thank you so much maryellen, susan, for being here. i will use this 10 minutes let me watch myself here. to talk to you a little bit about why he wrote the book and also some of the things that happened to me as a child and then later on. i guess the whole arc of having been a refugee for 30 years now. i was born in iran right when the revolution happened in iran in 1979. we were a muslim family, a middle-class family of doctors and we had a very sad old life, not just in the city of istanbul also a village nearby where my father had lived and grown up for generations and generations. it was all just very rooted and comfortable and lovely. but then the revolution happened, i was born and shortly thereafter there was a iran-iraq war which went on for eight years and pretty much colored my childhood. it was more the bombs and the sirens and all that. then when i was six years old my mother decided to convert to christianity suddenly and the story of that i won't go into it, it's in the book but she suddenly decides this is her empowermen

>>but maryellen finally decided to tell her story. she says she was on the playground at emanuel christian school in springfield. she says 3 white students held her against her will and cover that red locks it my hands on my back the hand over my mouth and they had started a company. >>pair all the while the 12 year-old says the boys called ugly and nappy. >>grandmother says she enrolled her in the private christian school expecting a safe experience. >>i never thought. only be a part of this the family has filed a police report. >>and they say they had a meeting with officials at emanuel christian thursday morning. but they say they left the meeting and satisfied no other child. >>has to experience what she experienced, and they just walk away. >>the head of the school put out a statement that reads in part. we are deeply disturbed by the allegations being made and are in communication with the family of the alleged victim to gather information and provide whatever support we can we have also reached out to law enforcement asked them

>>i held and i felt like what a way was being added to my shoulder and day they held >>but maryellend at emanuel christian school in springfield. she says 3 white students held her against her will. and cover dread locks it my hands on my back that hand over my mouth and so they have time to complete. >>pair all the while the 12 year-old says the boys called ugly and nappy. >>grandmother says she enrolled her in the private christian school expecting a safe experience. >>i never thought. only be a part of this the family has filed a police report. >>and they say they had a meeting with officials at emanuel christian thursday morning. but they say they left the meeting and satisfied that no other child. >>has to experience she perienced, and they just walk away. >>the head of the school put out a statement that reads in part. we are deeply disturbed by the allegations being made and are in communication with the family of the alleged victim to gather information and provide whatever support we can we have also reached out to law enforcement asked them to conduct a thorough investigati