From West Virginia to Iran, With Hope
Yesterday was the 146th birthday of West Virginia. I sat on my back porch looking up from underneath my maple trees, waiting for the sun to break through the clouds and light up the leaves. That shade of green is one of the things I associate closely with West Virginia and is usually comforting to me - but lately it makes me think of Iran.
I found this blog yesterday and I feel a need not only to share it with you, but also to warn you - it’s not an easy read. It’s heartbreaking to hear the voices and see the faces in Iran, to read about their struggles for freedom and see how difficult a fight it truly is. Click here to read.
This blog was posted by a friend on Twitter. As you may have heard, many Iranians are now using Twitter to share information and organize protests. (This communication is so vital that the United States government even asked Twitter to hold off on scheduled maintenance so as not to cause a “blackout” in Iran.) Our news media is gaining much of their own information from reading these tweets.
The Twitter community has pulled together to show support for the people of Iran in simple ways, turning our avatars green and changing our location and time zones to Tehran, Iran to help “hide” those who are really there behind a wall of our numbers. We’re making sure their stories are told. Looking in Twitter, you’ll see a sea of green avatars, hopeful that those in Iran will see and know they have our support. The simple question, “Why is your picture green?” gives us a chance to make sure more learn what’s happening in Iran.
My state exists at all because of civil war, because we didn’t agree and were willing to fight and even die for our beliefs. Freedom is not free. Witnessing the pain in Iran, even from this distance, makes my heart ache.
They are willing to fight or die for their beliefs, something that a West Virginian - or any American, can understand and relate to very well.
I wished West Virginia a happy birthday in my green back yard, with a prayer that the people of Iran will soon have the same freedom I am so lucky to possess.
June 25th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Thanks, Sarah. Thanks for bringing this to more people’s attention. We take so much for granted… it’s important to always remember that everyone doesn’t have the FREEDOM that we do.
It helped me to live overseas for a lot of my life. I love my USA !
And congrats to West Virginia !! YIPEEE
August 23rd, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Mike and I watched We Are Marshall last night. It was great but I cried from 5 minutes into the movie to the end. Glad we checked out a funny one next.