Speaker
And I think this has been true to all resistance movements, is how do you how do you hold your power despite everything working against you? And I think that's something that really comes in, Ashley, ah The exact opposite of what people think of when they think of a resistance movement. They may think of sadness. They may think of isolation. They may think of all of these other things. But in fact, there's such solidarity and joy there that you you you come together.
00:05:52
Speaker
When you talk about fear, of course...

The Role of Fear and Belief in Resistance

00:05:56
Speaker
Fear is part of resistance, right? There's always the fear of, frankly, in my life, the fear of death was very real to us. The fear of failure and and sort of if we were taken out and and sort of these things were very real on a day-to-day basis for the people I was closest to and and the people around me.
00:06:16
Speaker
And the fear of losing those who are closest to you. like I lost my father when I was eight years old to to this to this movement. So those... Things are very real.
00:06:27
Speaker
But at the same time, that is what, you know, there's certain emotions that make us feel better and make us stronger and make us the opposite. And again, it kind of works to counter to what people think.
00:06:40
Speaker
Fear is one of those emotions that you can either give into and not have power with or you fight against and it makes you more powerful and it makes you all the more resilient in what you're doing.
00:06:53
Speaker
And I think when you say that, you know, there's the the phrase fearless, I think that's where it comes from. It's that when you're fearless, when you get to that point where you're fearless, your your ability to do amazing things and resist becomes all that more powerful.
00:07:09
Speaker
And that's how you survive. I think that's that's how you survive. You survive by tapping into those best parts of yourself and the best parts of the people around you.
00:07:21
Speaker
and And keeping that hope always, regardless of how hard it got in my life and how real these things like death and violence and persecution came close to my family and the people around me.
00:07:37
Speaker
Regardless of that, we were able to fight back and we were able to survive. And that in itself gives you power too. So I think all of these emotions and and parts of life that are very difficult, very challenging, at the end of the day, if you're if you know what you're doing and you know why you're doing it and you believe in what you're doing, they give you power.
00:07:59
Speaker
That's what I i was ah just getting ready to make that point. It seems like from what you're describing, the fearlessness comes from the belief in the cause and that you know that you're right.
00:08:12
Speaker
Yes. So you're willing to risk whatever needs to be risked because you know that you're right and you know that it needs to be done. Yeah.
00:08:22
Speaker
was that and When you're in this resistance camp, and ah and I'm not trying to trivialize it, but most people that live in this country don't know what it's like to be in a resistance camp.
00:08:34
Speaker
And the only thing that they have to really go on is television. And television does not give real depiction of... What real life is most of the time is dramatized and things of this nature. So, so, so people are going to see resistance and you say resistance and hope, and I'm not trivializing that. They're going to think Star Wars, right? They're going to think, well, they were a resistance and it didn't seem that bad, but no, what you're doing and what you were experiencing was real life. And death is something that is possible every day living in this resistance camp.
00:09:09
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I mean, we had bomb shelters around our school. We were trained how to go into them. We were, ah when you came into the camp. So I just want to be clear. I i i lived on this camp for a few years out when I was in middle school age. that's So i I fled Iran, came to the United States, went back to the Middle East. So I had seen the United States at this point.
00:09:31
Speaker
I'd seen a very different sort of ah reality and and all of that. And then went back and lived on this resistance camp for a few years. continued through school with them until I was in high school.
00:09:42
Speaker
So always in the movement, but in different settings. But when in the in the camp itself, yeah, it's a military situation. you You come in, your car is inspected, they have mirrors that check everything.
00:09:54
Speaker
you know, the school bus was like... right it they They go through everybody's, you know, they come onto the bus. There's guard guarded armed guards ah at the at the base around you. The school itself was, as I said, had bomb shelters around it. We were trained how to take shelter inside and outside of the school.
00:10:14
Speaker
um And it was it was a reality. of life that at any moment we had to be prepared for the worst case scenario. But first of all, children are resilient.
00:10:25
Speaker
And then for all the reasons I just described, humans can be very resilient too. And somehow when things more is at stake, we tend to be at our best.
00:10:36
Speaker
So even in that, within this resistance camp, um Some of my most fond memories are having meals together, having events together, celebrating together, playing a soccer match with my friends. Normal things were also happening in this context. People were living. Families were were coming together. Families were going through of their motions.
00:10:57
Speaker
Life was happening in the midst of this. ah So, you know, it's that sometimes people see it as this very, like, Everything's, you know, active military. this But when people are actually living in this context, there's all aspects of life that exist on a military base. And there's all aspects of life that exist in resistance. Relationships, people, connections, children, relationships. all the good and the bad and ugly that comes with all of that, all of that exists when you have a community like this that comes together, even in in that kind of extreme circumstances. So there's this ah contradiction almost between what the reality is and how that plays out actually on a day-to-day basis.
00:11:37
Speaker
You

