American students take to the streets in solidarity with Iran

Heard on the protest scene in the U.S.

At this point Obama has spoken out about the election fallout in Iran and young people in the U.S. are staying up to date and actively engaged in the situation that continues to unfold. We caught up with some young people in NYC to get their perspective on how to stay connected and show solidarity for our peers in Iran.

Some of the protests in the US have had a softer note—like the vigil outside the Do Something office in Union Square, NYC. In a traditional, memorial style, a group of around fifty people gathered to light candles around a sign that read the question on everyone’s mind “WHERE IS MY VOTE?” We caught up with some of the young protesters; here is what they had to say:

“We’ve come to support our people—Iran,” a young woman told us while lighting a candle around the memorial, “And all of the Iranian media has been cut off—facebook and cell phones and they have no way to communicate with one another and to get each other the news.”

The young woman we spoke with has family and friends in Iran and hoped that the vigils and protests in America would help them keep the energy high: “And over here for ourselves it’s harder because we want to be there, we want to help them and support them. But we can’t and you know we are here and this is the only way that we could. We have our voices. Hopefully we can get our voices heard through the media here.”

Adrien Wenzel, an NYU student, said that Americans may feel distant from the problem but they can do more than just read the news. “It is one thing to read the morning paper and see that this is happening and feel bad but its another to come out here and show that we actually care about this here,” he said, “The UN needs to pay closer attention to what is going on in countries like Iran.”

An Iranian-American young woman agreed with Adrien, saying “I think by organizing things like this it gives the people inside Iran hope. They don’t feel like we are out having a great time while they are fighting this war for us. We want them to know that we are with them.”

Even though the weeks after the election have been full of roadblocks, she remain hopeful: “Women along with the youth and many others whose rights have been taken from them are going to, I feel, gain those rights and gain what they have been working for back. There are going to be changes for sure.”