Yasmine Aker Instagram – Today was Mahsa Day, and I can’t believe it’s been an entire year since the revolution in Iran began. Today I reflect on the past year of organizing, protesting and showing up for the Woman Life Freedom movement. Say her name: Mahsa Zhina Amini ❤️🤍💚✊🏼✊🏾✊🏽 it has been an very difficult year, at times feeling like an impossible uphill battle. Not only has it been a year of tremendous grief for the people of Iran but also a deeply painful year as a progressive activist for showing up over and over again here in LA only to be consistently silenced by the dark intentions and agenda of a powerful handful of fascist Iranian leaders outside of Iran who have successfully co-opted the movement. Yesterday I went to multiple rallies in Los Angeles. The one in Sherman Oaks was so peaceful and diverse. There were young people, old people, non-Iranians, Iranians, LGBTQ flags, and woman life freedom flags. There was a diversity of posters ranging from people supporting left to right. Then we went to the Downtown LA protest organized by the right wing Iranian nationalist group who always bring bus loads of their supporters from Orange County. I will finally break my year long silence of the violence, injustice, blatant racism, sexism, and bigotry I have witnessed for a year now in our own community under the leadership of the fascist Iranians of LA. When you come to one of these events, it quickly becomes apparent that these rallies are not for Woman Life Freedom — they have an entirely separate agenda that is anti woman, anti lgbtq, and anti Kurdish and minorities… these are the MAGA of the LA Iranian community. Countless people over the last year at these rallies have had their posters supporting the LGBTQ ripped out of their hands and torn up, countless Kurdish flags ripped from people’s hands, with the organizers watching and even promoting these violent actions. And yesterday I was attacked not by one but by 3 separate groups of fascist Iranians who said I was not allowed to have a Woman Life Freedom flag. 😔 I will continue to stand in solidarity with the women and people of Iran. ✊🏽 #mahsaamini #zhinaamini #mahsazhinaamini #womanlifefreedom Los Angeles, California