Whether we are political or not, and whatever political beliefs we hold, what we are witnessing in Iran lies beyond politics and our personal beliefs. The heart of humanity has been targeted, and thousands of lives, thousands of loves, thousands of futures have been destroyed. Imagining the disbelief of the final moments of those who lost their lives, and the image of those who have been separated from a loved one forever in such shock and disbelief, will leave a deep wound in our psyche.

This grief... this indescribable grief... all the tears we have shed and all the nights from which sleep has been stolen remind us of one thing alone: we have a responsibility before this immense human suffering.

Shared mourning at one time and across the world can become the greatest declaration of our unity as a nation.

We can designate a night, invite our loved ones and friends, and each light a candle: both in memory of those who have gone and in memory of those who, in darkness and silence inside the world’s largest prison, have no voice but ours.

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