RALEIGH, N.C. — LAST week, swarms of sun-starved, soon-to-be lawyers emerged from hiding to celebrate completing the bar exam. Passing the exam, however, won’t guarantee them admission to the bar. They also have to demonstrate that they possess the requisite fitness and moral character for the practice of law.
Read MoreWUNC's The State of Things: Breaking The Silence Of Mental Illness (interview by Frank Stasio) →
Melody Moezzi has always been outspoken. As an Iranian-American writer and attorney, she has devoted herself to discussing controversial issues like religion, politics and culture in Iran. But when she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, her family and doctors encouraged silence. On this issue, they thought, you could not speak the truth. Melody would not be quiet. She decided to write a memoir of her experiences so that others with the disorder, and those who know them, could better understand. The memoir is called “Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life,” (Avery/2013). Host Frank Stasio talks to her about her experience.
Read MoreNAMI: Navigating a Bipolar Life (interview by Joni Agronin) →
As a psychology major who knows how serious mental illness can be, I never thought stories about bipolar disorder would make me laugh. While bipolar disorder itself isn’t actually funny at all, in Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life, Melody Moezzi brings humor to even the harshest realities of her disorder.
Read MorePenguin: A Conversation with Melody Moezzi →
Why did you write Haldol and Hyacinths?
Shocked to find there wasn’t another Iranian-American Muslim bipolar feminist memoir on the market, I just had to fill the void in the literature. Seriously though, I’m a human rights activist. I’ve fought for the rights of Iranians, Muslims, women, the LGBT community and other marginalized groups for years. After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, I suddenly became part of this new wildly persecuted and painfully silent minority, and for the first time in my life, I was ashamed of a piece of my identity. I was brought up to be proud of who I am and never hide my background, no matter how unpopular it might make me. But now everyone was telling me to be quiet, and while I may have been ashamed and afraid at the time, I’ve never been the quiet type—particularly where injustice is concerned. Soon enough, the activist in me came out, and I spoke up. After writing commentaries for NPR, CNN and other media outlets about my mental illness, I received hundreds of messages of support encouraging me to continue writing and speaking about the issue. I promised my readers and myself that I would, and Haldol and Hyacinths is my fulfillment of that promise. I pray this book will help chip away at the shame, fear and stigma that so many people living with mental illness face on a daily basis.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: TSA Ramadan Alert: Expect Unduly Clean, Respectful, Teetotaling Travelers →
In honor of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the Transportation Security Administration has provided the public with some curious “travel information,” under the heading “Traveling During Ramadan.” Ever devoted to protecting the safety and civil rights of travelers, the “TSA has reminded its security workforce that traveling passengers may be observed at various areas in the airport — including security checkpoints or on aircraft — engaged in religious practices and meditations during Ramadan.”
Read MoreCNN: A plea from an exhausted Muslim woman →
I wasn’t surprised by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's recent statement about a “problem within Islam.”
Read MorePublishers Weekly: Haldol and Hyacinths Review →
“Perhaps insanity is inescapable when you separate a soul from its vessel,” muses Iranian-American activist, author, and lawyer Moezzi (War on Error) in her strangely affecting chronicle of living with bipolar disorder. She attributes her affliction to a variety of factors—cultural vertigo, post-9/11 prejudice against Muslims, a rare pancreatic disorder, overwhelming family pressure—and over the years has attempted suicide and suffered from a full-blown manic episode, as well as psychotic breaks. To recreate the gaps in her memory during these traumatic periods, she relies on recollections of friends and family, and her husband’s detailed notes. Some readers may not embrace Moezzi’s bad-girl persona—she stages rebellions in hospital wards and offers strong opinions on a range of subjects—but her vivid descriptions of being pulled against her will in a swirl of impulsivity, hallucinations, and paranoia are riveting. She also uses offbeat humor to criticize the medical profession’s handling of the mentally ill. Her often black-and-white thinking is mercifully softened by abundant gratitude for the saintly patience of her husband, the practicality of her mother, and the wisdom of her Rumi-quoting father. A poetic portrait of life on the lines of sanity and a mind on the edge of cultures.
Read MoreKirkus: Haldol and Hyacinths Review →
An Iranian-American political activist and writer’s memoir of how she came to terms with her bicultural heritage and bipolar disorder.
Read MoreMs. Magazine: The Sisterhood of Generation I (Adult Children of Immigrants) →
I’ve never met Raquel Cepeda in person, but we come from the same family. That is, the family of adult children of immigrants with our feet in two or more lands, inextricably torn between the lands of our ancestors and those of our descendants. Cepeda’s latest project, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina, is a memoir that combines storytelling, science and commentary. Like Cepeda, the book is an unorthodox amalgam, but it works. In fact, in many respects, that’s why it works.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: Why I Won’t See Argo →
I can’t stand people who blast books or movies without actually reading or seeing them. So, to be clear, this is not a critique. For one, I’ve heard great things aboutArgo — that it’s a gripping, well-acted and well-directed, edge-of-your-seat thriller (which is impressive, given everyone already knows the ending).
