[Music]
[Applause]
human beings are members of a whole and
creation of one essence and soul if one
member is afflicted with pain other
members uneasy will remain if you’ve got
no sympathy for human pain the name of
human you cannot retain this poem was
written over eight centuries ago by the
great iranian poet sadi Shirazi today it
decorates the gate of the United Nations
building entrance in New York City it
calls for the breaking of barriers
something that I deeply care about and
the reason I’m here to speak with you
all tonight I was born in Tehran Iran a
few years after the 1979 revolution and
right in the middle of the iran-iraq war
my father is half American and my
grandmother was American dove with us at
the time the Islamic leader Ayatollah
Khomeini had just overthrown 2,500 years
of continuous Persian monarchy under the
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi who was
supported by the United States
government one of my earliest memories
was hearing the followers of the
revolution chant death to America in the
streets I was around six years old at
the time and their chant kind of sounded
like a song to me not understanding the
meaning of the words my brother and I
would sing along sometimes and one day I
even had the bright idea to go and join
them thankfully my father stopped us and
pulled us aside he pointed to my
grandmother who was sitting in the
corner and said what are you doing do
you want your grandma to die I was
little confused cuz I hadn’t made the
connection and he continued well the
grandmas American and there’s people
just like you me and her living over
there
we’re all human beings and you’re even
my eyes filled up with tears of the
thought of my grandma dying and for
understanding the full meaning of my
hateful words I didn’t realize it at the
time but what my father had done was
humanized Americans for me he’d also
opened up my eyes to the separation and
fear that exists in the world after that
day whenever I experienced any kind of
hate or heard any death chance by the
Islamic extremists I knew that it came
from a place of ignorance and fear yes
there’s some people who still chant
those things but there are many Iranians
who do not support the antics and
beliefs of the government in fact many
Iranians live under fear and are victims
of a cruel regime they wish for nothing
more than freedom and basic human rights
just like everyone else in the world I
was forced to hide behind a scarf when I
was growing up in Iran during the
Islamic regime and every facet of my
social life was restricted my childhood
years were spent with the increasing
apprehension of revealing my core
identity and my freedom and passion for
self-expression were found upon I lived
under fear like many others in my
country of what tomorrow would bring at
the age of 17 I was presented with a
unique opportunity because my grandma
was American I was allowed to travel to
the United States and obtain my American
passport and get dual citizenship but
because there was no American Embassy in
Iran I would have to come to America to
do so before the age of 18 so excited by
all the freedoms and opportunities that
America had to offer I packed up all my
bags and came to the United States
leaving most of my family behind America
was not what I thought it was going to
be like all I really had seen if America
was from Hollywood movies so I learned
pretty quickly
that I created this illusion of America
and the American dream and that you
still have to work really hard for what
you want and things were not as easy and
simple as they seem in the movies it was
hard for me to fit in I looked different
and my name was and is not exactly the
easiest pronounce when I told people I
was from Iran they either didn’t know
where that was or if they did they
associated with the death to America
slogans the hostage situation happened
in 1979 for the death chance so I found
myself educating people a lot about the
difference between the people and the
government and humanizing the people
separate from the government something
that my father did for me when I was a
little girl with Americans most people
were pretty surprised to learn a little
bit more about Iran for example the fact
that we have snowy mountains and one of
the best ski resorts in the world where
I grew up skiing every year of my life
that we have streets buildings
structures and modern architecture most
of all they were surprised to see how
normal Iranian people are and as they
got to know me they started to see how
much we have in common I was starting to
feel like maybe I was beginning to
belong that I could make a real
difference maybe one person at a time
that fear and anxiety that lived inside
of me was beginning to fade and was
being replaced with hope a few years
after my arrival in America two planes
crashed into the World Trade Center in
the 9/11 terrorist attacks I was working
in the lobby of a library at a time and
there was a TV there blasting images of
the attack and speculating on who the
terrorists might be Iraq was Finch
continues a few times so
