For Neda
Neda Agha-Soltan was an Iranian University Student who participated in the 2009 Iranian election protests. She was walking back to her car when she was fatally shot in the upper chest. She was shot by a militiaman belonging to a pro-government paramilitary. Her death was captured on video by bystanders and posted on the internet, and her death became a rallying cry for the protesters.
Seeing a video of a young person needlessly dying hit me incredibly hard. What could I do? In our house, when the children were small (and occasionally still), we would sing “Three Birds” by Bob Marley. It was the most comforting thing that I could think of to do for Neda. I made this video with audio of Parker singing the song to comfort her and me. I later discovered that the name Neda is derived from the Persian word for voice.