Hello hello,
Our hearts are with all of those impacted by Hurricane Ian this past week. My mom lives in Fort Myers, and it’s wild to think the restaurant we visited earlier this year is literally not standing anymore. Luckily she’s a good 20+ miles inland which meant a few days without water and power and a couple of uprooted trees. But still, her broader community is feeling the devastation as recovery efforts continue.
My heart is also with our sisters and brothers in Iran (and around the world) who are protesting the murder of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the Guidance Patrol (aka morality police). Our close neighbors are Iranian, and while we are all astonished/appalled by Mahsa’s death, I can feel the real weight of the travesty through talking with them. It’s unthinkable that a bright, young woman should die because of a hijab. While some women are fighting for the right to wear a hijab, others are fighting for the choice not to wear one. It may seem contradictory, but at the end of the of the day, it’s the same fight. It’s fighting for the woman’s right to choose. Hijab or no hijab, what a woman puts on her body and why should be an individual choice.
Admittedly, I was ignorant about the history of the US-Iranian relations, and luckily, the Throughline podcast has done a great job educating us. Here’s a throwback episode:
https://www.npr.org/2020/12/07/943938119/outside-in-rules-of-engagement
If you’d like to show your support for all kinds of issues that I talk about here, I highly recommend Bird + Stone jewelry! There are pieces that support many causes. Check them out here:
https://birdandstone.com/pages/shop-by-cause2
Talk soon,
Jessica
#blacklivesmatter #courageousconversations #powertoprivilege