[from JP to AD]

Malcolm X said in his autobiography:

“I for one believe that if you give people a thorough understanding of what confronts them and the basic causes that produce it, they’ll create their own program, and when the people create a program, you get action.”

I have always held a deep respect for my friend and proverbial brother for his fundamental respect and brotherhood toward those he has worked to inspire. As a student admitted to Stanford University by Arash and the rest of the admissions committee, he always treated me always as a peer rather than a subject, and as an intellectual always as an interlocutor rather than a didactic target. This is self evident by the relationships he retains with so many of his students and admits.

You can (and will) see for yourself with his words that he exemplifies the ideas in quote above, that like Malcolm X, Arash is an educator, not only of those in a position to be marginalized but of all of us who play a role in society. Also, like X he is defiant, unquashable, and morally unbendable. I have tried to pick the most immediately relevant stories that appeal to this spirit. I will leave his writing to tell the rest of the story…