From the Editor’s Desk – Shahrokh Ahkami – PH-77, Spring 2015
My dear readers, once again we have the arrival of spring and once again we celebrate the wonderful holiday of Norouz. Norouz as you know, represents the birth of nature, flowers bloom, trees blossom and the brownness of the winter becomes a palette of color. The season of Norouz, also represents the birthdate for Mirass- Iran, Persian Heritage magazine. This year I am proud to say marks our twentieth anniversary. It is hard to realize that so much time has passed. It seems as if it was yesterday this magazine began. We wanted this magazine to be a source of information on the beauty and culture of Iran/Persia for second and third generation Iranians, living outside of Iran. Prior to the first publication of Persian Heritage our children and most of the general public knew Iranians only from reports of the nightly news, which were very disappointing and created so much anxiety for our families.
A generation has passed but the events over the past thirty years may have caused the young generation to shy away from their culture and ethnic roots, to be ashamed of their heritage and even to deny it. When I realized that these negative publications and news could negatively affect the progress of Iranian Americans, I decided to publish this magazine. We did it in two languages, English and Persian, to inform our children about the “ real” Iranian / Persian, not the one depicted on the news. We hoped that it would be passed to non-Iranian friends and colleagues to teach them about the true Iranian.
My children went to school (elementary and highschool) during the time of the hostage taking. Every night ABC news began with “Day-counting” of the hostage taking. Every night we would sit as a family and be horrified about the images and reports we saw and heard about our beloved Iran. I was frightened as a parent to think that this was becoming our children’s reality, how they saw Iran and Iranians and how their classmates saw them. Recently I had a conversation with a friend of mine regarding this issue and he related the following story. One of his children was attending school and they were going to have an international food fair. Each child was to bring in a dish that represented it’s ethnic background. His wife prepared a delicious Persian dish. His child brought it to the fair and placed it on a table with a label “Iranain Food.” The child then quietly went to a corner and watched from a distance the reaction of the children who approached the dish. (I asked the father why his child went off to the corner, to which he shockingly told me, that schoolmates had constantly harassed his child over the hostage taking. He told me he had no idea that this occurred until recently.) Three students then saw the signs and shouted, “Hey this is ‘I (EYE)ranian’ food, from ‘I’(EYE)ran’ don’t taste it because it is poison.” One of the students picked up the dish, threw it in the garbage and tore up the sign. During his action he repeated, “this food belongs in the garbage and one day our ‘I (EYE)ranian’ classmates should be in the garbage.” His child horrified and crying rushed to the principal’s office. The principal fortunately was very compassionate and well educated and spoke to the child with kind words, hoping to ease the emotional state of this child. The principal explained that the events of Iran now on the news, are political and had nothing to do with the child’s parents, in fact the principal stated, “ Your parents immigrated to the United States, long before any of this happened and you were born here. So remember you are American with Iranian roots and ethnicity just as your other classmates have other ethnic roots. And you like them have the same rights of all other American citizens. Be proud of the rich culture and civilization of Persia/Iran. Be proud of who you are and your potential. One day these events will simply be history and you and other Iranians will be able to show their abilities and make their dreams realities.”
As I listened to my friend, I was grateful for this principal. I then asked him what happened. He told me the words of this principal had a tremendous impact on his child. His child had a new sense of self-confidence and was proud to be Iranian and had a hunger to learn more. The fear and shame his child felt began to dissolve. Every weekend new friends appeared at his house. His wife, at their request, would lovingly expose them to Persian hospitality, culture cook Persian food, sending some home with the friend, at the end of the visit. Eventually, he said that his child also gave speeches at the school on Persian food and referred to The New York Times, raving about Persian cuisine.
Persian Heritage magazine was born at a time when there was a missing link between Iranians and Iranian Diaspora and Iranian-Americans as well as other American citizens. Despite financial and other difficulties the magazine has faced, the staff remains dedicated to it and are proud of each issue published. When I ask them why this magazine is so important to them they tell me because it does provide the missing link needed to educate not only Iranian future generations but also non Iranians on the impact and achievements of Iranians ( hyphenated or not).They also believe that the magazine is an inspiration to younger generations to start their own magazines and organizations.
We have had our battles. I remember when the movie “Not Without My Daughter,” was released. It was a story of an American woman who “kidnapped” her daughter from Iran. She took the child without the permission of the father. Many western critics criticized the movie because it lacked artistic value. Unfortunately it had tremendous negative impact on Iranians. In Paris there was a theater on the Champs –Elyse that showed the film continuously. Every day they would place a sign outside of the theater stating the number of times it was shown. Eventually a famous Parisian paper wrote an article, “Please if you have not seen this movie, do so quickly because we are tired of seeing the number of the showings.”
I wrote an editorial in which I stated that I believed America had won two battles. The first was their success in the Persian Gulf wars and the second, the level of successful propaganda and humiliation of Iran and Iranians achieved with this movie.
Persian Heritage, over the past twenty years, has tried to deliver truth and reality, whether good or bad. A colleague brought one of the good things about this magazine to my attention. He said he loves to read about the achievements over the past thirty years made by Iranians, specifically Iranian-Americans in space (NASA), finance, arts, science, education, industry and now even in politics. Perhaps this magazine has eased their assimilation into their new environment. Perhaps this magazine has helped the younger generation to realize their potential and to be proud of their roots. Perhaps, like the impressionable words spoken by the principal to my friend’s child, this magazine will also have a profound effect on how they feel about their heritage. PERHAPS!
Like Norouz, the messenger of spring bringing with it good news and good things, Persian Heritage will continue to do the same. In closing I would like for all of you to reflect on what I am about to say. We as a group in the United States have become individually financially and socially successful. However, we fall behind other ethnic groups when it comes to building centers or foundations; places where the public can freely come and learn through exhibits about Persian culture, art and literature. We also fall behind in building senior living homes and even nursing homes for our elderly. This magazine and I remain open to suggestions to make this a reality.
I wish all of you continued prosperity in the year ahead and I and my staff thank you for all of your support.
Happy Norouz.