The Fine Print

POLICY FOR THE PEOPLE

First off:

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

Maya Angelou’s words have never been truer as we consider the motivation behind the Department of Justice’s attack on the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

DOJ would have us all believe they want to hold the SPLC accountable for “funding” domestic terror groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Nations by covertly paying moles to infiltrate them.

That’s right: the department claims the same SPLC that is famous for bankrupting the United Klans of America is actually in league with the extremists, not against them.

These claims, of course, come from a justice department serving an administration that has done the following: waged war on diversity, equity, and inclusion; fought to erase markers and reminders of slavery while reinstating Confederate monuments; and planned to criminalize people who critique capitalism or oppose the administration’s immigration crackdowns as domestic terrorists.

Which are we supposed to believe: that an organization that has spent decades decimating far-right extremist organizations secretly funds terrorism, or that a justice department bent on undoing more than 60 years of civil rights legislation is suddenly interested in protecting us from the extremists they enable?

As with other frivolous tactics from this administration, this lawsuit isn’t about keeping Americans safe or ending fraud. It’s about weaponizing power to attack political enemies—many of whom happen to advocate for Black and Brown peoples’ rights.

While you don’t need to be Ron Stallworth from BlackkKlansman and infiltrate the KKK yourself, let’s recognize the play for what it is and protect organizations like SPLC that do the important work of hitting back against extremist violence when our government won’t.

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"Freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. I don't believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others."

—Coretta Scott King

THE BIG PICTURE

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Becoming ‘human’ again: Homa Sarabi on art, democracy, and the war back home

By Khari Thompson

When I first met Homa Sarabi last year, it was to talk about the Iranian-born filmmaker’s artistry—from her portfolio of short films, which often tell stories of home, to her “Walk” series, which literally maps her virtual walks with family and friends back in Tehran on pieces of parchment in her office.

My conversation with her just happened to take place right after the United States had bombed her home country in June of 2025—an event that left her anxious and deeply concerned for her family’s well-being.

Fast-forward a year: our next conversation, set against an active U.S.-Israel war with Iran, finds her resilient as ever.

"This is the amazing thing about humans: we get used to everything. We can adapt so much,” she told Embrace.

But that doesn’t mean watching the country she’s called home for a decade bomb her homeland has been easy.

“Every day is like a nightmare," she added. "We never dreamed or had a nightmare about the Strait of Hormuz, but now we are. … Holding the thought of your country, your land being attacked, being brutalized, with people being brutalized, being under pressure from all sides: from an oppressive regime, from imperialist powers dropping bombs on them, from an economy that has been destroyed by sanctions and corruption. Those are all really hard.”

Sarabi says she has pro-war friends, whether in support of or opposition to the Islamic Republic. Some support the U.S. and the Trump administration. Some oppose the war entirely.

But for Sarabi, who has lived in Boston since she first enrolled at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2015, the struggle between the U.S. and Israel on one side and Iran on the other isn't a battle of good versus evil. Rather, it shows two sides of the same coin—governments that oppose one another, but behave similarly in hollowing out democracy with concentrations of power, wrapping violence in religious fervor, and manipulating citizens with misinformation.

“When the masses get lied to through sources that should be reliable, that should be truthful, that should be held accountable, but aren't—what is democracy? Can we even pretend that we have democracy in the United States still?” she questioned. “Every lie an elected official says, every lie they come on TV and tell the American people or the world, these are attacks on democracy.”

Homa Sarabi. (Photo: Thomas Logan)

One way to cut through the noise of division and propaganda, she explains, is to lean on arts and culture—the practices of expressing and recognizing what it means to be human.

“[Practicing or partaking in the arts] is you experiencing and connecting with the soul of you as a human and as a creative being in this world. The more people are deprived of that humanistic and artistic experience, the easier it is for them to dehumanize everything around them, because they don't see themselves as human. … I feel like we are living through this painful separation that has us confused and really, really suffering. The people who live the fullest lives are the people who are able to connect with that soul of humanity and the true nature, through art or other means,” she said.

Sarabi has lived that philosophy since she was a child, inspired by her father, who is also a filmmaker and still lives in Tehran. She says one of her newest projects, Path of Totality, will reflect on the attack on the freedom of artistic expression. The project will combine her own footage and footage from a musical her father made in Iran that was banned—because it was accused of being “feminist.”

She’s also planning an exhibition at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown this November with fellow Iranian artists Amir Tabatabaei and Niloufar Keyhani titled Tan/Vatan, or “Body/Homeland.” The name derives from one of Sarabi’s short films and “explores the connection between our bodies and the expression of homeland, and the stories we hold in ourselves and the stories the land holds of us.”

Because in a world fraught with division, Sarabi sees the arts as one of the last hopes for rediscovering the humanity that unites us.

“I do feel very sorrowful,” she said of the state of war in her homeland. “I feel a lot of sadness and pain. But what helps me reflect or hold that sadness or manage it is art and poetry…going back to Persian poetry, going back to art, going back to all the things that people in Iran have created for the past centuries—thousands of years, millennia.

“They're all beautiful and amazing, and they have survived so many idiot rulers and kings. I think about the architecture and the poetry and the writing and the music we have created. At least I—even if briefly alive—I’ve had the chance to experience that.”

THE READING ROOM

Coretta Scott King turns 99

Mrs. King’s birthday this past Monday marked the beginning of her centennial celebration, which will end next year when she turns 100. Revisit our chat with Dr. Johnnie Hamilton-Mason, Embrace’s first Scholar in Residence, about what made Coretta special in her own right. And here's our latest video on the League of Women for Community Service, of which Mrs. King was a member.

The history of the 'Southern Strategy'
From Lee Atwater of South Carolina to Turning Point USA, historian Anthony Milian breaks down how yesteryear’s overly racist propaganda and policy have evolved into a more covert playbook that still influences our politics today.

'The Resistance in Connection'

Democracy isn’t possible without making connections with the people around us. In case you missed it, read our own G. Valentino Ball’s full piece on the importance of third space in maintaining a healthy civil life.

LET'S EMBRACE THE WORK

Embrace Honors Harry Hom Dow

Don’t forget to register now for Embrace’s inaugural AANHPI celebration, Embrace Honors Harry Hom Dow. Join us at 5 p.m. on May 21 at The Embrace to honor Harry Hom Dow’s legacy in community with speakers, live performances, and community conversations.

Show support for the arts

With rumors of potential budget cuts to arts programs in the City of Boston, join artists and cultural leaders at City Hall for a City Council meeting on arts funding this Thursday at 2 p.m. Stand up for what makes us human.

Use your voice

From Temporary Protected Status for Haitian and Syrian migrants to the ICE funding budget working its way through Congress, there’s a lot to keep track of. The 50501 Movement just shared a primer to help you figure out whom to call and email to make sure you’re heard on these key topics.

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(Header photo by AP)