Balancing Activism with Normal Life

00:11:38
Speaker
know, I went to school. I was a kid. I played. I had friends. All of those things were there. And at the same time, we were very cognizant of the fact that something could happen. And most of us,
00:11:50
Speaker
had lost someone very close to the struggle. And we had that brought us closer together. We understood each other. We understood that sadness. We understood that power.
00:12:02
Speaker
um And we took pride in being part of something bigger and a community like that together. So it had all these different components and pieces to it, including being a military base and and being what that is.
00:12:16
Speaker
So you're growing up in this. i I didn't know that you were, you fled, was here in the States, then went back. That's an experience. I want to touch on that later. I want to touch on that later. But I want to get into more of...
00:12:31
Speaker
When you start to realize that this is no longer just your personal history, it stopped being that. It was something that you were now living. And when that transition to you're living it, but now I'm going to actively speak about it.
00:12:47
Speaker
Yeah. So this has been kind of an evolution for me. ah First of all, i I was born into it, right? So in many ways, it wasn't kind of a, as a child, it wasn't a choice to step into it. I was i was i was on stages. I was speaking to people from the time I was very young about this.
00:13:07
Speaker
I've always been a public speaker of sorts. So I was put in that position, you know, if they wanted to hear a child's perspective, right? I've always spoken on behalf of the resistance. So in that way, I've always been in it. And of course, we were completely immersed in it as a family. So everyone I knew and loved, the people I was with, um at least most days, were also in that world. So it wasn't much of a choice as a child. It was a reality and one that,
00:13:36
Speaker
Unlike what most people think, I wasn't in any shape or form a victim. I was very proud of what I was doing. I was very proud of of belonging to something so important and being part of the future of my people and trying to move that in ah and in ah in a good direction.
00:13:53
Speaker
When it became more of a dilemma for me and more of an actual choice that I had to make was when I actually started when I was like a teenager, college, and I was trying to make a life in the United States. I was trying to establish myself as a as first in school, then as a career person. and It forced me, at least at the very beginning, to compartmentalize these things in my life and say, OK, I have this part of huge part of who I am that I'm not going to talk about on a daily basis because it's too heavy to talk to people. Like it's like not the first thing you say to somebody, you know, over a cup of coffee. Right. So it wasn't something that I could just casually sort of share about myself. It would it would have it had all kinds of directions that can go in if people knew this about me.
00:14:44
Speaker
And as a young person, that was difficult to navigate and difficult to know what the right way of of doing it. And on on the flip side of that, I was still a very public-facing person within the movement. So I was like on my nights and weekends. And when i there was a protest, I was very, you know, public and outward-facing. So there was stuff available about me online and all of that. But in my work life, in my daily life, I didn't bring it up. I didn't talk about it. It wasn't part of it.
00:15:11
Speaker
As I... got older, i started to, yeah more of life just as in general started to become less compartmentalized. You know, you become your more full person as you get older, right?
00:15:22
Speaker
And I think at some point, just like a mother, when I became a mother, at some point I said, you know what, I'm not going to stop, I'm going to stop pretending I don't have a personal life. I have a personal life. I've got kids, right?
00:15:33
Speaker
And I became more comfortable with this idea of like, We all have different sides to us. And anybody who actually wants to know me has to know this part of me too. And how do I talk about it? How do I become more comfortable about it? How do I post a podcast on my LinkedIn page? You know, like, how do I do these things? And I've just now, now my world has become more full, more whole.
00:15:56
Speaker
And I think the people that are closest to me know me move more fully because they don't know just one side of me. They know my more full self. So it's been an evolution that's had stages. But how I let it in and didn't let it in has changed over time.
00:16:14
Speaker
Okay. All all right. So let's get to what's going on over in Iran.
00:16:26
Speaker
When people see headlines about protests and crackdowns in Iran, what do they usually miss about what daily life actually feels like for people on the ground?

Theocratic Control and Women's Oppression

00:16:37
Speaker
Yeah. I think people in the West are used to, not always, and there's different there's always exceptions to this in every society, but there's some rule of law.
00:16:50
Speaker
And there's some norms that we can exist in. Even if those norms are not equally distributed to all, there are certain things that we can count on or whatever our place is, we can find it and we can navigate it to some extent. Right.
00:17:09
Speaker
And I think that's called the rule of law. And, you know, and it's upheld to some extent, to a greater, much greater extent in a democracy in ah most Western countries, etc.
00:17:22
Speaker
In Iran, that is not the case. It is a theocracy. So first you have to understand that the law is dictated by a distorted interpretation of the religion.
00:17:36
Speaker
i am Muslim, just so everybody knows. i very much identify as a Muslim, but that is a distorted version of the religion. It is not or what I believe to be the faith.
00:17:46
Speaker
That dictates... sort of the overarching ideology that runs the country. So that's this sort of thing above it, right? The day-to-day then means that it gives power to those who are willing to act on its behalf, right?
00:18:07
Speaker
In the moment. So whether that's an authority or not. And so, for example, in the family life, ah women's rights have been stripped from them considerably. they can't cant They can't wear what they want. They have to wear full hijab.
00:18:22
Speaker
They can't go where they want. They have to get permission from their husband if their husband's not available from their son to do certain things. Yeah. Right. Hold on. I'm sorry. I don't mean to cut you off, but that just blew my mind.
00:18:36
Speaker
Now, I knew that patriarchy was a huge thing in Iran, right? But... I thought it would stop at the husband, father, but the mother having to ask this as a black man in this country. That that that has never been the case where i think my mom had to come to me. Well, now because I'm grown. I'm talking about as a kid, come to me to go do something that she want to do. That to me is absolutely crazy.
00:19:04
Speaker
crazy Yeah, and their ideology, they don't believe women are capable of making certain decisions. in it So they therefore, but they don't have the right to make those decisions. so that is So you can imagine how that plays out. And Iranian women, unlike what the stereotypes will tell you, are actually very...
00:19:22
Speaker
active, strong people in society. They have more STEM degrees than any other by by ah population than any other country in the world. like These are educated, outgoing, proactive, like engaged in society people that this has happened to them. So you can imagine how this has made family life, the amount of ah just struggle and violence just frustration that women feel on a daily basis and the men around them who are watching this happen and having to, you know, if you care about your mother, you don't want to her to have to live like this, right? So that's family life. Then you step outside of the home and you can't, as I said, as a woman dressed the way you want.
00:20:04
Speaker
If a guard, for whatever reason, feels that you're doing something that they don't like, they have full authority to come at you in any way, they shape, or form.
00:20:14
Speaker
People are taken off the streets for their political beliefs, for for what they say, for how they may act, for if a woman too much of her hair shows. You just disappear. You're gone.
00:20:26
Speaker
And that happens to people all the time. And on top of that now, what has happened over the last 45 years is economically, the government has completely mismanaged the country, where our currency collapsed a few weeks ago, which is was the main catalyst for the recent uprisings.
00:20:44
Speaker
And economically, people can't feed their families. You know, yeah they don't look at the pictures of Tehran, the most wealthy part of the country, as the representation of what's happening around the country. The vast majority of Iranians are really struggling.
00:20:59
Speaker
right now. It's harder. I mean, we talk about affordability in this country right now. It's in a different realm altogether how bad it's gotten there. People can't afford to feed their families. Drug addiction has taken over the country opiate with opiates.
00:21:15
Speaker
And so you layer that with the way that sort of the ideology and the theocracy is governing the country. And it has created this untenable situation for people where they they just have lost any hope of any goodness coming from where the government in Iran and their daily life and the opportunity that they can pursue. There's just no hope in it. They've lost that. And that is what's pushed us to the moment that we're in now.
00:21:41
Speaker
I'm going to get to the protests, but something that you said, i want to go back to. You said, especially with the restrictions on women just existing, this is a new thing. This isn't something that has always been the case. this These are new restrictions over, let's say, the last 20 years or something like that?

