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To Be a Good Dancer Don’t Give a F**K by Amrita Hepi

my name is Amita and At 3, I loved dancing. I remember thrashing about on the floor to my mom's records. I remember joining a dance school, learning how to dance in sync in time with others. solos, musical theater, I loved it all. but then things started to change. I’m going to need you to do one thing for me. Touch your chest. Touch your nose, your bum, back to your chest again. Funny thing is that when I ask people to touch these parts of their bodies they get embarrassed, shy. What's with that? When did our chest or our butt become a thing that was so embarrassing? so shame fueled? I remember saying to somebody that I danced for pleasure. They asked if I wanted to be a stripper. I've had the same things when I've introduced myself to people's parents. “you're a dancer? So, you dance for money?” We are taught that some dance is elegant. Other dances are bad, nasty, cheap. but here's the thing, it has nothing to do with the dance. it's the way the body is being dissected, looked at. The Gaze. So I stopped. And I invested more into my physical appearance than I ever had before. I was becoming a woman so I had to disappear or only appear in certain ways. I wasn't dancing but I was performing. how did that happen? I had never danced to make make anybody feel uncomfortable, but I felt uncomfortable. I started teaching dance again, to try and work through this shame. To create an environment where people could move through it. It’s not about being perfect. It's about committing to the action. Separating from the gaze of others.

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Neighborhood Watch by Steve Zimmer

In our section of Niles, Illinois, the backyards all measure exactly 30 ft by 40 ft but the Dwyer's backyard is first among equals. It has a pool surrounded by a large wood deck that gets about this high. Sometimes when the Dwyer’s have a pool party, I'll sneak through a gap in the fence and crawl undetected underneath the deck and I can look up through slots in the wood and spy on people at the party. By the way, this story does not occur recently. I was 8 years old. But this deck with its sunny surface and troll infested underworld, kind of sums up our neighborhood which is in the middle of a crime wave. Six burglaries in the last four months. They began right after my family moves in. We're innocent, but we can't escape the observation that everything was fine until that weird family showed up.

We try to fit in but it's like as soon as we copy what the neighbors are doing, they immediately stop doing it. And after a couple more burglaries, they our neighbors start a neighborhood watch. My parents offer to join the watch. The neighbors don't actually say no, rather they welcome us on as reserves. We know the Dwyer's blocked us. They're the big family in the neighborhood. Very popular, especially their two oldest kids, Tommy who's 16 and MaryAnn who's 15. The Dyers live right next door but they never say hello or invite any of their parties, including their upcoming huge Hawaiian luau party that gets half the neighborhood. Nonetheless, I secretly attend this event, crawling underneath the deck as the luau rages above me. Near the center of the party, I hear Mr. Dwyer. He's holding court and he's telling stories and he has everyone laughing about something, which turns out to be my parents. I'm not popular in school, but hearing that my parents are unpopular is somehow a lot worse. The following week - big surprise - we have the Zimmer family barbecue which features Zimmers, pineapple marinated ham, and despair. My parents choose this moment to announce that we're going to do our own neighborhood watch, which sounds pathetic except that I think they're worried about they just want to wait for my little brother and I to cope with these burglaries. I've been having nightmares about the robbers coming into our house. I must be a conservative kid because the robbers are always hippies. And you know they laugh and give us the peace sign as they're shooting us. But my little brother is more deeply affected. He'll get up in the middle of the night and just stare out the window of the street for hours. He was only four years old so we start doing this family watch for an hour every night. It's a great family memory just sitting there with my mom or dad looking out the window and having their undivided attention. My parents fight a lot. They're even unpopular with each other. But this one time they stop. It's the closest I'll ever be to my family and the most hopeful about how things will turn out for us because I've been convinced that something horrible is going to happen. . Two months later the later at the end of summer, it's a very warm night which means two things: I'm wearing my bright orange summer pajamas and the windows are open. A round 2 a.m., something brushes against my leg. I pretend like I'm still asleep. There are whispers and warm breath near my face. Then someone grabs my arm. It's my little brother, who I share the bedroom with. I'm like “what!” He says “the Dwyers are getting robbed.” So we go and look out the window and, sure enough, their house is dark except for a light on in the basement and there's no cars in the driveway. So we go and wake up and tell our mom and she calls the police and wakes up my dad in that order. This is our big chance. We're going to save the Dwyers. The police show up. Several squad cars, lights sirens, and they pull five very sketchy looking teenage guys out of the Dwyer basement along with Tommy and MaryAnn Dwyer. By now half the neighborhood's out walking their dog, even if they don't have a dog. People are coming up to us on the lawn and they're like “What's going on? Who are those other kids and why are the police questioning them? Are they criminals?” Nobody knows. Those five kids aren't from around the neighborhood. Which is really weird because Tommy and Maryanne know everyone in the neighborhood they practically been in every house in the block. They've been in every house on the block. There's no arrests but the neighborhood watch turns into watch the Dwyers and the burglaries stop cold. That night changes everything. The Dwyers eventually move away in disgrace. The neighborhood is safe and we're no longer the weird Family. We're the weird family you don't fuck with.