along with a few other Middle Eastern
countries and we were all in shock you
know everybody was glued to the TV like
the rest of the world just then one of
my supervisors came up to me and said
that I could go home for the day I was a
little confused cuz it felt like she’d
singled me out so I kind of looked at
her confused and she said well we closed
the Middle East library and we just
thought it’ll be easier and safer for
you to go home to although her
intentions were good she made me feel
different in that moment and I felt that
separation and that fear came rushing
back to me things kind of got worse
after that America went to war with Iraq
and although Iran had nothing to do with
the war or the terrorist attacks people
just kind of confused Iran and Iraq it
sounded the same to people so I found
myself getting into a lot of political
conversations with people and getting a
little defensive because I didn’t want
to be associated with terrorism the war
or any of the negative things that
associate was associated with it
and I found myself educating people a
lot again about the difference between
the people and the government but I was
also competing with the media because it
has such a strong hold over people the
entire Middle East was referred to as
the axis of evil and my efforts to
humanize many people was becoming more
and more difficult I remember one day I
was standing at the checkout line in the
grocery store and Iran had just suffered
from a major earthquake in a city of BAM
although it wasn’t near any where my
parents were or anybody that I knew I
was still heartbroken for the people of
Iran and people of my country the girl
in front of me had this magazine and it
had
picture of the earthquake victims on it
as she was checking out she put it on
the counter and the cashier looked at it
smirked and said serves them right those
stupid Muslims and I don’t know how to
describe how I felt in that moment a
rush of anger and hurt came over me and
I wanted to scream at her from the top
of my lungs that she didn’t know what
she was talking now that she was wrong
but what good would that do just create
another hateful impression and add to
her already distorted perception of the
Iranians and Middle Eastern people so I
said okay maybe I’ll just try and
explain to her how Iranian people’s are
victims of their government and you know
this whole speech I’ve been telling
people this whole time so Arne what’s my
speech I waited in line til I got her
looked her straight in the eye and she
looked at me and smiled and said how you
doing today
oblivious my anger melted away because I
realized something in that moment I
realized that she was also a victim a
victim of fear and a victim of the lies
fed to her by the media she was no
different than the people chanting death
to America who were also victims of the
lies fed to them by their governments so
I did the only thing I could I smiled
back
remembering that six-year-old girl
inside of me who was beginning to
understand ignorant and I chose not to
become a victim of it that day since
then I’ve seen so many people hold up
hateful signs about immigrants Muslims
even refugees and blame them and
associate them with the actions of their
governments and a few other terrorist
organizations people have stopped asking
me where I’m from and they stopped
asking me about Iran
I find myself wondering a lot what
assumptions people have already made
about me and I worry that their
curiosity has been replaced with fear of
everything that I have been through has
made me realize who I really am and
understand my mission and passion in
life as a filmmaker I try to make people
see that it may be easier to live in
this world of black and white and assign
the label of other to someone and use
them as a vessel for all your fears and
insecurities but that’s not the way we
should be living and your if you’re
living like that you’re not free we need
to stop getting fear power by
communicating and asking questions and
not being so scared of offending each
other all the time each of you here
tonight you have the power to affect
change by just having a conversation
outside of your comfort zones with
someone who doesn’t look like you or
think like you and listen with an open
mind as another Iranian poet wrote
centuries ago by the name of Rumi your
task is not to seek for love but to
merely seek and find all the barriers
within yourself that you’ve built
against it when I was six years old my
father gave me a choice and I chose to
open up my mind and realize the most
simple truth that were all human beings
and ever since that day my parents
reinforced one of life’s greatest
lessons that there’s no countries no
boundaries and we’re all just people
hoping and wishing for the same basic
human rights if a six-year-old
has the power to open up her mind and
realize that then I know we all do so
let’s break down those barriers together
by listening communicating
and educating each other because that is
the only way we’ll ever get read and get
free of ignorance and fear thank you [Applause]
[Applause]
