adira

Let me introduce you to a brave young woman from my country, Iran. Her name was Hadis Najafi. She was only 22 years old. The morality police in Iran killed Mahsa Amini over a few strands of hair. Hadis Najafi responded by taking off her hijab entirely and going into the streets to protest the Islamic Republic. Before going out to protest, Hadis filmed herself walking in the street. She said: “I hope that years from now, I can look back and be happy that I went out to protest, because everything changed.” She never got to see those years. In September 2022, after Iran’s morality police killed Mahsa Jina Amini because they decided her hijab was “improper,” Hadis went into the streets of Karaj to end this barbaric regime. She went for Mahsa. She went to demand freedom from a murderous regime. Hadis was unarmed. Her voice was her only weapon. But Security forces opened fire. I spoke to her family. They told me how they saw the pellet wounds all over her body her face, her neck, her chest. Hadis was killed. And killing her was not enough. The authorities pressured her family to say she died naturally. They withheld her body and tried to silence them. Her family refused. Even at her funeral, security forces surrounded them. They could not even mourn their 22-year-old daughter in peace. Think about this: First, they killed a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa, over a few strands of hair. Then they killed another 22-year-old woman, Hadis, for protesting her killing. They tried to erase Hadis. Instead, she became a symbol. Today, more women across Iran walk publicly without compulsory hijab. Hadis dreamed that one day she would look back and see that everything had changed and Iran will be free from Islamic Republic. That dream is not dead. What shocks me is how many young people I meet at universities and colleges across the free world who have never heard her name. They know so many heroes from history, but they don’t know the heroes who are making history right now. That is why I tell these stories.