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Mother Punishes Daughter for Twerking - ABC NEWS

Hi, I’m 23 ABC's Carlos Correa live tonight where a parent is punishing her daughter for doing the dance at a school event. The dance made popular by young people includes some moves that some consider inappropriate, and that's causing some concern tonight... We're standing on the corner of a very busy intersection, and right behind me is an eleven-year-old girl who is being forced to hold up a sign by her mother as punishment. I was disrespecting my parents at my school dance. Hannah told her daughter not to do the dance, but she didn't listen.

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Nika's Last Breath - BBC

In Iran, women are not allowed to dance in public, and more than 901 people including 68 minors were killed at protests while they were dancing. This is one of their stories.

From the moment Nika was born, I realized she had amazing energy. Nika, maybe a year before the Mahsa movement was thinking a lot about the government and the injustice it made us endure. She was brave and fearless. I was always afraid that something might happen to her. One night, on the phone with Nika, I told her that it is dangerous and to please come home. She finally said she would [but] I could hear other protesters shouting at security forces… I..I could hear the other protesters shouting And then the police, I could hear them screaming. The police closed in around her. They had Nika's hands tied up. They wanted us to suffer by hearing her undergo the torture. She kept screaming. We never heard from her again. That morning, we thought that Nika had been arrested. We went to the prisons, the police, we went everywhere we could think of. We had no news of Nika. I went to the coroner’s office once again. This time they told me the news no mother can bear to hear I cannot forget for a second what has happened to Nika. She gave everything, including her life. They deny killing her. They will never tell us who killed her. It was the Islamic Republic that killed my Nika.

These protests continue today. This time everyone was involved. It was not just about the scarf and hijab. It was more than that. It's about everyone who's seeking freedom.

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Al Jazeera: It’s Always About the Oil

The 1953 U.S and UK-backed coup overthrew Iran's democratically elected prime minister Muhammad Musadeq. Mosadeq argued Iran should begin profiting from its vast oil reserves which had been controlled by the company known as British Petroleum (BP).

The coup was led in part by a CIA agent named Kermit Roosevelt, the grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt. The crushing of Iran's first democratic government ushered in more than two decades of dictatorship under the Shah who relied heavily on US aid and arms. The anti-American backlash that toppled the Shah in 1979 shook the whole region. In 1953 the United States together with Britain participated in a coup in Iran that got rid of Musadeq and his government. We’re swept from power in favor of General Zahidi.

The British government has never officially acknowledged its role in the Coup. I don't think at any time we really planned a coup. For over 34 years evidence that has the potential to turn a dark chapter in history inside out. Iran is shaping politics to this day. The United States does not want democracy in the Middle East. His most recent book is titled Oil Crisis in Iran from nationalism to coup d'etat. We are talking about an event 70 years ago that has shaped not only the Middle East, but I think you could say geopolitics in the world today. Irvine Abrahami if you can start off by talking about the significance of this moment. What happened? Why the United States and Britain were so hell-bent on toppling democracy in Iran? Well, the official argument that is constantly repeated was it was to save Iran from communism and the Soviet threat in reality. When you look at the documents there was no communist threat or Soviet interest in Iran. The main concern of the United States was that if the nationalization in Iran of oil was successful, this would set a terrible example to other countries where U.S oil interests were present. Countries such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Indonesia.

So, the the nightmare in Washington was that if you have a successful nationalization in Iran, this would be a contagious disease that would spread throughout the world and this would change the whole balance of power and this was mainly the main interest. But of course, American politicians don't want to admit that economic issues are at play with their foreign policies, so they've underplayed this. They never mentioned this publicly. What they insisted was the so-called communist threat. The British, in fact, required honest about this. They said they used the bogey of Communism to, basically, persuade people that the coup was justifiable. Documents where the Americans are discussing with the British whether they'll come in and join the crew and they're discussing share of the oil. Basically saying “yeah we'll help you if you can have a slice of, you know, Iranian Oil” Which is exactly what happened.

