Nazanin Afshin-Jam: An open letter to the people of Iran

> By Nazanin Afshin-Jam  

To my fellow compatriots, the brave Iranian men and women, who for the last few days have unleashed a spirit of energy that has been repressed for 30 years under an oppressive and undemocratic regime...

                                                                                      ... we love, admire and support you.

Oh how we, living in exile, wish we could be at your side at this critical juncture in history.

Please keep the momentum going with acts of nonviolent civil disobedience. Like a snowball in motion, once underway, cannot be stopped by anyone.

The eyes of the world are watching your every step and are behind you. World leaders are closely observing the country proclaiming their desire to see the wishes of the Iranian people met.   They simply need to see the sheer numbers of the population that seek change and reform. They too will be on your side.

This is our chance to regain our destiny as the freedom loving sons and daughters of Cyrus the Great.   This is our chance to bring down the theocracy and rise up to establish a democracy so that our children will be able to enjoy the fruits of liberty:   freedom, equality, the rule of law, separation between religion and state and a constitution based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We see your struggles on the streets, we feel your passion and pain, we smell the fear of the ruling minority, we hear your cries for change, we understand the sacrifices you are making and we hope to taste victory with you when we unite once again as family in our great and beautiful homeland.

Drop by drop we can create an ocean of change and put out the fires of injustice.

In solidarity and in spirit,

Nazanin  

PS. I dedicate my song "Someday" to you.

Nazanin Afshin-Jam is a Vancouver  recording artist, international human-rights activist,  and president and cofounder of Stop Child Executions