Many communities around the globe, including our Indigenous relatives, celebrate the transitions of seasons and their relationships to nature. December 21 is the longest and darkest night of this year, the winter solstice (known as 'Yaldā' in Persian). Iranic peoples (Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kurdistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, etc.) and diverse ethnic relatives call it 'Shab-e Yaldā' ('Yaldā night') or something similar and spend the night in celebration, storytelling, poetry reading, singing, eating, and other means of social connection.

Shab-e Yaldā or Shab-e Chelleh falls on the 20th or 21st of December, or the end of the ninth month (Azar) in the Iranian calendar. Iranic peoples stay up eating pomegranates, watermelons, nuts, drinking tea, and the like (usually remaining fruits from the summer), sitting under a heated table called a 'korsī.'
Persian speakers also practice bibliomancy (foretelling the future by interpreting a randomly chosen passage from a book) from Hafez's dīvān (book of poems). Each guest secretly makes a wish or asks a question they seek to find an answer to, and the reader(s) randomly select a poem from the dīvān for each person present to predict what their life has in store. The practice is called 'fāl-e hāfez.'

Yaldā marks the beginning of the first 40 nights of winter, hence its first name Shab-e Chelleh ('Fortieth Night'). Intervals of 40 days are significant in Iranic culture: Sufi tradition usually calls for 40-day seclusions, and relatives visit new ancestors 40 days after burial.

Chelleh began as a Zoroastrian practice. Zoroastrians believed that the Ahriman (evil spirit) was most active during the night, so they would stay awake with company during the longest night to stay safe, eating what remained of that year's harvest.

Chelleh took its second name 'Yaldā' in the first century when Christians settled in Persia to avoid religious persecution. The Christians celebrated Christmas, which they called 'Yaldā,' meaning birth in Syriac (cognate to the Arabic w-l-d).

Wishing all who celebrate this time of the year, in whatever form, a joyous Winter Solstice!

Back in the day, as a young one, when I first learned of the commonly-used Persian terms to describe Indigenous, ethnic, and racial peoples and groups, I was personally uncomfortable with and offended by them. We ended up consulting about it as a family, and we decided that we would commit to never using those terms within or beyond our household.

With the amplification of Black Lives Matter (BLM) support nationally and globally, I was delighted to notice that a number of BLM artwork and t-shirts have been designed in Persian showing long overdue solidarity and the recognition of Iran's/Persia's complicities in slavery, racism, and anti-Blackness.
When I showed my dad my own artistic rendering of the "Black Lives Matter" text in Persian I had found online, he reminded me, "We discussed that term was offensive, remember?"

Ashamedly, my Persian reading and writing is less than basic, so while I can get away with speaking colloquial Persian, I can hardly read or write in the language. So I didn't even notice (or consider a closer reading/paying attention) that the Persian term سیاه پوستان that literally translates to "Black skins" meant that the BLM translations I've found online in artwork and printed on t-shirts literally read as "Black skins' lives matter," which in English, is intended to translate to "Black Lives Matter." Our languages, traditions, and beliefs may be "socio-/cultural," and therefore, normalized, but that doesn't always make them just.

Upon catching this, in collaboration with and gratitude to Baba, I designed an alternative Persian translation that removes "skins" and pluralizes "Black" so that it still translates to "Black Lives Matter."

While a posture of critique seems to be the default setting nowadays, regardless, I'm grateful to know there's a heightened awareness, hunger to learn, and that discursive spaces are emerging from the diaspora! I know this isn't true of everyone, but I am grateful that the conscience of more and more people in the U.S. has stirred. We have been asleep for too long . . . 

UPDATE!!!
I had initially shared a link to high resolution images of the design here since people were inquiring about whether it would be printed and sold on a t-shirt/hat, and I did not have the resources to do so. Due to popular demand, however, and thanks to a collaboration with Created Noble, a Black family-owned business based in Atlanta, I am excited to announce that t-shirts and hoodies are now available for order with the golden yellow miniature accented "Black Lives Matter" in an English-Persian text combination ("miniature" is in reference to a style of small (i.e., "miniature") Persian paintings, characterized by vivid, intricate details. This design is comprised of flowers and birds). T-shirts and hoodies are available in four colors (beige, black, neon, and white) while supplies last.

Created Noble sells a variety of thought-provoking, socially-and-spiritually-conscious apparel, including their top selling "Black Lives Are Created Noble" t-shirts. Please help me support them, and help spread the word! You can follow them on Instagram/IG via @Bahais4BlackLives.