Whats going on over there? Weve seen so many Iranians, angrily marching in the streets, getting pelted and baton-whipped and killed and arrested yet they mostly remain peaceful, united, and dignified. Obviously, something is really wrong in Iran, but the situation also has its poetic moments; unsurprising for the place that gave us Rumi. (Were thinking of the rooftop chanting that developed immediately as an alternative to the censored cellphones practical, yes, but also manifestly beautiful.) At Raising Our Voices for Iran, Reese Erlich, a Peabody Award-winning journalist who has spent a lot of time in the Persian Gulf, gives an election report, and a slate of other authors read their literary work. We hope local Iranian-Americans weigh in with reports from their families in Iran, too. We heard recently from friends, for example, that most of those protesters dont really care about Mousavi; they just want a better life. Music in the form of jazz fusion band Aleph Null features Hossein Massoudi singing in Farsi and Kurdish, with a backing band that includes trumpet and oud.
Sun., July 26, 2 p.m., 2009