Shamsia Hassani is an Afghan painter and graffiti artist. Born in 1988 in Iran, her family returned to Afghanistan in 2005. Hassani’s work has been exhibited globally and has inspired women, especially in Muslim countries, to see themselves as individuals with agency. After the Taliban took control of the country in August, Hassani went into hiding. She reemerged on Instagram on September 7 with this message:
“I remember when I returned to Afghanistan 16 years ago after the fall of the Taliban, I felt at home for the first time. I no longer had to hide my identity. I happily said in my heart that I am Afghan and this is Afghanistan where I belong, this is my country! When I saw the map of Afghanistan, I said to myself, how good it is that this piece of the planet is mine and my place. How beautiful was the sense of ownership.
After a while, I entered the Faculty of Fine Arts at Kabul University. Gradually, the situation deteriorated again and explosions began. Everyone was afraid that the Taliban would come back.
Kabul was developing, women were returning to the community, girls were going to school and university. Cultural and artistic programs increased, beautiful spaces for friendly meetings were created, cafes, cultural centers, restaurants and at the same time the war was progressing!
Each of us has experienced being close to explosions many times. Life with fear has aged us all from within. In recent years, the situation has become so bad that families have broken up, some have lost family members in the blasts, some have left the country, and some have lost their lives in trafficking.
Despite the war, we still had small joys that kept the hope of life alive in us; every time our hearts trembled that they would not take away these small and momentary joys from us.
Finally, the calamity that we feared came upon us; it is very hard to believe how everything was ruined at once. Friends and relatives were so scattered around the world in a week or two that it is no longer clear when and where we will see each other again. And those who stayed in Afghanistan and could not get out. The fact that you can no longer return to your homeland destroys you bit by bit. It is not clear when you will see your family and friends again. Woe to these bad times, woe to all this bitterness.
What has become obvious in this new era of truth decay is that the press is more interested in shaping stories than telling truths. News stories are now simply “narratives,” in which readers and viewers are directed what to think. Best practices now include moralizing. The distinction between news and editorial is now forever blurred.
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In many ways, The Unbroken Thread is a book of paradoxes, with the central paradox being that the traditions of structure and restraint are the very keys to freedom and growth for the human experience in both body and spirit.
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the beautiful butterflycouldn’t so thrivewithout the knowledge of her beautyshe’d wither inside. the spectacular songbirdcouldn’t fly highif she thought those hearing her musicwould simply sigh. and these are the creaturesthat in our eyes shine. the butterfly and songbirdknow their own worth,that’s the reason behindthem making the eartha more beautiful placefor without it they’d bemaybe unsure…
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It’s not a good sign when a nation must rely on its comic books as a show of strength. Nowadays, when Americans think “superpower” only one thing comes to mind: Marvel superhero movies. Captain America is “the bomb”; actual America is where you might drop one—or casually leave it at the finish line of the…
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Emancipation
Emily Dickenson
No rack can torture me,My soul’s at libertyBehind this mortal boneThere knits a bolder one You cannot prick with saw,Nor rend with scymitar.Two bodies therefore be;Bind one, and one will flee. The eagle of his nestNo easier divestAnd gain the sky,Than mayest thou, Except thyself may beThine enemy;Captivity is consciousness,So’s liberty. The Poems of Emily…
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The dominance of BLM’s narrative around racism means that those suffering today from a heinous form of racism – slavery based on skin color – are ignored.
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Years from now, historians may still be arguing about what were the root and the proximate causes of the botched Afghanistan withdrawal by the United States. Was it incompetence? Corruption? Lack of accurate information? Political miscalculation? Some combination of the above? While all these factors may have contributed to the disturbing chain of events that…
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