Watching History and Learning it's Cost
Fallout from the Iranian election has been going on for a few days and has been more or less ignored by all major media outlets. I've been glued to twitter, checking flickr and a few blogs to keep track of the happenings.
This woman is what I will think of from now on, when I think of strong women.
Watching history happen, even via the internet has left me speechless. The fact that twitter is one of the very few venues available to the people of Iran as a means to communicate with the outside world at this point has left me with a completely different opinion of the site than I had last week. Last week it was an ego feeding machine, but for the past few days it has been the best source of information about the happenings in Iran available.
I've been following the #iranelection topic and a few brave Iranian tweeps, whose names I won't mention out of respect for their safety. The strength of the Iranian protesters' spirit and conviction, in the face of violence, is truly humbling. We in the states take a lot of things for granted, things that these people are willing to risk their lives for. We as a people seem to forget that not all of the world's people have the right to free speech, the right to protest or the ability to question their leaders. These people are literally dying to be heard.
My thoughts and prayers are with the protesters. You are making history today. You are creating a physical and cyber revolution and the people of the world are watching and helping where they can.
Please, do NOT post the names of any of the legitimate Iranian tweeps, doing so will only put them in more danger. Twitter has been postponing necessary maintenance to the site to keep the lines of communication open.
Brief Article detailing the ways you can help and not hurt Iranian Tweeps
Ny Times has a good piece chronicalling the Iran election
And a good one about the fallout and suspected fraudulent count
One Reason CNN is made of fail
An interview with an Iranian in America, regarding the events
Flickr Photoset updated with Images of the Protests. Some graphic images.
This woman is what I will think of from now on, when I think of strong women.
Watching history happen, even via the internet has left me speechless. The fact that twitter is one of the very few venues available to the people of Iran as a means to communicate with the outside world at this point has left me with a completely different opinion of the site than I had last week. Last week it was an ego feeding machine, but for the past few days it has been the best source of information about the happenings in Iran available.
I've been following the #iranelection topic and a few brave Iranian tweeps, whose names I won't mention out of respect for their safety. The strength of the Iranian protesters' spirit and conviction, in the face of violence, is truly humbling. We in the states take a lot of things for granted, things that these people are willing to risk their lives for. We as a people seem to forget that not all of the world's people have the right to free speech, the right to protest or the ability to question their leaders. These people are literally dying to be heard.
My thoughts and prayers are with the protesters. You are making history today. You are creating a physical and cyber revolution and the people of the world are watching and helping where they can.
Please, do NOT post the names of any of the legitimate Iranian tweeps, doing so will only put them in more danger. Twitter has been postponing necessary maintenance to the site to keep the lines of communication open.
Brief Article detailing the ways you can help and not hurt Iranian Tweeps
Ny Times has a good piece chronicalling the Iran election
And a good one about the fallout and suspected fraudulent count
One Reason CNN is made of fail
An interview with an Iranian in America, regarding the events
Flickr Photoset updated with Images of the Protests. Some graphic images.