human beings are members of a whole and
creation of one essence and soul if one
member is afflicted with pain other
members uneasy will remain if you’ve got
no sympathy for human pain the name of
human you cannot retain this poem was
written over eight centuries ago by the
great iranian poet sadi Shirazi today it
decorates the gate of the United Nations
building entrance in New York City it
calls for the breaking of barriers
something that I deeply care about and
the reason I’m here to speak with you
all tonight I was born in Tehran Iran a
few years after the 1979 revolution and
right in the middle of the iran-iraq war
my father is half American and my
grandmother was American dove with us at
the time the Islamic leader Ayatollah
Khomeini had just overthrown 2,500 years
of continuous Persian monarchy under the
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi who was
supported by the United States
government one of my earliest memories
was hearing the followers of the
revolution chant death to America in the
streets I was around six years old at
the time and their chant kind of sounded
like a song to me not understanding the
meaning of the words my brother and I
would sing along sometimes and one day I
even had the bright idea to go and join
them thankfully my father stopped us and
pulled us aside he pointed to my
grandmother who was sitting in the
corner and said what are you doing do
you want your grandma to die I was
little confused cuz I hadn’t made the
connection and he continued well the
grandmas American and there’s people
just like you me and her living over
there
we’re all human beings and you’re even
my eyes filled up with tears of the
thought of my grandma dying and for
understanding the full meaning of my
hateful words I didn’t realize it at the
time but what my father had done was
humanized Americans for me he’d also
opened up my eyes to the separation and
fear that exists in the world after that
day whenever I experienced any kind of
hate or heard any death chance by the
Islamic extremists I knew that it came
from a place of ignorance and fear yes
there’s some people who still chant
those things but there are many Iranians
who do not support the antics and
beliefs of the government in fact many
Iranians live under fear and are victims
of a cruel regime they wish for nothing
more than freedom and basic human rights
just like everyone else in the world I
was forced to hide behind a scarf when I
was growing up in Iran during the
Islamic regime and every facet of my
social life was restricted my childhood
years were spent with the increasing
apprehension of revealing my core
identity and my freedom and passion for
self-expression were found upon I lived
under fear like many others in my
country of what tomorrow would bring at
the age of 17 I was presented with a
unique opportunity because my grandma
was American I was allowed to travel to
the United States and obtain my American
passport and get dual citizenship but
because there was no American Embassy in
Iran I would have to come to America to
do so before the age of 18 so excited by
all the freedoms and opportunities that
America had to offer I packed up all my
bags and came to the United States
leaving most of my family behind America
was not what I thought it was going to
be like all I really had seen if America
was from Hollywood movies so I learned
pretty quickly
that I created this illusion of America
and the American dream and that you
still have to work really hard for what
you want and things were not as easy and
simple as they seem in the movies it was
hard for me to fit in I looked different
and my name was and is not exactly the
easiest pronounce when I told people I
was from Iran they either didn’t know
where that was or if they did they
associated with the death to America
slogans the hostage situation happened
in 1979 for the death chance so I found
myself educating people a lot about the
difference between the people and the
government and humanizing the people
separate from the government something
that my father did for me when I was a
little girl with Americans most people
were pretty surprised to learn a little
bit more about Iran for example the fact
that we have snowy mountains and one of
the best ski resorts in the world where
I grew up skiing every year of my life
that we have streets buildings
structures and modern architecture most
of all they were surprised to see how
normal Iranian people are and as they
got to know me they started to see how
much we have in common I was starting to
feel like maybe I was beginning to
belong that I could make a real
difference maybe one person at a time
that fear and anxiety that lived inside
of me was beginning to fade and was
being replaced with hope a few years
after my arrival in America two planes
crashed into the World Trade Center in
the 9/11 terrorist attacks I was working
in the lobby of a library at a time and
there was a TV there blasting images of
the attack and speculating on who the
terrorists might be Iraq was Finch
continues a few times so
along with a few other Middle Eastern
