Afarin Rava: For Shervin

Monday, February 6, 2023

For Shervin

Shervin Hajipour's song, #Baraye (baraye means for, the preposition) released in September 2022, became the anthem for the #WomanLifeFreedom revolution in Iran, which started on September 16, 2022, after the death of Jina Amini, a.k.a. Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died while in the custody of the immoral group of armed forces who called themselves the "morality police," just another section of the #IRGCterrorists. Mahsa Amini was not the first woman who went into a coma in their custody and never woke up, nor the last one, sadly, but her murder triggered the protests that never died and became this revolution in progress.

Shervin made this song out of Iranian people's tweets reflecting their reasons for the uprising. Days after his song came out, Shervin got arrested by the Islamic Republic regime, and although he has been released on bail, he is under watch.

Shervin is not the only singer arrested for his art. Three rappers, #ToomajSalehi, #SamanYasin, and #BehradAliKonari, are currently being tortured in prison for their songs. Their lives are in danger. There's a #FreeToomaj campaign going on right now as today is Toomaj's 100th day under torture in solitary confinement.

Last night, "Baraye" (meaning for, as in for the sake of) won the Best Song for Social Change Award at the #Grammys2023, presented by none other than the First Lady herself.

Shervin's two-word tweet "we won" says it all: his happiness for winning, his lack of freedom, his hope for finishing what we started, and his sense of solidarity.

Here's a link to his song:
http://youtu.be/LY_U5QfeQQc

Also, here's a link I found interesting, mostly because it has to do with the linguistic aspect of the song:
https://www.languageonthemove.com/baraye-preposition-of-the-year/

Finally, here's a link to a post from my other blog, where I write as Gratitude Girl:
https://gratigi.blogspot.com/2022/12/shervin-hajipour.html

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