Iranian Protests and Public Courage

00:22:05
Speaker
No, these restrictions came into play right after 1979. ok The the ah regime put in the Sharia law, which is that the sort of religious philosophy that drives the laws and and sort of supposed order in the country.
00:22:22
Speaker
So it was immediately within months of the revolution and when they took power that they started to enforce these types of laws um into law and and into law. so So the people of Iran have been living under these conditions.
00:22:36
Speaker
for 45 years, and women have been the target of this oppression, the main target of this oppression. The idea behind Islamic fundamentalism, which is what governs in Iran, is if you can hold half the population down with laws, and then the other half of the population is worried about those laws, following those laws, enforcing those laws, so nobody gets in trouble, the the country is...
00:23:02
Speaker
almost self-governed in that way. and it makes the kind of oppression that we see in Iran possible. And this is what has happened in all kinds of theocracies and throughout history. And in Iran, Islamic fundamentalism has played out that way. So this has been a reality for decades now, my entire life.
00:23:20
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. You made it a point of saying the economy is basically collapsed. And that's what's led to these recent protests that we've been seeing. I'm going to get into some of the gore details of the protests because I was reading some stuff and I was like, there's no way.
00:23:35
Speaker
that that is happening. That's got to be absolutely crazy. But these protests continue, even when people know the risks can be deadly. And some of the deadliest stuff that's been happening, ladies and gentlemen, I'm just going to give you one example. There's been reports that the government has set fire to certain areas.
00:23:58
Speaker
And when people run away to get out of being burned alive, they are shooting them down in the streets and not letting them escape. Yes. So under these the under these it crazy tactics that the government is using, protests are still out there.
00:24:15
Speaker
Yes. And it's clear that the risks are deadly deadly. What does this tell you about where the Iranian people are mentally and emotionally right now during this during these protests? Yes.
00:24:26
Speaker
They're done. They're fed up. They're there. You know, for revolution to happen, it has to hit a tipping point. And it's a swing back and forth for some time. And this has been happening, too, for, you know, decades. because These tactics are not new.
00:24:42
Speaker
In 1988, the Iranian regime executed 30,000 people because there was ah ah uprising and and and sort of dissent in society. These are not new tactics. However,
00:24:54
Speaker
The scale of what just happened in terms of the uprising and the scale of what the regime did in response to that across every city in Iran, that is much, it it it shows that this is escalating and it's getting to that tipping point.
00:25:10
Speaker
But yes, that reality that you just described is very true. They are also breaking into hospitals, arresting doctors who so are are treating anybody who's been shot or or injured in the streets.
00:25:23
Speaker
They are opening fire on children walking in the streets. They are, you know, there are reports, we you know, the country's in a blackout right now. and Not everybody realizes there's an internet blackout in Iran. they The government has shut down the internet. You cannot, unless you have Starlink or some form of of satellite technology that can get stuff around that, which is harder, very hard to do and very risky. Anyone who has that is going to prison. You, the footage has not been able to come out for the last two weeks. But the stuff that has been coming out is showing people
00:25:58
Speaker
the bodies ah stacked on top of each other, children, innocent bystanders, protesters. These are people. These are not soldiers. These are people that are being massacred right now.
00:26:12
Speaker
And 50,000 people that have been confirmed, we believe the number is much greater than this, 50,000 people have been confirmed to be have been taken as political prisoners into the prisons of Iran.
00:26:24
Speaker
Iran's prisons, political prisons are horrible. horrendous the torture and executions that happened there. And then Iran on top of, the regime on top of that, does public execution. So what we are expecting as the next wave of this is that people will be publicly executed. They literally hang teenagers from cranes in the public and execute them in front of people to teach people a lesson not to come out. So...
00:26:51
Speaker
Again, these tactics are not new. It's the scale of them and the intensity of ah and the defiance in the people that is hitting that new point that we makes us hopeful that this regime is in its last days.
00:27:08
Speaker
And so that's what this time is different. But the the dynamics are not new. And anyone who came to the streets on December 28th knew what they were up against. They have been living under this regime. This is not this was a choice.
00:27:22
Speaker
And this was a very courageous choice by the people of Iran to do what they're doing. They knew exactly what they're up against and they knew what is happening now would happen. And they still did it. And that just shows you where they are and where their heads are now.
00:27:36
Speaker
Wow. People that are out there risking their lives protesting. What exactly are they demanding right now? And and what do you imagine the future taking shape in the midst of this level of repression and global pressure? Because Iran as a country has a lot of global pressure. what We're not seeing the atrocities that's happening, but the news is still reporting that This is what they're doing.
00:28:06
Speaker
yeah So, and I know from history that every power that goes to certain extremes to hold on to power, that's when they're really truly losing their grip.
00:28:20
Speaker
So what does the future hold? What do you imagine the future holds? Well, I am i have a clear vision and hope for the future of Iran and and many Iranians.

