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The night of November 27th
It’s November 26th at 11:27 pm when we first hear about the tragic attempted murder of a Taliban member immigrant to two of the U.S’s national guards. News like this feels heavier than headlines, especially for those of us whose identities are already fragile in public perception. It was already the situation where immigrants are in Continue reading
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Phone call
…My phone rang… It was two of my dad side aunts behind the phone, people I hadn’t seen in five years now. It felt like they were placed in my subconscious. I could tell I knew them, but a feeling kept me from truly knowing them. I couldn’t hardly understand their accent. Their deep accent Continue reading
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Our Symposium
was a symposium on the Hazara genocide and exile taking place in Philadelphia at Handford College. According to my traveling experience in America, it wasn’t that long, 3 hours from where we are, and if I could turn back time, I would have joined as many times as possible, but this time with more sleep. Continue reading
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My recommendation…
As someone who lived outside Afghanistan for more than 5 years, I don’t remember much of there, and even if I do, I want something from there to myself, since my country itself isn’t in a great situation. The only thing that gives a sense of belonging is my culture, Hazara culture. Yet I don’t Continue reading
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Journal books
Last year my freshman year, my creative writing class teacher would tell us to keep a little journal with us and write it down when something interesting happened or we had any sudden ideas that we might forget later on the day. I did mine as assigned, maybe sometimes rushing through when she was checking Continue reading
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I met many women with long stories and often the same end.
I have met many women with long and complex stories, often leading to similar conclusions. My favorite actor, Bahram Afshari, once said, “Nothing ends badly; if it does, it hasn’t ended.” While I appreciate his perspective, I often find myself questioning it. In my brief life experience, I’ve noticed that many women I’ve encountered possess Continue reading
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“…I’ve been away from home for 5 years now…”
“Liar-“ I learned about calling your country home in history class when many cartoons showed the US worrying more about civilizing other countries than “home”. Now it appears to me that I’ve never called my country home before this, but I missed our house where we lived in Afghanistan. Would that make me a patriot? Continue reading
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Just a feeling
…I want to be a lawyer someday… “But what if I couldn’t and left behind the words that now sound like a bluff? Could I then be ever respected?”I think so… In fact may have everyone has had a dream they left behind, whether being a princess or a doctor? Probably yes“But wouldn’t it be Continue reading
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Borderlines
“And that’s what happened during the Vietnam War. Setaish anything about Afghanistan you want to add?” Yes… Then maybe I can repeat what I’ve memorized from the news just before coming to class. To be able to answer it as if my life depends on it, because most of the information known by others around Continue reading
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What An Anthem
Growing up, I wasn’t much aware of the existence of different ethnicities in Afghanistan. Of course, they would make us sing the national anthem with our lungs, but that national anthem wasn’t in my language. I would sing it along with others because we had it on the first page of our school books, and Continue reading
Unsaid 