We Are Still Here

Description

A collection of first-hand accounts from courageous Afghan women who refuse to be silenced in the face of the Taliban. After decades of significant progress, the prospects of women and girls in Afghanistan are once again dependent on radical Islamists who reject gender equality. When the United States announced the end of their twenty-year occupation and the Taliban seized control of the country on August 15, 2021, a steep regression of social, political, and economic freedoms for women in the country began. But just because a brutal regime has taken over doesn't mean Afghan women will stand by while their rights are stripped away. In We Are Still Here, artist and activist Nahid Shahalimi compiles the voices of thirteen powerful, insightful, and influential Afghan women who have worked as politicians, journalists, scientists, filmmakers, artists, coders, musicians, and more. As they reflect on their country's past, stories of their own upbringing and the ways they have been able to empower girls and women over the past two decades emerge. They report on the fear and pain caused by the impending loss of their homeland, but, above all, on what many girls and women in Afghanistan have already lost- freedom, self-determination, and joy. The result is an arresting book that issues an appeal to remember Afghan girls and women and to show solidarity with them. Like us, they have a right to freedom and dignity, and together we must fight for their place in the free world because Afghanistan is only geographically distant. Extremist ideas know no limits.

NAHID SHAHALIMI was born in Afghanistan and left with her family when she was young to begin a new life in Canada. Later she moved to Germany, where she works today as an author, artist, and social entrepreneur. She started traveling to Afghanistan in 2011, visiting Kabul and remote provinces to interview Afghan women. In 2017 she published her first book in German, Where Courage Bears the Soul, to great acclaim. The following year she released her award-winning film We the Women of Afghanistan: A Silent Revolution. We Are Still Here is her first English-language publication.

"The title says it all. The Taliban may try to make Afghan women disappear, and the world may be distracted by crises in other places, but the women who have been the backbone of Afghanistan still exist; they have things to say and they need to be heard. We Are Still Here is an important book that brings together the voices of powerful, articulate, talented women who need to be allowed to do the work they've been called to do. It is an inspiration. It is a call to action. It is a demand for us to create a better, kinder, more just world. Thank you to all of the writers for sharing their stories." -Deborah Ellis, #1 bestselling author of The Breadwinner "Provide[s] important detail and fascinating personal narratives that highlight how Afghan women and girls embraced the opportunities afforded them over the past 20 years . . . I remain in awe of their resilience." -NPR "An inspiring portrait of perseverance in the face of cruelty and injustice." -Publishers Weekly "An impassioned testimony to women's determination." -Kirkus Reviews