Demand for Democracy and Regime Change

00:28:32
Speaker
do What the people are demanding, which is, you know, hopefully with 92 million people, everybody's not saying they thinking they want the exact same thing. But the only thing that is consistently being said is that they want the regime down. They say down with the dictator.
00:28:49
Speaker
Okay. Okay. So down with the dictator is the number one chant in the streets. Right. So they want this regime gone. That's what they want. That is the the message that everyone is connecting to.
00:29:04
Speaker
What they want is also freedom and democracy. That is what they're trying to move towards. And what a lot of people, the history of Iran, this is not its first allah dictatorship.
00:29:17
Speaker
prior to this, in 1979, there was a revolution. They kicked out the Shah. They kicked out the prior monarchy, right? Iranians, unfortunately, have been under many dictatorships.
00:29:28
Speaker
And the last one was where the West was very um was meddling in Iran and was ah very just basically taking the resources of Iran from its people and and economically benefiting from Iran's resources. And that ah the so the people felt that their government was selling them out and was basically a puppet to the West, and they kicked out that government in 1979.
00:29:52
Speaker
Then came this dictatorship, which even more brutal, even more violent, even more oppressive, but they have been living under this for many, many decades,
00:30:03
Speaker
What they want is to be free from that. They want to be free from dictatorship. They want freedom and democracy. They want a secular government. They do not want any church and state mixed together. They want that separated.
00:30:16
Speaker
And they have a plan to get there. they And they have an organized resistance movement that wants to help them get there. um But all of these things have to come together at the right time in the right place for it finally hit that tipping point and for it to move. So the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which is ah the resistance movement that my family is closest to, is a group of 490 different religious groups and ethnicities and races within Iran that are represented. And they have a transition plan to get the Iranian people from this dictatorship to a free election.
00:30:53
Speaker
And that's a six-month transition plan. Once they get there, then the people get to decide what they want. They get to draft their own constitution. They get to draft their own laws. They get to decide what they want. And they want to get there without the American american or any other military interfering in that.
00:31:12
Speaker
You know, if that if the U.S. interferes, there is an expectation of reciprocity there, whether we acknowledge it or not. We are not going to go in there and spend that much money doing that and that much military power and not expect that we don't get something in return for that.
00:31:29
Speaker
And that is not what the Iranian people want. They want self-determination. They want to be able to decide their own future, their own fate. And all they want from the rest of the world is support.
00:31:40
Speaker
and witnessing that and and isolating the regime economically from the rest world. That was going to be my next question, because you had the regime, but there are people who are not technically in the regime who have benefited financially yeah from the regime. How do you deal with those people that are going to see, because one thing I know about human nature,
00:32:06
Speaker
People will do anything to hold on to their wealth. yeah It's been that way since the beginning of the time. what is that that What happens to those people? Because those people i don't think are going to give up willingly.
00:32:20
Speaker
No, and they're not. And we see that in the media, mainstream media right now. They've lifted the former ah ah Shah, the former ah monarchy's son, as the only viable option for the people of Iran because they believe if they put him back in power, he will be their puppet.
00:32:39
Speaker
Yes, you heard me correct. person that was overthrown in 1979— They want to put his son back in office. Okay. All right. And his son has done nothing.
00:32:52
Speaker
Nothing. he lives in a D.C. area. He has done nothing for the Iranian people for 45 years. He has not held a job because he took so stole so much money from the country that he has not had to have a job for 45 years. So these this is who they say we is the only viable option for the Iranian people. Not the 92 million people in Iran who are who are educated, who have dreams, hopes, and the ability to to build their own government and their own democracy, but rather this guy.
00:33:27
Speaker
somehow has the ability to run this country with no experience, no credibility, and has been ousted from the country 45 years ago. So this is who, if you listen and read in the West right now, and it's very deliberate, those people that you just described that have benefited off of Iran being the money that comes out of Iran, whether it was during the Shah's time, those same people built relationships with the regime. When you have a corrupt government like this, these kinds of things are more prevalent.
00:33:55
Speaker
Right. So those same people, those people who economically benefited from what ah Iran is rich in oil, it's rich in minerals, it's rich in all types of natural resources, have benefited from deals with Iran are the ones now that are saying, OK, well, if the regime is going to fall, let's make sure the next one that comes in, we can control, too. Right. right So there's.
00:34:17
Speaker
So this is the line that connects all of these dots, right, is the economic sort of power that has been yielded from Iran by so many different parties. And on top of that, Iran has been very deliberate about this, too. Inside of the country, the people who are part of the IRGC, which is their guard, their revolutionary guard, supposedly the people who are supposed to protect this country, they are all billionaires.
00:34:42
Speaker
They have children that they send abroad to go to school who drive around in Lamborghinis. They're just like, Just showing their money off. Right. Why would someone who was in the military have that much money?
00:34:53
Speaker
Where is that coming from? OK, there's a lot of documentation about how much money these people have made and how the military has benefited off of sort of these economic deals. So this has been what's held the regime up.
00:35:07
Speaker
This is also what is driving what what is being shown as the West as the only option as the next chapter for the Iranian people. The fact that the Iranian people have the right to their own freedom, their own democracy and their own sort of say is not what's being lifted. Rather, we need another puppet to control the country in order for it to you know stay under control. So what has worked very effectively, though, that we want the people to understand is what I say economic isolation is one way that we can sort of be part of this is targeted sanctions against the Iranian government. So people who do business with the Iranian government are penalized.
00:35:47
Speaker
Right. those Those types of things work. Right. OK, when you when you strangle the government from a economic perspective, it doesn't have it makes it weak. It doesn't have the means to do what it's doing to its people. It doesn't have the means to do what it's been doing around the whole. Like it's been meddling in the Middle Eastern affairs for the last 50 years, too. it it You have to strangle it economically. And then that makes it weaker. And then the people themselves will have the power then to overthrow the government as long as it's.
00:36:15
Speaker
got plenty of military might and money and all of this, it's harder and harder to overthrow it. So that's how you come at it. You have to get it right to the source, which is cut off its money and cut cut off its clout in in the world.
00:36:28
Speaker
You brought up a lot of interesting points. And I know here, we both live in the United States, that are certain actions that the U.S. government does abroad, internationally,
00:36:43
Speaker
reflects back on us as American people, right? And then we don't look, we don't get looked on favorably because of what the government is doing and we get lumped in together, right?
00:36:54
Speaker
Americans are bad because the American government is bad. Some things the Iranian government, Iran government has done internationally hasn't been that great.

