August 29, 2004
04:00 PM » Journey from the Land of No
Journey from the Land of No by Roya Hakakian
Sunday, August 29th at 4-6 PM Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts
Book Tour
Place:
Edgartown Books
44 Main Street
Edgartown (Martha’s Vineyard)
508.627.8463
Introduction
Roya Hakakian was twelve years old in 1979 when the revolution swept through Tehran. The daughter of an esteemed poet and teacher, Roya grew up in household that hummed with intellectual life. Her older brother, Albert, drew cartoons for a satirical magazine that would be banned under the new regime. Another brother, Javid, shared the magic of poetry, and secretly read to her from a celebrated children’s book, The Little Black Fish, an allegory about a stubborn young fish that defies its elders by swimming out to sea. Roya eventually learns that the book’s author was killed by SAVAK, the Shah’s secret police, and his message about the price of freedom and independence become a guiding force in her life. Her memoir, Journey From the Land of No, is a lyrical and beautifully written coming-of-age story about one young, deeply intelligent and perceptive girl’s attempt to find an authentic voice of her own at a time of cultural closing and repression.
Hakakian also tells the vivid story of what it was like to grow up Jewish in Iran on the brink of the revolution. She writes about discovering a swastika painted on the wall of her peaceful alley, and standing by as her classmates were escorted from school by Islamic Morality Guards, accused of reading blasphemous books, never to return to class. It was only later that Roya learned from her Persian Cosmopolitan teacher – the school administrator’s spy – that the reason she was spared was because the teacher admired her writing.
Here, twenty years after finally emigrating from Iran with her parents, Hakakian recounts some of the best known “urban legends” of the Iranian culture and revolution, but she does so in a domestic setting, in the powerful and distinctive voice of a young girl observing the life around her the way a poet or an artist would. One of her favorite activities as a teenager was the weekly hike that members of the Jewish Iranian Students Organization made at sunrise up the majestic, snowcapped Alborz mountains to laugh, enjoy each other’s company, and declaim poetry. Until one Friday when the group is stopped by young guards armed with Kalashnikov’s who had closed the mountain citing the “needs of the revolution,” and proceeded to detain the entire group and strip-search the women.
Throughout the book we witness fascinating courtship rituals as they unfold in Roya’s home, featuring eccentric uncles, aunts, brothers and friends. We experience in the most poignant, and at times painful ways, what life was like for women after the country fell into the hands of Islamic fundamentalists who had declared an insidious war against them, but always we see it through the eyes of a strong, youthful optimist who somehow came up in the world believing that she was different and knowing that she was special.
Journey from the Land of No is a wonderfully evocative story that reveals an Iran that most readers have not encountered, and marks the debut of a stunning new talent
05:00 PM » Is Iran America’s New Whipping Boy?
Presents Is Iran America’s New Whipping Boy? Which Moslem country has exported nuclear weapons technology and has a historic association with Al-Qaeda: Iran or Pakistan? What’s behind the sudden new focus of the current administration on Iran, its nuclear program and its possible links to Al-Qaeda and the 9/11 attacks? And who will benefit? Should the current administration’s record in Iraq inspire hope or fear? Can Iranian-Americans influence America’s foreign policy towards Iran? Speakers:
Mehrdad Moayedzadeh
Admission is Free BAIAD is a grassroots political organization that stands for protecting the rights and interests of Iranian-Americans by empowering the Iranian-American political voice. BAIAD seeks to promote social justice through political participation, grassroots activism, public and political advocacy, and education. BAIAD is in the process of being chartered and officially recognized by the Democratic Party. For more information please call: (510) 595-3684 or email: info@baiad.org. |
08:00 PM » AHURA - Sufi Trance Music
AHURA - Sufi Trance Music
2004 USA West Coast Tour - Visiting from Europe and in collaboration with musicians from SOM'MA.
Dizzy's
San Diego, CA - August 29th - 8PM
344 7th Ave, San Diego, CA
www.dizzyssandiego.com
The Old Church
Portland, OR - September 4th - 8PM
1422 S.W. 11th Ave, Portland, OR
www.oldchurch.org
"The real essential Rumi is the dervish ceremony of the Zikr." - Coleman Barks
Inspired by poems of Persian poets and mystics, above all by Mevlana Djellalledin RUMI, AHURA tries to convey a spiritual message of understanding among nations by means of traditional oriental sound structures as well as by including new sound elements.
One of the main themes of Mevlana’s poetry is the eternal duality, the inner conflict
of our existence, the vacillation between opposites (heaven and hell, man and woman,
right and wrong,...) and the search for harmony between these extremes. Rumi realized the difficulty to find both worlds in him and looked for the possibility to unite them.
Mystics like Rumi were able to experience, in a state of mystical contemplation, a sphere unknown to our normal consciousness, allowing them a profound and eternal insight into the whole creation and hence into themselves. Rumi’s poems are often rhythms that become language, carrying the seeds of melody already in their words. We believe that music is the best way to keep Rumi’s knowledge and insight alive, as sounds speak a multicultural language, which is heard and understood by all people with an open heart.
Ambient yet substantial and truly entrancing and breathtaking music, Sufi trance dance
meditations are the key to enter into the hidden kingdom of the gods. The Sema Ceremony's Mudras, Zikrs, meditation, conscious relaxation, breath control, Sufi whirling and yoga, all used in combination during the hours-long dances, can carry you directly into the arms of the infinite.
Sufism in the true meaning of the word has existed since the existence of man. It is
an ancient wisdom and a method to school the mind, enabling people to translate
this wisdom in everyday life. The word “sufi”, emerging for the first time in Islamic
traditions, is linked to the Greek word “sophia” “wisdom”; other theories derive the
name from Arabic “saf”, “pure” or from Persian “suf” “wool”, as ancient Sufis wore
clothes made from pure wool. Sufism is a certain way to look and to live in the world and Sufism cannot be tied down to a certain form, yet some of its characteristics can be described: instead of demanding a withdrawal from the world, Sufism emphasizes a conscious immersion in life, supporting us to unite our highest ideals with our everyday life.
http://www.ahuraproject.com