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'Shahs of Sunset' Star Likens Herself to Rosa Parks
When Rosa Parks refused to relinquish her seat on a bus in Alabama in 1955, she sparked riots that proved to be a cornerstone of the civil rights movement, and she became an icon. People like her are few and far between...and the chances that they are appearing on reality TV in the modern day are slim.
But that's not stopping certain stars of the small screen from comparing themselves to her nevertheless. Golnesa "GG" Gharachedaghi, a leading cast member on "Shahs of Sunset," likened herself and her co-stars to the legendary Parks, suggesting that they are doing for Persians what Parks did for African-Americans.
The Huffington Post quotes Gharachedaghi as saying:
“It took someone like Rosa Parks to say, ‘I’m not getting on the back of the bus,' to start a movement...She got a lot of drama for it, but at the end of the day it started something so revolutionary and I feel like we are doing the same in respect of the entertainment industry."
Yes...she did indeed get a lot of "drama" for it. The same kind of drama that Gharachedaghi is getting, no doubt.
GG continued:
“Knowing we are the first doing this so our egos are a little bit bigger than should be...We are paving the way. It’s been difficult being Persian on TV. I don't think anyone has given us as much drama and bullshit as the Persian community. There has never been anything out there about Persians before.”
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For those of you who don't know, "Shahs of Sunset" follows a group of wealthy Iranian-American individuals who live in Beverly Hills and do things. So yes -- it certainly is bold to be obscenely wealthy and flaunt that wealth in order to make more wealth. As bold as a woman literally risking her life for the betterment of her oppressed racial group? Possibly not.
"Shahs of Sunset" premiered on Bravo in March of last year, and is produced by that arbiter of cultural relevance, Ryan Seacrest.
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