Disassociation from the Regime

00:37:07
Speaker
How do the people take power and not get blamed for the previous administration or the previous regime.
00:37:20
Speaker
Because the idea that the people take over, I'm going to assume the military wouldn't be as strong, which would leave the country susceptible for the enemies to come in and attack.
00:37:36
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, yes, and that's what happened in 1979. A lot of people say, well, you you are had this revolution and then you brought this new power to to be. So this is must be what the Iranian people want.
00:37:47
Speaker
No, what happened was during the 1979 revolution was that all of the good, progressive, forward-thinking leadership was either imprisoned at the time or killed. Right. There was mass executions by the Shah at that time. OK, which created a power vacuum that allowed for the current regime to come to power.
00:38:07
Speaker
and And this is why we are where we are today. Does that is can that happen again if there's interference? Yes. That's why we're saying no interference. Let the people drive this. Right. Let them get it to that place where it needs to go, because any kind of external interference lends itself to exploitation of that kind that would allow for another ah regime of sorts to rise in Iran.
00:38:36
Speaker
The people all of Iran are very much more. i think Americans only today are much more realizing like, oh how I don't want to be affiliated with with my government or I don't want to be affiliated with that party or I don't want to be a fit, right? Because we've become so polarized in this country.
00:38:54
Speaker
The Iranian people have for 45 years been like, I want nothing to do with that regime. They don't identify with that regime. Their identity is not the same. In fact, they're much more identified with the American people because they watch American movies. They listen to American music.
00:39:09
Speaker
You know, we are a more connected world. So and from their perspective, they have more in common with the average American than they have with their government. And so if we allow that type of ah momentum and understanding to be what drives the next chapter of the country and not the these powers that be that want to sort of step in and interfere, then the people of Iran will have a democracy and then there there their government will reflect them. You know, we we can be mad in this country, but 50% of this country did vote for this administration. 50% of the country voted for the last administration. So whatever side you're on, right, you can be mad, but that's a democracy. They don't even have that chance yet, you know? And so that's what they're trying to get.
00:39:58
Speaker
How is this...
00:40:03
Speaker
is this The protests and the things that are happening to people reminiscent to the 1988 massacre. And how does his history still live inside of the families and communities that dealt with the 1988 massacre decades later?
00:40:21
Speaker
Yeah. You know, one thing that now that I have children who never met their grandfather, you start to understand is what is what is generational trauma and what does that do to communities and people? And and and, you know, what how do you rise out of that and sort of change that dynamic?
00:40:42
Speaker
So. The 1988 massacre, as I mentioned, my father was killed in that. Many, many of my friends and what I call my cousins, ah family members were were killed in that. and And it was basically a reaction to the people rising. And there was a shift in the country where there was a real chance the regime at that point was starting to weaken. There was a lot of popular sort of dialogue happening. People were were rising. There was a lot of just dissent happening in the country and the the government did what it did. And it basically took everyone who was in prison at the time, which you have to think there was there was 30,000 political prisoners in the prisons already. So what was happening?
00:41:24
Speaker
How much dissent, how much sort of ah resistance was already happening for that to be the case? But then the regime said, we're going to teach you a good lesson. and executed all... There was mass graves dug and they just buried people. I've never... We never found my father's body. Nobody knows where their parents are buried and that's what happened.
00:41:45
Speaker
So, again, these are not new tactics, but... it all All the more reason, like when I say to you our first question today about fearlessness and courage and survival, right?

