A showcase of 28 Iranian female/non-binary musicians – including Lafawndah, Mariam Rezaei, Meshcut and Rojin Sharafi – will take over Radio AlHara on Thursday and Friday (September 29 and 30) this week in solidarity with protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini.
Sonic Liberation Front: In Solidarity With Iran will be broadcast from 10am to 12am UK time on both days. Other radio stations – including NTS and Noods Radio in the UK, Shared Frequencies in Texas and Refuge Worldwide in Berlin – have confirmed they will mirror parts of the program on their channels also.
"Iranian history in the past hundred years is a story of resistance against violence and oppression," said a press release about the transmission. "Most recently, on 16 September, the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa (Jina) Amini, ignited a nationwide uprising in Iran.
"Mahsa/Jina Amini was detained and beaten up by the morality police for wearing her hijab in an ‘inappropriate’ way and died in custody. Since then, Iranians, particularly women, have been on the streets shouting ‘Women, Life, Freedom’, demanding a free country, a fair government and the abolition of compulsory hijab. The Iranian government is violently attacking and arresting the protesters and has shut down the internet to limit communications."
The showcase has been put together by a group of Iranian artists and cultural catalysts. "We are standing by the people of Iran who are risking their lives for freedom," the press release added.
Radio AlHara can be listened to here.
