Liberation Now Ep 12: Ongoing Uprisings in Iran - Woman, Life, Freedom
Release Date: 12/19/2022
"We Are Not a Curse, We Are a Gift": Trans and Nonbinary Joy and Its Role in Liberation
Liberation Now Podcast
In this episode, Helen Neville and Radia DeLuna speak with psychologist Dr. Em Matsuno about the meaning and importance of trans and nonbinary joy to wellbeing and liberation. Dr. Matsuno shares insights from their research highlighting the strengths, resilience, and joy found within trans and nonbinary communities. Listen in to learn more about research and community practices celebrating joy among trans and nonbinary youth, families, and adults. ABOUT THE GUEST Dr. Em Matsuno (they/them) is an assistant professor in Counseling and Counseling Psychology at Arizona State University. Dr....
info_outline
Liberation Now Ep 14: Teaching for Social Justice in these Challenging Times
Liberation Now Podcast
In this episode, Helen Neville speaks with psychologists Drs. Roxanne Donovan, Grace Kim, and Karen Suyemoto about teaching for social justice in these challenging times. The authors share insights from their two books, Teaching Diversity Relationally and Unraveling Assumptions, both published by Routledge. They discuss psychological and social justice frameworks to teaching and learning about power, privilege, oppression, and resistance and they end with thoughts about practicing hope and engaging in self-care strategies amid domestic and global geopolitical crises. ABOUT THE GUESTS Dr....
info_outline
Liberation Now Ep 13: Decolonizing Methods in Psychology: Implications for Healing and Liberation
Liberation Now Podcast
In this episode, Salman Safir and Helen Neville speak with internationally recognized psychology and mental health scholar Dr. Joseph Gone. We cover topics related to decolonizing and Indigenous research methodologies and reclaiming American Indian therapeutic traditions. In this conversation, Dr. Gone outlines attributes of traditional knowledge, disrupts ideas about psychological mindset, discusses how some forms of counseling is ideological work, and complicates our understanding of collaborative partnerships. ABOUT THE GUEST Joseph P. Gone () is an international expert in the psychology...
info_outline
Liberation Now Ep 12: Ongoing Uprisings in Iran - Woman, Life, Freedom
Liberation Now Podcast
In this episode, Helen Neville speaks with Iranian American scholar-activists Dr. Mehrgol Tiv and Amir Maghsoodi about the current uprisings in Iran. We cover the nationwide protests and state responses since the murder of Mahsa Jina Amini on September 22, 2022. The guests provide context for the roots of the women-led liberation struggle, and the goals and hopes for Iran and her people. This episode was recorded on Nov 29, 2022. Since then, the Islamic Republic government has executed two young men for taking part in protests: Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard. As of...
info_outline
Liberation Now Ep 11: The Practice of Radical Hope
Liberation Now Podcast
In this episode, Liberation Lab members B. Andi Lee, Briana Williams, and Helen Neville speak with creator and healer Dr. Della Mosley (a.k.a., Dr. Della) about her first-authored paper entitled “.” Dr. Della discusses the practice of radical hope in her personal life and community work. Listen in to learn about the psychological framework of radical hope and how to apply it to daily life. ABOUT DR. DELLA MOSLEY Dr. Della intentionally uses her education and training in counseling, skills and experience conducting culturally mindful and award-winning research, history counseling Black...
info_outline
Liberation Now Ep 10: Approaching Therapy from an Anti-Oppressive & Anti-Racism Lens
Liberation Now Podcast
In this episode, Cherese Waight and Helen Neville speak with award winning psychologists Dr. Candice Hargons and Dr. Nikki Coleman about practicing therapy and professional work from an anti-oppressive and anti-racist lens. They share stories about their training and practice, and they talk about what it means to be authentic in and outside of the therapy room. Learn more about specific ways mental health settings and the field of counseling psychology can decolonize their training efforts. ABOUT THE GUESTS Dr. is an award-winning associate professor of counseling psychology at the University...
info_outline
Liberation Now Ep 9: Racial-Ethnic Trauma and Liberation for MENA Americans (Part 2)
Liberation Now Podcast
This episode is the second in a two-part series on cumulative racial-ethnic trauma and healing for MENA Americans. In this episode, Amir Maghsoodi sits down again with pioneering Arab/MENA psychologists Drs. Mona Amer, Maryam Kia-Keating, and Germine “Gigi” Awad, to discuss their paper in the American Psychologist titled “A model of cumulative racial-ethnic trauma among Americans of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) descent.” They discuss how the authors’ model relates to healing and liberation for MENA Americans and other BIPOC groups. As three of the founding members of...
info_outline
Liberation Now Ep 8: Racial-Ethnic Trauma and Liberation for MENA Americans (Part 1)
Liberation Now Podcast
In this episode, Amir Maghsoodi speaks with pioneering Arab/MENA psychologists Drs. Mona Amer, Maryam Kia-Keating, and Germine “Gigi” Awad, about their paper in the American Psychologist titled “A model of cumulative racial-ethnic trauma among Americans of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) descent.” They discuss the creation of the model and provide details about its various components, contextualizing them with present-day examples. The authors also share their motivations and process for writing this paper as well as their hopes for what readers take away from reading it....