Historical Trauma and Western Silence

00:41:57
Speaker
We are the survivors of that massacre. We are the survivors of those realities in Iran. And that is all the more reason why we we are now that much more sure about what what the future has to be. It has given us power. It has given us the courage. It has given the Iranian people who are right now standing on those streets, who are facing off with these guards, the courage to do what they're doing.
00:42:21
Speaker
Because once you realize that whether it's because I came outside and and a guard was in a bad mood that day or because they're going to execute 30,000 people in one summer, that you have no say over your life and your existence and your freedom.
00:42:38
Speaker
you you realize you've got nothing to lose. And the only way forward is to rise. And that is what the Iranian people are having. So it's it's all interconnected because we're all we that we haven't been able to stop resisting. We haven't had that luxury to stop resisting. It has had its moments, ups and down moments and all of that, but it has always been there. It has been consistent in all of our lives. And those of us who remember that and lived through that are not going to stop. And and now that that really includes all all of the Iranian people. The majority of the Iranian people have had trauma and and experienced some sort of horrible reality because of this regime. And that's why we're united on what we're doing today.
00:43:23
Speaker
I feel like this conversation is is really important because we live in a world now where something catastrophic will happen, and then the next day something else catastrophic will happen and it gets left behind. Yeah.
00:43:40
Speaker
The protests and these executions that are going on have fallen back in the news cycle, and we see this all the time in moments of crisis. There's attention to it, and then it's followed by silence afterwards.
00:43:55
Speaker
yeah What has this silence cost Iranians over time, and how does it shape the regime's behavior today? It has allowed for appeasement.
00:44:07
Speaker
So ah the policies in the West have very much been dictated by that silence or been emboldened by that silence. Let me put it that way. Time and time again, the resistance has has had to lobby in the United States forever because that's what you have to do to get people to listen to you and has been able to build a bipartisan support from all sides of the aisle around the idea that Iranian people want freedom and democracy and self-determination.
00:44:36
Speaker
Nevertheless, depending on which administration has been in ah office, there's been this tug of war between two dominating policies, the first being appeasement, which is, well, let's reason with these people.
00:44:50
Speaker
Let's talk. Let's talk to the regime. If we give them economic incentives, they'll stop. Right. People who execute teenagers on cranes in public do not you can't reason with them.
00:45:04
Speaker
These are these are criminals. These are people who shouldn't be in public, shouldn't be be allowed to move about freely. These are criminals and they need to be held accountable to their actions.
00:45:17
Speaker
The people of Iran deserve justice. So the fact when the Iranians, when Americans or Europeans or whoever other parties, Chinese, Russians, everybody does it. When they sit down at the table with the Iranians and the Iranian regime and talk to them as if they're rational, reasonable people,
00:45:37
Speaker
they are basically saying to the Iranian people that they they don't have the right to justice and dignity and freedom. And that is what the message has been time and time again. So when the Iranian people have been more silent...
00:45:51
Speaker
the policymakers and the sort of powers that be have often exploited that opportunity to go to the table and create ah economic opportunity, more economic opportunity for themselves and the rich of this of this world and the people who have exploited Iran more and more. On the flip side of that, when we've seen a policy of what we're seeing right now, which is we're going to go in and bomb Iran, right?
00:46:15
Speaker
Right. Again, nothing good will come from that. That will only allow for a power vacuum. That will only allow for ah somebody like the Shah to come to power. That will only allow for more of the sort of...
00:46:33
Speaker
resources and and ah opportunities in Iran to be stripped from it. There's nothing good that's going to come from military action in Iran either. And unfortunately, that's been the two sides that have been played from a policy perspective in the West. And when so whenever the protests are not on TV, the West sits down at the table says, let's have a conversation. And when they are on the thing, they're like, we're going to go bomb them. And neither of those ah offer a real solution for the Iranian people and get them any closer to their to their dream.
00:47:06
Speaker
What is the solution? The solution is to there's

