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SUMMER connect to the world outside as well as to those active inside Iran. Formerly created as social networks, where friends stayed connected and shared photographs, the Green Movement has redefined and revolutionized Facebook and Twitter. Today, these networks have become interactive and popular platforms for the circulation of news. Iranian protestors rapidly post the most recent news via their cell phones. As a result, the traditional structure of journalism has drastically changed, and for the most part, “citizen” journalism has courageously taken over. Ordinary citizens have had to fill the void of professional journalists by documenting injustices. Oppressive forces within the regime now have to concern themselves with blocking and censoring the information posted on the Internet. But once the regime has imposed a blockade, protesters immediately find a way to circumvent the restrictions. Many different countries and non-Iranian organizations therein have offered their expertise on making technological knowledge and communication tools accessible to Iranians, an idiom of their collective solidarity. Such movements and gestures have been absolutely unprecedented. Currently, many universities are conducting analytical studies on the ways the Iranian youth have communicated with the world; each Iranian citizen has been an independent agent through posting a picture, circulating news, writing protest language on the currency, and drawing political graffiti on street walls. The Iranian Diaspora has also been an influential bridge in connecting the voices of Iranian protesters to the international community. Its support has helped further isolate the Iranian regime and gain global witness for the movement. Today, the Green Movement’s social visibility may have plummeted, leading a few to believe that this movement, akin to many other movements, has been successfully silenced by the oppressive regime. But we have to bear in mind that peaceful, non-violent movements never succeed overnight. The Green Movement is a path, a transition to democracy and pluralism. This transition will inevitably undergo ups and downs. Civil rights movements in India and in the United States bear witness to this time-consuming, transitional process. In both cases, the battle against social injustices still continues to this day. Consistent activism matures these movements, moving them forward, preventing them from receding; the Green Movement alike is alive and well. READING LIST Last year Peyk started a tradition in its July/August edition to recommend books for summer reading. Once again this year we have some editors’ picks that may suffice for all the companionship you’ll need at the beach or wherever you lay your suitcase for the next few weeks. Enjoy! Shaghayegh Hanson: Last year I recommended books that I had already read. This year I’m sharing with you the books that are on my short list to read, and perhaps review for Peyk…unless you beat me to it! If you are especially taken by one of these recommendations, send in your review and it may get published! 1. Ward, Terence. Searching for Hassan: A Journey to the Heart of Iran. New York: Anchor Books, 2002. Amazon review: In 1998, Ward, his parents and three brothers returned to Iran to track down Hassan, a warm, thick-mustached chef and dispenser of folk wisdom who had looked after their family when they lived in Tehran during the 1960s. Ward skillfully draws readers into his family’s state of heightened anticipation, especially since their only tip was the vaguely remembered name of Hassan’s hometown. “Toodesht,” Ward’s mother remembered. “Well, just a minute.... Maybe it was... Tadoosht. Or... Qashtood.” Aided by a 30-year-old photograph, the Wards traveled to Tudeshk and eventually found Hassan’s mother-in-law, and later, Hassan’s wife, Fatimeh, who is so taken aback that she dropped the receiver. Using the trip as his main narrative thread, Ward weaves Iranian history, culture, politics and religion in and around it. No. 128/ July-August 2010 11
2. Maslin, Jamie. Iranian Rappers and <strong>Persian</strong> Porn: A Hitchhiker’s Adventures in the New Iran. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2009. Reviews: Like a postcard home, Maslin’s debut entertains…. The author went to Iran against the better advice of nearly everyone he knew and discovered a country full of hospitable people who seem to want nothing more than to get him another cup of tea. Publishers Weekly “Bill Bryson meets Jack Kerouac.” --Simon Van Booy, author of The Secret Lives of People in Love and Love Begins in Winter “A timely and valuable book by a young Westerner who decides to see Iran for himself. Maslin is naive upon his arrival--having no idea what to expect--but keeps an open mind and invites the reader along on his fascinating and colorful adventures. His experiences reveal the lies that mainstream media are telling us about the country. Having read this book, I may visit Iran in the near future.” --Richard Kendrick, author of Déjà Vu “Jamie Maslin’s book is Iran from the ground up, and a total surprise to those who only know the media version of that country. A fascinating likeness of a complicated people.” --Anthony Brandt, editor of the Journals of Lewis and Clark and The National Geographic Adventure Classics series Shahri Estakhry: St. John, Warren. Outcasts United. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2009. This book has been recommended by KPBS as One Book–One San Diego and it is appropriate for all ages. This is the story of a refugee soccer team and a small American town in Georgia. “It is about a Jordanian women who with much courage and fortitude coaches, mentors, mothers and inspires some remarkable boys”. The results are an inspiration for all. Yunus, Muhammad. Building Social Business. New York: Public Affairs Books, 2010. Better known as “Banker to the Poor”, in his new book Yunus addresses a new kind of capitalism that serves humanity’s most pressing needs. “Social Business is a visionary new dimensions for capitalism, developed by Yunus, the practical genius who pioneered microcredit and with Grameen Bank, won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.” Aria Fani: Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima. Berkeley: Warner Books, 1994. Age: Young Adults & Up. “Why does evil go unpunished? Why does He allow evil to exist?” Antonio Márez is an inquisitive and thoughtful young boy, overwhelmed by moral and religious questions. He asks questions about justice, morality, and the nature of God. He deeply searches for different ways of viewing the world. When Antonio is seven, Ultima, a respected spiritual curandera, a healer, comes to live with them. Ultima teaches him the language of nature, opening his eyes to a world filled with meanings. Growing up, Antonio encounters many tragedies that further complicate his pursuit for religious morality and justice. “Bless Me, Ultima” is a coming-of-age story, in which everything is constantly evolving and growing, including old rituals and conventions: “I went to confession every Saturday and on Sunday morning I took communion, but I was not satisfied. The God I so eagerly sought was not there.” De Button, Alain. Essays In Love. Grove Press: New York, 1993. Age: Young Adults & Up. The chances that our narrator would be on the same plane to London as Chloe were 1 in 164.9555. The probability that he should be seated next to his future love was even less. The feelings of utter bliss and tormenting questions that will at once accompany the lover’s journey begin in the first moments of this chance – or was it predestined? – meeting. Documenting the rise and fall of the narrator’s love for Chloe, De Button uses wit and humor to decode each smile, touch, and argument along the way. Why is the gap between her teeth so endearing? The way she yawns so irresistible? And why does her bad taste in shoes bother me beyond reason? De Button guides the reader through the countless questions surrounding the intricacies of everyday romance; he applies the philosophies of the likes of Plato, Hegel, and Freud to his analyses, making them accessible to the common lover. A novel that is at once endearing, hilarious, and thought provoking, On Love is an absolute joy and speaks to the newly in love, the lovesick, and the experienced romantic alike. 12 No. 128/ July-August 2010
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Page 11 and 12: EDUCATION By: Sheiveh Nakhshab Jone
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