The British have not admitted to their leading role. It was quick, it was cheap, and Iranians died but who cares about that. So it emboldened them to the to do it again.

(Al Jazeera, Video, Article)

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Democracy Now: Interview of Iranian Man

Iranian Man:

I’m ashamed. There’s no work in Iran. I called my mother the other day and asked to speak to my son, Morteza. It’s been three years that I’ve promised to buy my son a bicycle. Get good grades, and I’ll buy you a bike It’s been three years he asks, dad do you have a job? I’ve turned into a liar.

I tell my son to pray. He says, Daddy, I always go pray. The situation in the country is really really bad. I have a diploma, but I don’t have a job. With 8 mouths to feed. We’re all suffering.

The impact's still with us. We're still living with the ripples of this. The British wanted their oil back. It's always about oil. Iraq was about oil. Venezuela is about oil. If the only export was turnips we wouldn't be here.

I called my mother the other day and asked to speak to my son, Morteza. She said Morteza wouldn’t talk to me. He says his dad is a liar. Men don’t cry. But I’m crying here in front of everyone.

But still, people are really, really nice here. I hope we can have more faith in the ordinary Americans, because every little change in the policy of the Western country, it really…it really affects our lives here...

(Democracy Now: Interview with an Iranian Man)

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Maz Jobrani: Brown and Friendly

Oil Skit:

SEE, PEOPLE SAY IT'S NOT ABOUT OIL. OF COURSE IT'S ABOUT OIL. IT'S ABOUT OIL. IF IT'S NOT ABOUT OIL, WHY DON'T WE EVER GET INVOLVED WITH COUNTRIES: THAT DON'T HAVE OIL? WHY DON'T WE EVER GET INVOLVED WITH RWANDA OR DARFUR, THE DARFUR REGION? OR WHY DON' WE EVER ATTACK SWITZERLAND? -JUST FOR FUN. THEY DON'T EXPECT IT. THEY'RE ALL NEUTRAL. THEY'RE ALL SNOOTY, RIGHT? "OH, WE ARE SWISS. NO ONE WOULD: EVER ATTACK US EVER, NO, NO. WE SKI ALL DAY. WE JUST… OH IT'S A MOGUL! YEAH, LOOK AT ME, OKAY. THIS IS GREAT. LOOK AT ME, I'M IN SWITZERLAND. ALL RIGHT, LIFE IS GOOD. NO ONE WOULD ATTACK US. WE HAVE NO OIL." WE SHOULD, JUST FOR FUN, BUT WE WOULDN' 'CAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE OIL. WHAT DO THEY HAVE?

THEY HAVE, LIKE, SWISS CHEESE. WHICH I THINK: IS AN AMERICAN INVENTION. THAT'S NOT REALLY SWISS. BUT WHATEVER, WE'LL GIVE IT TO THEM. THEY HAVE SWISS CHEESE. THEY HAVE CHOCOLATES -- SWISS CHOCOLATES. THEY GOT THE SWISS ARMY KNIFE. YOU COULD BUY THA DOWN THE STREET. YOU DON'T NEED TO GO ATTACK THEM, RIGHT? THAT'S WHAT I'M TELLING YOU. LISTEN, IF YOU'RE A COUNTRY WITH OIL, YOU WILL BE ATTACKED. -YOU WILL, YEAH. YOU WILL. YOU'RE ALL GIVING IT UP. YOU'RE LIKE, "THAT'S RIGHT, MAZ." IT'S TRUE, THOUGH. IT'S TRUE. BEING A COUNTRY WITH OIL IS LIKE BEING A DRUG DEALER. YOU GOT TO KNOW: WHEN TO GET RID OF THE STUFF. YOU GOTTA LOOK OUT THE WINDOW AND BE LIKE, "WHAT? AMERICA'S COMING? OH, SHIT! FLUSH IT DOWN THE TOILET. FLUSH IT DOWN THE TOILET!" "HELLO, AMERICA. IRAN NO LONGER HAS OIL. WE ONLY HAVE: THE IRANIAN ARMY KNIFE. IT'S A SPOON." "FOR RICE. WE LOVE OUR RICE. WE LOVE OUR RICE."

SPEAKING OF OIL, MAN, I GOT A CHANCE TO GO TO THE MIDDLE EAST THIS PAST YEAR. GOT A CHANCE TO GO TO THE MIDDLE EAST. I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO TRAVEL TO THE MIDDLE EAST 'CAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF GOOD PEOPLE OUT THERE.

(Comedian, Stand up, Maz Jobrani: Brown and Friendly)