Sanctions and Seeking Truth

00:47:11
Speaker
a number of things. One is targeted sanctions from a policy perspective, target targeted sanctions where are they economically cut the regime off.
00:47:20
Speaker
Right. So that it can't fill its coffers more with money and lit gold. We've handed over gold, blocks of gold to the Iranian regime. Like there's footage of this. It's crazy. Right.
00:47:31
Speaker
So economic sanctions that don't hurt the Iranian people, but rather hurt the sources of of wealth and and power for the Iranian regime. It's very effective. Also political isolation.
00:47:44
Speaker
Stop treating the Iranian regime like it represents the Iranian people. It does not. I was in front of the United Nations and in September. Every September, I've probably been there. I mean, every year I've been in the United States my entire life. I've been in front of the United Nations in September because the so-called president of Iran attends the general council and they allow him to speak as if he represents the Iranian people. Stop giving them...
00:48:09
Speaker
political power and political say. They do not represent the Iranian people. So politically isolating them, economically isolating them, and then witnessing the front in terms of people like yourself or ah people who just care about this issue, just witness what is happening. Stay engaged.
00:48:27
Speaker
You know, and if if the world is watching, All of these people that are involved in this are have to be at least a little bit more accountable to what they're doing. If the world is watching and looking for truth, that becomes even more the case. For example, what I say to people is don't let mainstream media interpret what is happening in Iran for you.
00:48:50
Speaker
They have a script. They are sticking to that script. Everywhere I go, just do the same talk that I'm having with you today. I am not allowed to say what I'm saying today. I am censored. I am I am the the truth. The facts are twisted. It is not allowed to happen that way.
00:49:06
Speaker
So you have to dig deep. You have to be willing and able to dig a little bit deeper. I say just take what you're hearing ah and I can give you some websites in a minute. Go to these places that have raw footage, that have real stuff coming out of Iran and just stick it into Google Translate and you listen yourself to what the slogans are and what the chants are on the streets. You hear what people are saying, because that's what you that's what's going to tell you that what they want is not dictatorship. What they want is freedom. What they want is, you know, the same things we all want in this world. Right. So, you know, take a little bit more responsibility for what you're hearing and what the source of that is and and sort of dig a little bit deeper. That's what the sort of more common folk can do to stay engaged in this conversation.
00:49:49
Speaker
Before I go to the next question, what are those websites for me and for my audience out there? So we can get to the truth. Yeah. So and NCRI, National Council of Resistance of Iran. And if you just go to NCRI, you have to get to the English one. So put NCRI English and it's a.org. It's and's a nonprofit. They have raw footage. they get you They do a daily brief where they just show you like accounts of like the stats and the footage that's coming out of Iran. And you can look at that and see for yourself what's happening and stay up to date on what's happening. Hashtag, not hashtag, sorry. Handle Iran underscore policy on x
00:50:26
Speaker
um You can find it there. NCRI and Iran underscore policy are also on Instagram. You can find it there. So there's there's sources of truth and and that aren't trying to sway you in any direction.
00:50:40
Speaker
And the resistance is very active and and really you know putting a lot at risk to get this stuff out of Iran. So if you really you have to get closer to the source, get closer to the resistance, and you'll get closer to the truth. just watching mean ah reels on on Instagram and letting them sort of the AI sway you this way and that way, you're going to go down at the wrong Okay.
00:51:03
Speaker
I'm not a freedom fighter. Never have been. and Okay. All I do is have this show and bring up issues that I think are not getting enough attention or not getting the right attention.
00:51:15
Speaker
So I'm not a freedom fighter. Well, getting more voice is a big part of freedom fighting. So just, just so you know, but. Okay. I appreciate that. But you actually are a freedom fighter.
00:51:27
Speaker
And this work is deeply personal to you and has been a part of your life since birth and hasn't just affected you from the outside, has affected you inside your nuclear family.
00:51:41
Speaker
Yes. Are there moments when carrying this history feels especially heavy? And how do you take care of yourself while still continuing to do the work of being a freedom

Drawing Strength from Faith and Family

00:51:55
Speaker
fighter? Yes, there are moments.
00:51:57
Speaker
There are moments when it's exhausting, of course. You know, it everything this is is this is not an easy struggle. I tap into my faith. A lot. I, i you know, i believe i so in that faith and I believe that faith is what guides me on a day-to-day basis.
00:52:15
Speaker
I tap into my my so my my mom, my sisters who have been in this struggle with me for a long, my entire life, my day ones, i we joke with each other and ah and really...
00:52:29
Speaker
We can only laugh. People set see some of these we're laughing about. They're like, that's not funny. And i was like, well, you weren't there in the moment. you didn't You don't know how it felt. And now it was funny. or you know, we can joke about things that other people don't get.
00:52:40
Speaker
Whatever. I tap into the resistance, the broader community that I belong to. I feel very fortunate, you know, again, despite ah the all the struggle and the challenges, I feel privileged to have been raised in this movement, to have such clarity around my purpose and to have such clarity around my vision for for my people. Like not everybody gets to have that that privilege.
00:53:06
Speaker
So I feel very privileged in that way. And I think that helps me to to sort of build energy when I'm tired and to to reactivate myself when I need to reactivate.
00:53:17
Speaker
And I draw inspiration from the movement itself. The the people like I'm on the sidelines, to be honest, compared to some a lot of people who are in this. or The people who are on the streets right now in Iran, the people who are ah who have dedicated their lives to this. i so I have a job. I have two kids. I have a husband. i have I have normalcy to some extent. There are people in this movement who don't have any of that because they gave it up to give full time to this thing. So I draw inspiration from that.
00:53:43
Speaker
and you know, I, and I do all the rest of the things that normal people do. I try to be healthy. I try to find ways, to channel my energy into good things. And nature helps me. All of these different things help me.
00:53:55
Speaker
But to be honest, in a moment like like this, where it it has sort of flared up and and and it is where it is right now. And it's, it's much more front and center. And I'm, I'm, I'm, you know, got multiple interviews every week and I'm trying to get this message out as much as I can.
00:54:10
Speaker
You know, you just... i It's hard to explain, but anyone who's ever been part of something that they really believe in you make... It just energizes you. It just gives you something that nothing else in life gives you.
00:54:22
Speaker
And so in those moments, it's actually easier when I'm giving more to this and more focused on it than the times when it's like, it's not it's not front and center. There's not a lot of... People aren't listening.
00:54:34
Speaker
And then I got to make time to go, you know, to an event or facilitate a panel or whatever. I'm like, oh I'm so tired. I really don't want to do this tonight. You these moments are actually the easier ones because I'm just a normal person. But but I draw ah inspiration and and and strength from all the things that have have shaped me my whole life and have brought me to where we are today and have brought our country to where it is today. um And that's how we're I think we're all going to get over the finish line is we have each other and we have, you know, and that's that that is so powerful. That gives you so much energy.
00:55:08
Speaker
Okay. That's about you. And you've been so candid, open, and informative during this interview. Thank you.
00:55:19
Speaker
You're welcome. What do you hope that the audience walks away understanding about all of this? I know that's a that's a big question, but at the end of this, what do you hope the audience learns and understands about everything going on?
00:55:37
Speaker
You know, I i i recently ah heard the man who interviewed, I mean, I'm sorry, who prosecuted the policeman who held his knee on George Floyd's neck in Minnesota.
00:55:53
Speaker
And they were interviewing him on a show about like what are what's happening now in Minneapolis and who should be held accountable and how they can help ICE agents accountable, et cetera. And one of the things he said, and he's he's a lawyer, right? And I love sometimes lawyers can be helpful because they can just put things into this like order and and like, you know, this is the the law, right? This is what's truth.
00:56:13
Speaker
And you're like, yeah, that's true. If you take all the stuff out of it, the emotions out of it, there it is, right? But one of the things he said was justice is a process.

