1) I’m a proud signatory of #theLetter published in #Harpers, calling for justice and open debate.

Some have dismissed it as a statement by a “privileged” few. The term privileged does, indeed, apply to me, though I’m not white, nor Christian, nor a man.

2) In the spirit of “what doesn’t break me, makes me stronger”, here are my privileges: I was a Jew & a woman under the #Antisemitic & misogynistic regime in my beloved #Iran. I've the privilege of coming of age in the revolutionary era, witnessing the rise of #Authoritarianism.

3) As the statues were pulled off their pedestals by euphoric crowds, and the streets were renamed, women lost their rights, all in the name of assuring their “well-being.”

Every act of dissent was repressed in the name of the nation’s “safety”.

4) The US isn't Iran.

Yet, a fundamental fact still applies, no matter the country: A movement that uses #censorship as a tool can never lead to a democratic future. It may “change regimes”, hand power from one group to another, but it won't correct the faulty underpinnings...

5) that caused the social inequities in the first place.

There’s no nobler cause in America today than the cause of achieving a more equitable and racially just society. And there’s not a more ignoble way to achieve this than...

6) by stifling dissent and repressing the multiplicity of voices in the name of concern for the public “good” and “safety”. @thomaschattwill