USA

Opinion Palestine USA

Universities should defend students’ right to free speech, not aid their repression

May 1, 2024 by Alex Shams

Originally published in the Chicago Tribune on May 1, 2024. In mid-April, the University of Southern California banned the school valedictorian from giving a commencement address for the first time in its

Iran USA

Iranians celebrate US elections with hilarious memes as Trump faces defeat

November 9, 2020 by Alex Shams

Originally published on Ajam Media Collective on November 9, 2020. US elections change the fate of the world. Every four years, the world holds its collective breath and waits to

Featured Iran USA

Becoming Iranian-American

March 28, 2018 by Alex Shams

I took Yara Elmjouie on a tour of Tehrangeles’ less well-known spots for an AJ+ documentary about Iranian-Americans entitled “Becoming Iranian-American“. There’s the Garment District downtown, It’s All Good House

El Salvador Reporting USA

Reconstructing the Village of the Divino Salvador

October 31, 2017 by Alex Shams

Originally published by Los Angeles Review of Books on October 31, 2017. EVERY AUGUST, Salvadorans around the world celebrate the Festival of El Salvador del Mundo, the patron saint and

Iran Iraq Opinion USA

The Weaponization of Nostalgia: How Afghan Miniskirts Became the Latest Salvo in the War on Terror

September 6, 2017 by Alex Shams

Originally published by “Ajam Media Collective” The debate over Afghan women’s miniskirts have become the latest salvo in the War on Terror. Last month, Donald Trump announced that the US

Iran Reporting USA

Sedentary Fragmentation: Toward a Genealogy of Chicago’s Iranian Art Scene

August 22, 2017 by Alex Shams

Originally published by Ajam Media Collective. In 1951, a young Iranian man named Hannibal Alkhas moved from Tehran to Chicago, where he spent the next decade studying at the Art

Opinion USA

Trump’s ‘honour crimes’ order is a racist distraction

March 11, 2017 by Alex Shams

Originally published by Aljazeera on March 11, 2017. The key to protecting American women is defeating American sexism and racism, not scapegoating migrants or Muslims. Trump’s proposal to track ‘honour

Opinion USA

Hate Knows No Mistaken Identities: He Came to Kill an Iranian and Settled for an Indian

February 28, 2017 by Alex Shams

Originally published by Ajam Media Collective on February 28, 2017. Over the weekend, a man opened fire in a Kansas bar and shot three people, killing one. The assailant was

Reporting USA

“Obama Built the Structures for Trump”: A Terrifying Legacy of Mass Deportation

October 16, 2016 by Alex Shams

Originally published by Truthout on October 16, 2016. Jose Juan Moreno sits in the room at the University Church on Chicago’s Southside where he has sought sanctuary from Immigration and

Iran Reporting USA

The Tourist’s Guide to Tehrangeles: Exploring the Capital of the Iranian Diaspora

August 10, 2016 by Alex Shams

Originally published by Ajam Media Collective on August 10, 2016. Los Angeles is the undisputed capital of the global Iranian diaspora. Home to a community of at least 700,000 Iranians