Recently, we (Saina Salarian & Golnar Abbasi) hosted a workshop about minority rights as a part of human rights dialoog at the Dokhuis.
Our recent workshop brought together a big and diverse group of participants
committed to deepening their understanding of human rights, power,
privilege, and the necessity of focusing on the needs and rights of
those considered as “minority”. Over the course of the event, colleagues
and attendees engaged in thoughtful, in-depth conversations about what
privilege (or the lack of it) means in everyday life, and how we can use
awareness and agency to make positive change. What made the series more
impactful was its blend of intellectual and embodied practices:
participants listened to sharp poetry about minority rights, took part
in collective reading, shared a collective reflection and writing
moment, and engaged in a physical exercise designed to explore how
everyday experiences that could shape privileges shape our lives level.
These activities opened up new ways of seeing, feeling, and relating to
the concepts under discussion, making abstract ideas tangible and
personally resonant. By lining up all the participants on the same
“starting” line and asking them to take a step to the front or back
depending on their answer to certain questions, it became visibly and
somatically clear how our qualities beyond our control (such as gender,
race, being able-bodied, etc.) shape our reality and create the hurdles
we have to navigate.
Together we created a space that was both reflective and
action-oriented, where voices from different backgrounds were heard,
acknowledged, and honored. Beyond exchanging perspectives, the workshop
fostered genuine connection and dialogue across difference, encouraging
us not only to recognize structural inequalities but to think critically
about our own roles within them. The energy in the room (captured in
moments of laughter, thoughtful silence, and ongoing in depth
conversations) reflected a shared commitment to learning and empathy. As
many attendees expressed afterwards, the experience was not just
educational but validating some of their experiences that they had been
socialized to hide or minimize the pain and grief of that experience. By
emphasizing on naming the experiences, together we shed light on the
importance of voicing our naming certain experiences in order to build a
better world through that.