SWANA speaks

SWANA speaks

Home
Notes
Archive
About
Most Popular
View all
"Trauma in a society becomes a culture"
 • Parisa Hashempour
'We talk about Palestine as an abstract idea, not about Palestinian people'
 • Parisa Hashempour
'I am stateless, and I carry that with me wherever I go'
 • Parisa Hashempour
'A unique trauma accompanies being Armenian because the genocide is still denied by most of the world'
 • Parisa Hashempour
2
"Trauma in a society becomes a culture"
Rose Eskafi on intergenerational trauma, talking to your inner child, and how mindfulness can help with ADHD
 • 
Parisa Hashempour
'When giving birth, refugee mothers' wishes are not being honoured'
Sarah Shemery on refugee maternal rights, loneliness, why she loves Arabic, and the feminist theorists you need to read
 • 
Parisa Hashempour
'We talk about Palestine as an abstract idea, not about Palestinian people'
Illustrator and writer, Aya Ghanameh, on trauma and exile, discovering family video footage, and what she wishes people understood about Palestinian…
 • 
Parisa Hashempour
'As Afghan women, we begin to fight within our family, then our workplace, then society'
Fereshta Abbasi on growing up with refugee status in Iran, how Kabul taught her to fight for her rights, and the indomitable women protesting the…
 • 
Parisa Hashempour
'White feminism created the myth that Muslim men are inherently more violent'
Shahed Ezaydi on the Muslim alt-right, white feminism and her upcoming book The Othered Woman
 • 
Parisa Hashempour
'I am stateless, and I carry that with me wherever I go'
Mona Kareem on writing oneself into existence, the problem with individualistic activism, and taking a proletariat approach to creating poetry.
 • 
Parisa Hashempour
"Islam doesn’t speak, they speak for Islam."
Dr Ziba Mir-Hosseini on becoming an Islamic feminist, Iran's protest movement and a divorce that led to a rich anthropological career
 • 
Parisa Hashempour
“What is grief if not love persevering?”
Film critic and author, Hanna Flint, on mixedness, movies as a healing balm, and why white men are the real tokens
 • 
Parisa Hashempour
'It's not okay to break into someone's home, kill them and take that house. Why do I have to explain that?'
Deana Hassanein on dealing with 'stupid men' online, what she learned from reaching burn out, and the songs you should add to your Spotify playlist
 • 
Parisa Hashempour
SWANA speaks
SWANA speaks
South West Asian and North African diasporic thinkers, writers, movers and creators on what shapes their identity, influences, and ideas. SWANA speaks is a collation of conversations on life, work and identity, plus topical personal and guest essays.
Recommendations
View all 11
Mixed Messages
Mixed Messages
Isabella Silvers
Who knows?
Who knows?
Who knows?
HEATED
HEATED
Emily Atkin
Self & Society
Self & Society
Satya Doyle Byock
The Review of Beauty by Jessica DeFino
The Review of Beauty by Jessica DeFino
Jessica DeFino
© 2025 Parisa
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture