Yesterday I, with the incredible support of Esra’a and Mideast Youth (MEY), helped launch FindingBibi.com, a place for you to submit and vote on a women’s empowerment project that, in turn, will be transformed from a great idea to a high-impact reality.  Who cares, right?  There are hundreds of organizations around the world working on this issue, and we’re just a whisper at the World Cup in comparison.  Wrong.

We all know that women around the world face shocking levels of violence, discrimination, and intimidation. As MEY reminds us, we also know that they’re not alone as hundreds of minorities face oppression across the world.  In her upcoming film Finding Bibi, filmmaker Bita Haidarian explores her own identity, one that sits at the intersection of conflicts over gender, religion, ethnicity, and nationality.  In her story, though, she does something different.

Bita is a woman.  She is an American of Iranian descent living in Texas.  She is the daughter of Baha’i refugees who fled persecution in Iran.  Yet none of these alone defines her.  A few years ago, struggling to reconcile her heritage with her future, she decided to rebel.  She rebelled against her parents’ expectations, against her own disinterest, and against the ‘proper’ way of making a difference.  But unlike a lot of 20-somethings, she rebelled for a reason and with a spirit that have inspired hundreds, myself included, to look at these issues from a different perspective.

Bita left the U.S. to find her hero, Mukhtaran Bibi.  Mukhtaran had been gang raped, revenge for her clan’s alleged misdeeds to another.  Rather than fade into isolation or commit suicide, she stood up for herself by taking the case to court.  If you haven’t heard about Mukhtaran, read more here.

In the process of finding Mukhtaran, Bita interviewed and interacted with dozens of women and girls of Middle Eastern descent, documenting their aspirations and opinions, their interest in things often only attributed to Long Island or Hollywood it-girls.  They did not need to be ‘taught’ the ‘right’ way of doing things; they needed to be empowered.  An Iraqi girl may feel more confident in fashion than in motherhood, and an American woman may feel more passionate about raising her children than about her career.  A woman in Shiraz may feel empowered by throwing off the veil and showing her face to the world.  A woman in Izmir may feel the same sense of self-realization through the exact opposite act – putting on her hijab.

Now, we’re creating a cycle of empowerment to encourage these women and other oppressed individuals to ‘rebel with a reason’ against the political, cultural, and other practices that prevent them from enjoying the rights to decide their own futures.  We’re empowering you to speak your mind and raise your voice – tell us what project you would participate in to empower women and individuals around the world.  Tell us how you think we can invoke that same sense of positive rebellion and irreverence to make a genuine difference in breaking down barriers between east and west.

We’re giving you the tools to start a movement that will in turn give women and other oppressed individuals the resources to empower themselves.  Make your voice heard at FindingBibi.com.