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: I Am Not Adam Lanza →
I’m not the mother of a mentally ill child. I’m not the child of a mentally ill parent. I’m not the wife of a mentally ill husband. I am, however, mentally ill. I have a story too. And it’s nothing like Adam Lanza’s.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: What’s the Most Islamic Approach to Islamophobia? →
Whether the recent attacks on U.S. diplomatic outposts in Libya, Egypt and Yemen were provoked solely by an Islamophobic film ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad isn’t entirely clear, though most media reports seem to suggest it. Claims that at least one of these attacks — most likely the one in Benghazi that left four Americans dead — may have been the result of a more organized terrorist plot have not been confirmed. Whatever the case, however, this incendiary and amateurish film has sparked the media’s interest, as most news outlets continue citing the film as the likely motivation for the riots.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: What’s the Most Islamic Approach to Islamophobia? →
Whether the recent attacks on U.S. diplomatic outposts in Libya, Egypt and Yemen were provoked solely by an Islamophobic film ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad isn’t entirely clear, though most media reports seem to suggest it. Claims that at least one of these attacks — most likely the one in Benghazi that left four Americans dead — may have been the result of a more organized terrorist plot have not been confirmed. Whatever the case, however, this incendiary and amateurish film has sparked the media’s interest, as most news outlets continue citing the film as the likely motivation for the riots.
Read MoreMs. Magazine: 15 Days Left To Stop North Carolina’s Gay Marriage Ban →
North Carolina has the dishonorable distinction of becoming the first state to put an anti-gay marriage amendment on a 2012 ballot.
Read MoreKCRW's To the Point: Iran Comes Back to the Bargaining Table on Nuclear Program (Interview by Warren Olney) →
After more than a year since cancelling negotiation about its nuclear program, Iran's back at the bargaining table -- or is it? Talks are scheduled to start on Saturday, but there's real doubt they'll last much longer than that. We get a preview. Also, an update on Syria, and George Zimmerman goes to court in the Trayvon Martin killing.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: Who Really Ought to Be Afraid of Iran? →
Assuming the so-called Islamic Republic of Iran is truly attempting to build a nuclear weapon (which I suspect is about as likely as it erecting a giant sculpture of a pig in the middle of Azadi square), who ought to be most afraid? The United States? Nope. Great Britain? By no means. Israel? Lo. Iraq? La. Afghanistan? Naah. Saudi Arabia? La. In short, not a single one of these nations need be afraid.
Read MoreThe Huffington Post: Forging Alliances Across Civilizations →
Last week marked the fourth annual United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Forum, a three-day conference held in Doha, Qatar. The UNAOC began in 2005 as an initiative of the Spanish and Turkish governments with the aim of creating alliances across different cultures and sectors of society. Its focus was and remains on education, youth, media and migration. Over 2,500 participants attended this year’s Forum, including heads of state, academics, business leaders, journalists, activists and many other representatives from a broad range of backgrounds. I flew halfway across the world to be there. Why?
Read MoreThe Washington Post: Honoring Ashura in Iran →
This Monday marks the Muslim holy day of Ashura, a day that is perhaps nowhere more ardently commemorated than in Iran. The only way to fully understand what this day means to so many Iranians is to delve into a history that has repeated itself there for years on end. From the Constitutional Revolution of the early 20th Century to the 1979 Islamic Revolution to the growth of the opposition Green Movement since 2009 to last week’s storming of the British Embassy, the history of Ashura is reflected in every struggle against injustice in Iran. Whether opposing monarchy, imperialism, theocracy or crippling sanctions, the history of this day holds a unique position in the hearts of countless Iranians.
Read MoreMs. Magazine: Will Saudi Women Lose Their Virginity En Masse If They Start Driving? →
My first thought is “no,” followed by a swift “none of your business.” But that wasn’t the conclusion of a recent report prepared for Saudi Arabia’s legislative assembly by a well-known academic. He predicted that if Saudi women were given the right to drive, those who had never had sex would quickly start losing their virginity as easily as they might their car keys.
Read MoreNIAC: Use and Misuse of the Word “Terrorism” (Interview by Nobar Elmi) →
Discussing the use and misuse of the word "terrorism" with commentator, activist, attorney and author of her award-winning book War on Error: Real Stories of American Muslims, Melody Moezzi. Melody addresses the media's role in politicizing the term and what the likely implications are for the Iranian-American community and U.S. policy.
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