Tehrangeles Vice<\/em> is to \u201csteward our cultural heritage,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cYou hear the words \u2018Islamic Republic,\u2019 and you get such a monolithic idea of what Iran is. For me to talk about the legacy of Iranian history is to talk about a time where we coexisted with the same people that literally, on the other side of the border, we\u2019re having this existential crisis with. The legacy of Iran I wanted to share through this compilation was the multinational, multi-confessional, colorful, tolerant history and culture expressed through music \u2014 as it has been before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHis sentiments are echoed by Osley, who says, \u201cIn Iranians\u2019 DNA, down to our molecular core, is peace and coexistence that dates to the start of civilization. On the flip side, you have a regime whose molecular DNA is the destruction of everything. That is the antithesis of who we are as Iranians.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhat\u2019s happening in Iran isn\u2019t what\u2019s happened in other parts of the Middle East,\u201d says Sali Kharazi, artist manager at Full Stop Management. \u201cThis is a fight for a culture that existed before these religious psychopaths took over and made all of this crap about God. God has been lost in this regime that just wants to control people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\t\u201cIranian people have been oppressed for a very long time,\u201d says Coleman. \u201cWhat\u2019s both inspiring and disturbing is that so many of the protesters are young. They see the truth. They know they\u2019re not supposed to be living this way. That this is not normal. They write letters before they go out, knowing pretty much they probably won\u2019t come back. Americans can\u2019t relate to that. They can\u2019t even imagine it. They just put it aside. That happens to people who are different.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tExcept that Iranians are not so different. One of the main contentions they have is that they want the opportunity to live a normal life, but the Islamic regime has made that impossible for the majority of them. A former teen pop star from Oklahoma, Taylor Hanson \u2014 the singer, songwriter and member of the trio Hanson \u2014 feels the root of this perceived difference is fear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe times I felt the angriest about the issue of Iran is when I\u2019ve spoken with people that have tried to compare it to things we experience in our country,\u201d he says. \u201cWe all know America has a ton of problems. No one argues about that. But the level of violence, the level of inhumanity, the level of atrocity in Iran, is what moves me. We need to paint that picture of Iranian people. Think about the incredible change in our world if there were to be a free Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIn 2023, Hanson launched the Voices Project to bring people together to sing his reimagining of Hajipour\u2019s song as \u201cBaraye\u2014For Woman Life Freedom<\/a>.\u201d The song was recorded at Chaplin \u2014 facilitated by Ganjehei, in the same room where \u201cWe Are the World\u201d was made. \u201cWhat hit me like a ton of bricks related to the nation of Iran, was recognizing the headlines are a statement about a government, not about a people that are crying for freedom. A people that are not their government, but that are speaking in a language every human should understand. They are craving what all humans crave. With that, I could cut straight past the politics and the noise. This is simple. A nation of oppressed people are\u00a0living under a regime of terror, and they\u2019re calling on the world to see them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tInstagram is the eyes and ears of Iran. It is the primary source of reliable news for Iranians worldwide. It\u2019s how people inside the country get information out, and how they communicate with one another. On IG, feeds are visuals of dancing and cheering in the streets, cars rhythmically honking their horns, and voices declaring with laughter, \u201cThey did it!\u201d Among the Iranian diaspora are posts and messages stating, \u201cI\u2019m crying.\u201d Meanwhile, the fundamentalist followers, a marked minority, are exhibiting performative grief broadcast by state television. \u201cWe all have a responsibility to put our humanity first,\u201d adds Mercuriadis. \u201cWhether it\u2019s a government that is subjecting its people to unbelievable oppression, or racism in your backyard, you have a responsibility to stand up and use whatever platform you have, whether that is the three people that live on your street, or the people that pay attention to you because you\u2019ve built a career that gives you a wider reach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\t\u201cThree years ago, who would have thought that you would have to explain that the regime are the bad guys?\u201d says Osley. \u201cThis is a great opportunity to amplify and be the voice of the Iranian people, which is all we\u2019re doing and we\u2019re the only culture being talked down to. Would you do this to any other race or ethnicity?<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe unbelievable strength of Iranians inside Iran, and the millions of us that are going to go back from the outside as the shoulder to lean on for our fellow Iranians after 50 years of the pain they\u2019ve experienced, to stand next to them, to hug them, to hold one another.\u201d Osley continues. \u201cIt is that deep love that is going to heal Iran after this regime falls. This is what analysts have not considered: the love in the heart of the Iranian soul. In that I hold great hope.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n