Many of us have been anxiously awaiting the one-year anniversary of the fall of the elected Afghan government and the takeover of the Taliban. Last week I posted about the current state of Afghan women and the setbacks for human rights since the Taliban took over. But today, I want to share with you the beauty of Afghanistan and not her suffering. No matter what the politics, or who is in power Afghans will always hold on to their beautiful culture through food, hospitality, and pride in their heritage.

I invite you to learn about the beauty of Afghanistan through all the symbols I’ve included in this heart that personify our ancient culture.

So this summer I made my Broadway debut with the stage production of The Kite Runner. As a Cultural Advisor and Script Consultant, the Kite Runner Broadway speaks to me on a personal level. My family immigrated to the U.S. from Afghanistan after the Russian invasion in 1979. Like Baba in the Kite Runner, my parents lost everything – wealth, status, family, friends – when they became nameless refugees in Northern California. Like Amir, the protagonist, I learned to straddle two cultures and balance the tightrope of cultural expectations between my family’s Afghan values and the lure of living an ‘American’ life.

Did you know that one of the true symbols of the Afghan New Year is Haft Mewa? This mixture of seven different nuts and fruits is a must-have to ring in the Afghan New Year.

The KITE RUNNER is coming to Broadway and I need your help getting the word out to the Afghan community so we can consider New York-based Afghan stage actors for the role.

And happy fall to all of you long-time readers. I hope you will take advantage of the beautiful cooking pumpkins dotting grocery stores to make kadoo, braised Afghan pumpkin with a garlicky yogurt sauce.

It’s heartening to see Afghan cuisine is slowly making its way to the mainstream. I was recently featured in a HuffPost article, The Comfort and Joy of Making Afghan Food, that highlighted Afghan comfort food, family traditions, and how the recent collapse of the Afghan government has affected Afghan-Americans.

As I noted in my video, What Just Happened in Afghanistan, Afghanistan has fallen off the front pages of the news outlets but here on Afghan Culture Unveiled, we have Afghanistan in the forefront of our thoughts, all the time.

That is why I’m sharing some inspiring, thought-provoking, and informative ways you can continue engaging with Afghanistan that will warm your belly and open your mind.

The past six weeks have been very challenging for me and my family as we have watched the Taliban roll back the gains for women, girls, and all the markers of a civil society granted to the Afghan people through the Afghan constitution. Yesterday I was inspired to record this video to share my perspective on What Just Happened in Afghanistan and how important it is that we don’t forget about the Afghan people. If you like what I have to say, please share the video widely so others can participate in mitigating the potential economic and humanitarian crisis that is about to unfold in Afghanistan.

If you are wondering what the future holds for Afghan women and girls, watch this video of a talk I recently did at the Commonwealth of San Francisco where we discussed what ending America’s longest war could mean to the Afghan people.

In this post and introduce my newest video which cover how regime changes, visionary leaders, and wars have affected the lives of Afghan women and how power-sharing with the Taliban could undo the gains in the past twenty years. People often ask me why Afghan women have ALWAYS been oppressed. It was this recurring question that inspired me to make this video to show the progress, gains, and setbacks in the past 100 years and how they have shaped the current climate for Afghan women.

We start with the reign of King Amanullah and Queen Soraya who attempted to modernize Afghanistan and gave unprecedented rights to women. Then we go on to cover the ‘Era of Peace’ 1933-1973 when Zahir Shah was the last king of Afghanistan and progress was slow and steady. During the Russian occupation, many rights were given to Afghan women but it was ineffectual in the rural areas where Afghans were being slaughtered by Russian airstrikes and women were losing their homes. The video ends with the current peace talks with the Taliban and how power-sharing could affect the lives of Afghan women.

Thankfully March is chock full of markers and celebrations to keep the days from blending together. On March 8th, I’ll be celebrating my 24th wedding anniversary along with International Woman’s Day. The Afghan Nowroz (New Year) celebration is on March 22nd, and my husband’s birthday (age not be disclosed) is on March 29th.

March is also Women’s History Month in the United States, an annual celebration highlighting the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society.

In keeping with the spirit of Women’s History Month, starting tomorrow, March 2nd, I will highlight and uplift an Afghan woman who is a public figure or an unsung hero on my Afghan Culture Unveiled Facebook page.

The Afghan diaspora won't stand for character assassination anymore. After living on the margins of US society for 40 years and inspired by people of color demanding their true stories be heard, we're speaking out and combating the belittling and marginalization of the Afghan story in the media, plays, television, and movies. Creators beware.

By Humaira

Have you ever watched a film or a TV show and thought -- What were they thinking, that would never happen?

Well, in my newest video, Misrepresenting Afghanistan on Screen, I will show you some of those cringe-worthy moments in movies and vlogs about Afghanistan that made me wonder -- What were they thinking?

I’ll walk you through a few scenes from Rock the Kasbah, a Bill Murray movie directed by Barry Levinson, to show how the costume choices and makeup clashed with the reality of how an Afghan girl from a remote village would live and wait for it, wait for it...she also happens to sing Cat Stevens’s song Wild World, in flawless English, in a cave. Don’t get me started.

Are you finding it hard to see the silver lining in our current situation with the outbreak of Coronavirus, social distancing and shelter in place? I struggle with it every day.

My kids (17 & 20-year-old) are doing online classes while facing cabin fever. My husband is working in his office and running most outside errands since I’m immune-compromised with asthma. I’m trying to manage the chaos of feeding four people three times a day while working on my own projects and consulting on a TV show. The house looks endlessly cluttered and washing towels several times a week due to Coronavirus precautions is getting old.

To stay sane I’ve been meditating in the morning, doing an online yoga or workout class midday and searching for uplifting articles to share on my Afghan Culture Unveiled Facebook page since no one wants to hear more bad news. I feel at times like this the poor, uneducated and dislocated populations are hit the worst and it’s important that we have humility, compassion, and generosity in our hearts so we can reach beyond our comfort zone to help others whether it be with words, phone calls or funds. And in order to find humility, compassion, and generosity we have to stay grounded, we have to look with-in for strength and we have to look for stories of hope and share it widely.