Clarksville, TN – The posters on Room 216’s door demand your attention.
The one on top portrays a woman clad in a wind-blown green, white and red dress below the words “Women, Life, Freedom – Stand in solidarity with the women of Iran.”
The poster below displays a giant QR code above the words “Say her name – Mahsa Amini.”
Amini’s name adorns the door of Dr. Saeid Samadi-Dana in the Maynard Math & Computer Science Building at Austin Peay State University (APSU). Samadi-Dana wants more people to say her name – and understand not only Mahsa Amini’s significance but also the meaning behind the global “Women, Life, Freedom” protests.
‘Change for everyone in the world’
Amini, 22, died after Iran’s Guidance Patrol – the country’s nationally run hijab police – arrested her for not wearing the hijab according to government standards by wearing it too loosely and showing too much hair. Witnesses said police severely beat her.
“Her death brought people to the streets, protesting and asking for freedom,” said Samadi-Dana, an assistant professor of computer science and information technology at Austin Peay State University. “Women in Iran don’t have freedom, and people in Iran and women all around the world are chanting against this dictatorship. They are trying to get their freedom back.”
Amini died on September 16th, and protests that started in Iran have quickly spread across the world.
The protests are centered on “Women, Life, Freedom,” a slogan meant to recognize the importance of women, especially their importance in elevating the life and liberties of all people.
“For me, the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ slogan means that if it becomes real, if the slogan becomes real, everyone around the world will be in a better place,” Samadi-Dana said. “That’s where we’re going to see change for everyone in the world. When they have freedom, life makes sense, life has real meaning. Women, life, freedom.”
Covering everything ‘in blood’
The Iranian government quickly cracked down on the protests – including attacking students at Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology in early October – and shutting down social media and internet access.
“I haven’t been able to talk with my brother for two weeks, and I have had only one message on WhatsApp from my mother,” Samadi-Dana said. “They don’t have access to the internet.”
For family members in Iran, that’s scary, especially during a crackdown. Samadi-Dana is worried about his mother, father, brother and his family (including a 2-year-old daughter).
“My parents are in Iran, and a lot of Iranian people here in the U.S. and Canada, or any place in the world, are worried about their families’ safety,” he said. “Because it’s not just about the people who are protesting. I’m not sure if my mother goes out just buying groceries, she’s going to come back alive.”
News from Iran is sporadic and difficult to confirm, but according to Iran Human Rights, more than 150 people have been killed in the protests (as of October 4th). And violent crackdowns by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard are a common tactic to quell protests in the country.
“They just cover what’s happening in blood, the bloodshed that they’re making,” Samadi-Dana said. “Even if you aren’t protesting, you’re in danger. You can be beaten. You can be arrested and taken to prison.”
Targeting students – ‘the voice of society’
On October 2nd, Iranian security forces attacked students at Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology, and on October 3rd, students at dozens of universities and schools across the country held protests.
“The Revolutionary Guard, they attacked students at Sharif University,” Samadi-Dana said. “They tortured and imprisoned a lot of the students. Imagine that you go to a university and you see police beating, attacking, shooting students. That’s something you never hear from any other university in the world. That happens in Iran, which is controlled by the Islamic regime.”
The students see themselves as “a voice of society,” he added. “The students have been protesting since the beginning. They were chanting for freedom, giving support to the other people chanting in the streets.
“They see this as an obligation, to be the voice of society.”
What can you do?
You have several ways to help the people of Iran.
- You can show solidarity or lift Iranian voices on social media through platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
- You can also use social media to find women’s rights protests nearby.
- You can visit human rights websites such as the Center for Human Rights in Iran, the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center and Amnesty International.