info_outline
Liberation Now Ep 7: Black Women and Radical Healing
Liberation Now Podcast
In this episode, Helen Neville speaks with award winning psychologists, Drs. Bryana French and Jioni Lewis about Black women and radical healing. Drs. French and Lewis share their own radical healing journeys. They also discuss what radical healing for Black women looks like, identify practices that can promote radical healing among Black women as individuals and collectively, provide an analysis of the R. Kelly racketeering and sex trafficking conviction, and share dreams for a more liberated future.
info_outline
Liberation Now Ep 6: Radical Self-Care and Liberation
Liberation Now Podcast
In this episode, Helen Neville speaks with licensed psychologist Dr. Grace Chen about radical self-care. Dr. Chen shares her liberation journey, explains the connection between radical self-care and liberation among People of Color, and discusses the ways she promotes radical self-care in her clinical work.
info_outlineIn this episode, Helen Neville speaks with Iranian American scholar-activists Dr. Mehrgol Tiv and Amir Maghsoodi about the current uprisings in Iran. We cover the nationwide protests and state responses since the murder of Mahsa Jina Amini on September 22, 2022. The guests provide context for the roots of the women-led liberation struggle, and the goals and hopes for Iran and her people.
This episode was recorded on Nov 29, 2022. Since then, the Islamic Republic government has executed two young men for taking part in protests: Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard. As of late-December, Amnesty International and others fear more individuals are at imminent risk of execution by the government.
ABOUT THE GUESTS
Dr. Mehrgol Tiv, PhD (website) (Twitter: @mehrgoltiv) earned her PhD in experimental psychology at McGill University in 2021, where she examined how diverse linguistic experiences related to cognitive processes. Now as a postdoctoral researcher, she further probes the social determinants of cognitive adaptation by assessing the psychological impacts of context diversity and racial identity formation, including among Middle Eastern and North African communities. Mehrgol was born in Tehran, Iran and moved to the United States at the age of six with her family. She grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and now lives in Washington D.C. with her partner and cat.
Amir Maghsoodi, MS (website) (Twitter and IG: @soori_breeze) is a doctoral candidate in his fifth year in the Counseling Psychology Program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His interests in psychology center on health and well-being, sense of belonging, and radical healing & liberation of BIPOC folx, with a particular focus on those of MENA/SWANA descent. His mixed-methods dissertation research explores the psychological impacts of racial identity invalidation on MENA Americans (e.g., our legal classification as “white” in the U.S.). He enjoys service to the community and currently serves on the advocacy committee of the American Arab, Middle Eastern, & North African Psychological Association (AMENA-Psy) and on Dr. Kevin Cokley’s Division 45 Presidential Task Force on Cross-Racial/Ethnic Solidarity.
RESOURCES
News and Editorials
- BBC reporting of first known execution of Iranian protestors
- CNN coverage of human rights abuses in political prisons
- Hamed Esmaeilion memoir in Toronto Life magazine
- Association of Families of PS752 Victims
- CBC Interview with dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi the day before his kidnapping by Islamic Republic police forces
- Washington Post documents Islamic Republic’s tactics of repression
- Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA) Daily Update on Iran Protest
Videos
Protest Songs
- Baraye (“For”) by Shervin Hajipour (turn on English subtitles)
- Amir Maghsoodi’s cover of Baraye
- Soroode Zan (“Women’s Anthem”) by Mehdi Yarrahi and Mona Borzouie (Translated lyrics)
- YouTube page of dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi, who was kidnapped, tortured, and faces execution in Iran
- Farsi rendition of Italian protest song, Bella Ciao, played in many global protests and rallies
Relevant Social Media Accounts (mostly Twitter) to Follow
- https://twitter.com/1500tasvir_en
- https://twitter.com/Vahid
- https://twitter.com/BlackIranians
- https://twitter.com/PriscilliaK
- https://twitter.com/sinafazelpour
- https://twitter.com/NazaninNour
- https://twitter.com/maasalan
- https://twitter.com/esmaeilion
- https://twitter.com/ps752justice
- https://twitter.com/me_too_iran
- https://twitter.com/MEMOrganization
- https://twitter.com/HRANA_English
- https://www.instagram.com/1500tasvir_en/
- https://www.instagram.com/collectiveforblackiranians/
- https://www.instagram.com/from____iran/
- https://www.instagram.com/centerforhumanrights/
- https://www.instagram.com/middleeastmatters/
- https://www.instagram.com/localbrownbaby/
- https://www.instagram.com/womanlifefreedom.art/
Academic Statements and Correspondences
- AMENA-Psy statement of solidarity with the people of Iran
- SPSSI statement of solidarity with the people of Iran
- Psychology Coalition at the UN (PCUN) letter to Economic and Social Committee (ECOSOC) of the UN
- American Psychological Association's letter to UN High Commissioner of Human Rights
- American Psychiatric Association's letter to the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights
- Correspondence to Nature by Iranian scholars calling for support of persecuted academic
STAY IN TOUCH!
#LiberationNowPodcast
Email: [email protected] | Instagram & Twitter: @liberationlab_
EPISODE CREDITS
Music: Amir Maghsoodi and Briana Williams
Podcast Artwork: B. Andi Lee & Amir Maghsoodi
Episode Intro: Mahogany Monette
Episode Outro: B. Andi Lee
Episode Editing: Helen Neville and Amir Maghsoodi
Episode Transcript: bit.ly/LibNowEp12