Leila/Fame

During the Green Revolution in Iran, a voice rose from the street, a feminist blogger who called herself 'A Persian Girl'. She wrote vividly about the life of a woman in Iran, of what she wanted for herself, and the daughters who'd come after her. Her writing inspired a generation, made her a media darling, and the Revolutionary Guard's public enemy #1.

'A Persian Girl' enlisted the aid of Anonymous to hide from her government for a time, but she was eventually forced to escape to the United States. It was there that agents from Iran found her, and killed her. The first look that the world saw of her face were cell phone videos recorded of her death. Her last words were 'Never stop fighting.'

The people who tried to silence her made her immortal. Banksy has paid tribute to her, and his stencil shows up on walls and tee-shirts wherever people struggle against tyranny. Her words have inspired those seeking freedom, and her death has driven a new wave of 'Perisian Girls' out of the shadows. It will be a long time before she is forgotten.