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Breaking the Ocean

A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Reconciliation

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

In Breaking the Ocean, diversity and inclusion specialist Annahid Dashtgard addresses the long-term impacts of exile, immigration, and racism by offering a vulnerable, deeply personal account of her life and work.

Annahid Dashtgard was born into a supportive mixed-race family in 1970s Iran. Then came the 1979 Revolution, which ushered in a powerful and orthodox religious regime. Her family was forced to flee their homeland, immigrating to a small town in Alberta, Canada. As a young girl, Dashtgard was bullied, shunned, and ostracized both by her peers at school and adults in the community. Home offered little respite, with her parents embroiled in their own struggles, exposing the sharp contrasts between her British mother and Persian father.

Determined to break free from her past, Dashtgard created a new identity for herself as a driven young woman who found strength through political activism, eventually becoming a leader in the anti–corporate globalization movement of the late 1990s. But her unhealed trauma was re-activated following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Suffering burnout, Dashtgard checked out of her life and took the first steps towards personal healing, a journey that continues to this day.

Breaking the Ocean introduces a unique perspective on how racism and systemic discrimination result in emotional scarring and ongoing PTSD. It is a wake-up call to acknowledge our differences, addressing the universal questions of what it means to belong and ultimately what is required to create change in ourselves and in society.

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    • Booklist

      August 1, 2019
      After the turmoil of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Dashtgard's life drastically changed. She and her mixed-race Iranian family immigrated first to a tiny village in England, then to Birmingham, finally settling in small-town Alberta, Canada. Viewed as an outsider, Dashtgard was bullied and shunned by classmates and adults alike. Her once prominent father grudgingly learned to accept his marginalized condition in a sea of middle-class Christian whiteness on the Canadian prairies, where Dashtgard, with her unruly curly hair, English accent, and "bossy" nature, felt that she was, indeed, drowning in white. She writes with great candor about the violence and isolation of her immigrant life as her difference was viewed as a threat by the dominant culture. She struggled with body image issues that culminated in bulimia and bouts of depression. Later, she found solace and purpose in political activism before learning to choose authenticity over superficial acceptance. This is a beautifully written, sensitive memoir fraught with painful memories but also touched by hope, an illuminating meditation on finding your own voice and identity in a new land.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

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  • English

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