Many people do not know or are not old enough to know that Iran was a modern country before the Islamic revolution of 1979.

Despite the restrictions the Shah put on freedoms of speech and press with the control of his regime over many aspects of the government, my Iran was a colorful, happy and safe Iran. I went to a coed school. Girls were free to expose their hair, wear short skirts and laugh out loud!

After school, I watched my favorite shows on TV such as “I Dream of Jeannie,” “Bewitched,” “Mission Impossible,” “The Six Million Dollar Man” to name a few. All those shows dubbed masterfully to Persian. I felt one with the rest of the world -- not isolated.

The Islamic revolution came out of nowhere. It was a result of some quick hidden maneuvers that tricked the entire nation and made them hostage now for 30 years. We were looking for a better, more open and more western government not an Islamic republic that took us back in time almost 50 years.

The fault was perhaps partially on the shoulder of what is called the Silent Majority. Those are the folks that caused the real damage. In my most recent acting role as Mayor Ebrahim in the movie “The Stoning of Saroya M.,” I play a man who is afraid to speak up. I represent the silent majority. Therefore an innocent woman gets stoned to death.

By being silent and not objecting to the wrong doings of a government or a group in charge we actually help them succeed. So we may be silent but our silence is detrimental to our nation’s progress.