Liberation Now Ep 12: Ongoing Uprisings in Iran - Woman, Life, Freedom

In this episode, Helen Neville speaks with Iranian American scholar-activists Dr. Mehrgol Tiv and Amir Maghsoodi about the current uprisings in Iran. We cover the nationwide protests and state responses since the murder of Mahsa Jina Amini on September 22, 2022. The guests provide context for the roots of the women-led liberation struggle, and the goals and hopes for Iran and her people.  

This episode was recorded on Nov 29, 2022. Since then, the Islamic Republic government has executed two young men for taking part in protests: Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard. As of late-December, Amnesty International and others fear more individuals are at imminent risk of execution by the government. 

ABOUT THE GUESTS 

Dr. Mehrgol Tiv, PhD (website) (Twitter: @mehrgoltiv) earned her PhD in experimental psychology at McGill University in 2021, where she examined how diverse linguistic experiences related to cognitive processes. Now as a postdoctoral researcher, she further probes the social determinants of cognitive adaptation by assessing the psychological impacts of context diversity and racial identity formation, including among Middle Eastern and North African communities. Mehrgol was born in Tehran, Iran and moved to the United States at the age of six with her family. She grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and now lives in Washington D.C. with her partner and cat.   

Amir Maghsoodi, MS (website) (Twitter and IG: @soori_breeze) is a doctoral candidate in his fifth year in the Counseling Psychology Program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His interests in psychology center on health and well-being, sense of belonging, and radical healing & liberation of BIPOC folx, with a particular focus on those of MENA/SWANA descent. His mixed-methods dissertation research explores the psychological impacts of racial identity invalidation on MENA Americans (e.g., our legal classification as “white” in the U.S.). He enjoys service to the community and currently serves on the advocacy committee of the American Arab, Middle Eastern, & North African Psychological Association (AMENA-Psy) and on Dr. Kevin Cokley’s Division 45 Presidential Task Force on Cross-Racial/Ethnic Solidarity. 

RESOURCES  

News and Editorials 

• BBC reporting of first known execution of Iranian protestors  
• CNN coverage of human rights abuses in political prisons  
• Hamed Esmaeilion memoir in Toronto Life magazine
• Association of Families of PS752 Victims  
• CBC Interview with dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi the day before his kidnapping by Islamic Republic police forces 
• Washington Post documents Islamic Republic’s tactics of repression 
• Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA) Daily Update on Iran Protest 

Videos 

• VICE documentary, part 1  
• VICE documentary, part 2 

Protest Songs