Iran Awakening

Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope by Shirin Ebadi

From my first contact browsing through the introduction at the library, I was 'hooked' and felt I had to bring the book home with me and continue reading.
The story in the introduction recounts how Ebadi, a lawyer in present day Iran, was browsing through stacks of case materials and was shocked to find her own name on a list of individuals who were marked for assassination by local death squads.

For the remainder of the book, Ebadi recounts her upbringing in the 50's and 60's in Iran, and traces her route through law school to becoming a well respected judge in Tehran. This all changed with the Iranian revolution in 1979. Even though she got caught up in the idealism of the movement, she was shocked to see how the culture changed so radically to restrict the voices and rights of women. Losing her position as a judge and relegated to a clerk's job in a back room, she eventually had to retire. She was not able to use her law qualifications to work under the oppressive new regime.

Ebadi did persist though, and found a voice through writing and became well known as a dissident voice. Eventually, after decades of oppression, the government went through some changes that allowed her to practice law again in the late '90s. She worked mostly for free, championing the rights of the oppressed by taking on cases that exposed the corruption and ruthlessness in the government. People were still being killed and imprisoned in crackdowns for being opposed to government policies. Ebadi herself was imprisoned for many months without clear charges. Eventually, she exposed key players that had been terrorizing the intellectual community. In 2003, she was award the Nobel Peace Prize.

To read more about Shirin Ebadi, please consult an entry for her in Wikipedia. -John