countries and we were all in shock you
know everybody was glued to the TV like
the rest of the world just then one of
my supervisors came up to me and said
that I could go home for the day I was a
little confused cuz it felt like she’d
singled me out so I kind of looked at
her confused and she said well we closed
the Middle East library and we just
thought it’ll be easier and safer for
you to go home to although her
intentions were good she made me feel
different in that moment and I felt that
separation and that fear came rushing
back to me things kind of got worse
after that America went to war with Iraq
and although Iran had nothing to do with
the war or the terrorist attacks people
just kind of confused Iran and Iraq it
sounded the same to people so I found
myself getting into a lot of political
conversations with people and getting a
little defensive because I didn’t want
to be associated with terrorism the war
or any of the negative things that
associate was associated with it
and I found myself educating people a
lot again about the difference between
the people and the government but I was
also competing with the media because it
has such a strong hold over people the
entire Middle East was referred to as
the axis of evil and my efforts to
humanize many people was becoming more
and more difficult I remember one day I
was standing at the checkout line in the
grocery store and Iran had just suffered
from a major earthquake in a city of BAM
although it wasn’t near any where my
parents were or anybody that I knew I
was still heartbroken for the people of
Iran and people of my country the girl
in front of me had this magazine and it
had
picture of the earthquake victims on it
as she was checking out she put it on
the counter and the cashier looked at it
smirked and said serves them right those
stupid Muslims and I don’t know how to
describe how I felt in that moment a
rush of anger and hurt came over me and
I wanted to scream at her from the top
of my lungs that she didn’t know what
she was talking now that she was wrong
but what good would that do just create
another hateful impression and add to
her already distorted perception of the
Iranians and Middle Eastern people so I
said okay maybe I’ll just try and
explain to her how Iranian people’s are
victims of their government and you know
this whole speech I’ve been telling
people this whole time so Arne what’s my
speech I waited in line til I got her
looked her straight in the eye and she
looked at me and smiled and said how you
doing today
oblivious my anger melted away because I
realized something in that moment I
realized that she was also a victim a
victim of fear and a victim of the lies
fed to her by the media she was no
different than the people chanting death
to America who were also victims of the
lies fed to them by their governments so
I did the only thing I could I smiled
back
remembering that six-year-old girl
inside of me who was beginning to
understand ignorant and I chose not to
become a victim of it that day since
then I’ve seen so many people hold up
hateful signs about immigrants Muslims
even refugees and blame them and
associate them with the actions of their
governments and a few other terrorist
organizations people have stopped asking
me where I’m from and they stopped
asking me about Iran
I find myself wondering a lot what
assumptions people have already made
about me and I worry that their
curiosity has been replaced with fear of
everything that I have been through has
made me realize who I really am and
understand my mission and passion in
life as a filmmaker I try to make people
see that it may be easier to live in
this world of black and white and assign
the label of other to someone and use
them as a vessel for all your fears and
insecurities but that’s not the way we
should be living and your if you’re
living like that you’re not free we need
to stop getting fear power by
communicating and asking questions and
not being so scared of offending each
other all the time each of you here
tonight you have the power to affect
change by just having a conversation
outside of your comfort zones with
someone who doesn’t look like you or
think like you and listen with an open
mind as another Iranian poet wrote
centuries ago by the name of Rumi your
task is not to seek for love but to
merely seek and find all the barriers
within yourself that you’ve built
against it when I was six years old my
father gave me a choice and I chose to
open up my mind and realize the most
simple truth that were all human beings
and ever since that day my parents
reinforced one of life’s greatest
lessons that there’s no countries no
boundaries and we’re all just people
hoping and wishing for the same basic
human rights if a six-year-old
has the power to open up her mind and
realize that then I know we all do so
let’s break down those barriers together
by listening communicating
and educating each other because that is
the only way we’ll ever get read and get
free of ignorance and fear thank you [Applause]
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