La Voz

De Anza College instructor Azin Arefi speaks Wednesday at the Writing and Reading Center.

San Jose State University professor Persis Karim and De Anza College instructor Azin Arefi spoke about their new book "Let Me Tell You Where I've Been" Wednesday at the Writing and Reading Center. They read passages and discussed the place of Iranian women in society as well as cultural issues concerning the increasing diversity in the Bay Area and United States.

Karim said she spent her childhood isolated from her Iranian roots at a time when the country was being given heavy media attention. "I, myself, grew up at a time before the mass migration of Iranian to U.S., particularly to the Bay Area. But I always grew up with a sense of being different because of my name and growing up in the once lily white suburbs of Walnut Creek," Karim said in her opening dialogue.

Both authors hoped to inspire empathy for Iranian women and dispel the singularized way Iran is portrayed. Karim also said it is important to be outspoken in society. "I hope and assume I am on the FBI/CIA list because I think it is important to be vocal and out there and how important it is not to go to some military aggressive solution in the case of Iran."

The two agreed to draw a line between pride and nationalism, saying that pride is an individual experience where nationalism is making claims about culture at the exclusion of anything else. They also added that it is important to be critical of your country yet, at the same time, not be ashamed of it.

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