Continuous Resistance and Information Blackout

00:56:22
Speaker
It's not an outcome. outcome
00:56:26
Speaker
It's a process. and And we are in the midst of that process. And for me, it just, these light bulbs went off because i was like, you know what? Resistance is the same thing.
00:56:38
Speaker
It's a process. It's not going to, the revolution is not going to happen on TV as as has been said, right? It's not going to be broadcasted that way. Revolution is a process.
00:56:51
Speaker
These things, major things that mean something in life are a process, that change humanity are a process. And so I want the people of America and the West to know that we are in process.
00:57:04
Speaker
We are in this. We have been in this. We will continue to be in this. And to be our ally and to be our witness, Throughout the process, as much as you can, i you know i don't expect this to be everyone's talk top of mind every day, but know that the people of Iran are fighting for the same things that you are and we are in process. And no matter what's being told to you,
00:57:31
Speaker
that process is going to continue and we will get there one day. And we need the American people. We need all kinds of communities to believe in that with us and to to be part of that belief with us for us to get there. And any way that you can influence that or even be that voice in the room at moments of truth, be that for us because that's how the that's how change happens.
00:57:54
Speaker
That's how revolution happens. So we are in that process. And that's that's really what I because people are like, no, now it's died down. So are we back to normal? And I'm like, we're not. There's never been a normal.
00:58:05
Speaker
There's never been a normal for us. So, no, we're not back to normal. We are still resisting and we are still struggling and we still need the world to pay attention and every day.
00:58:16
Speaker
And ladies gentlemen, it didn't die down. There was a. Blackout. was internet blackout. The information isn't getting out there, so it didn't die down. Exactly. That's very deliberate on the part of the regime.
00:58:27
Speaker
Sorry, I want to thank you so much for coming on the show, sharing your story, telling us the real about what's going on in Iran and how we all can help the people of Iran get something that we hold very dear in this country, freedom.
00:58:45
Speaker
Yes. And democracy, even though we're slowly losing it in this country. But... They don't even have it at all in Iran. So thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing your incredible story.
00:58:58
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you so much again for having me and thank you for listening. And thank you for this platform. As I said, we're, you know, we are all struggling and and it's to be connected like this. is It's very powerful. Thank you.
00:59:10
Speaker
It was absolutely my pleasure. I wanna thank Zahra for her honesty, her courage, and her clarity in this conversation. Today, we talked about what's really happening beneath the surface in Iran, not just protests, but people, families, generations carrying trauma and still choosing resistance.
00:59:31
Speaker
We talk about the reality of oppression, the echoes of the 1988 massacre, the role of silence from the international community, the use of internet blackouts, the fear as tools of control, and the very risk people are taking right now in the streets.
00:59:47
Speaker
We also talked about something just as important, hope, the demand for democracy, the demand for self-determination, the insistence that the future should belong to the people, not dictators,
01:00:02
Speaker
not puppets, not outside powers, but the people themselves, voices of resistance and hope. And I wanna leave the audience with this.
01:00:14
Speaker
It's easy, very easy to see suffering in another country and treat it like distant news, a headline, a clip, a scroll past moment.
01:00:25
Speaker
But if we say we believe in human rights, if we say we believe in democracy, If we say that we believe people deserve to live peacefully and freely, then these beliefs don't stop at our borders.
01:00:40
Speaker
Being American is one identity. Being human comes first. And being human means we don't turn a blind eye to atrocities just because they're happening somewhere else.
01:00:53
Speaker
It means we stay informed. We stay aware. We listen to voices like czar's and we refuse to let silence be the final chapter. We may might not all be activists.
01:01:05
Speaker
We might not all be on the front lines, but we can all bear witness freedom don and we can all care. freedom And we can all make sure that the truth does not disappear in a blackout.
01:01:22
Speaker
Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. And until next time, as always, I'll holla.
01:01:32
Speaker
was a hell of a show. Thank you for rocking with us here on Unsolicited Perspectives with Bruce Anthony. Now, before you go, don't forget to follow, subscribe, like, comment, and share our podcast wherever you're listening or

Conclusion and Call to Action

01:01:46
Speaker
watching it to it. Pass it along to your friends. If you enjoy it, that means the people that you rock will will enjoy it also. So share the wealth, share the knowledge, share the noise.
01:01:55
Speaker
and for all those people that say well I don't have a YouTube if you have a gmail account you have a YouTube subscribe to our YouTube channel where you can actually watch our video podcast and YouTube exclusive content but the real party is on our patreon page after hours uncensored and talking straight ish after hours uncensored is another show with my sister and once again the key word there is uncensored those are exclusively on our patreon page jump onto our website at unsolicited perspective dot com for all things us that's where you can get all of our audio videos our blogs and even buy our merch and if you really feel generous and want to help us out you can donate on our donations paid donations go strictly to improving our software and hardware so we can keep giving you guys good content that you can clearly listened to and that you can clearly see. So any donation would be appreciated. Most importantly, I want to say thank you.
01:02:49
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you for listening and watching and supporting us. And I'll catch you next time. Audi 5000. Peace.