Houston man raising awareness about situation in Iran
HOUSTON - The situation is getting worse in Iran with the government there sentencing 15,000 protestors to death as a "harsh lesson" for all rebels.
The protests are calling for social freedom and political change, and they have been happening daily since September when Mahsa Amini, 22, was allegedly killed after being arrested by the morality police officers for apparently violating the Islamic Republic’s dress code.
While there are massive efforts to sensor and ignore those protesting, taking to social media to keep their voices alive is what millions are doing, including one local Iranian American.
"I have extreme empathy for the plight of the Iranian people," said Amir Safi, who lives in Houston, but his parents were born in Iran. They left to the U.S. for freedom, like countless others.
"I am devastated by the lack of value for human life, and I’m hopeful that this is momentum and fuel that leads to more freedom. Not just for the people in Iran, but people all around the world," he said.
The poet started Write About Now (WAN) featuring poetry from across the world. It has a huge following on social media with a variety of big names sharing content like Tommy Hilfiger, Lenny Kravitz, and Busta Rhymes.
His latest post gaining a lot of attention.
"I really just made the post to amplify the voices, and the struggles of the Iranian people, who are out here so vehemently fighting for freedom in the streets while being murdered and detained and for what?"
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Millions of people, like Amir, truly are keeping their plight of freedom alive around the world.
Since the protests, the Iranian government blocked Instagram, which was the only international social media platform people were allowed to use.