Born in Iran, Scheherazade Alexis Aria, known as Lexi to her many friends, moved to America with her parents and brother at age 16. A Malibu resident since 2003, Aria has many talents: As a concert harpist, pianist, music teacher, peace activist, truth seeker and fashion designer. And, she ran the phone banks in Malibu and Topanga for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
“I’ve been a human rights activist since I was eight years old,” she said. “My mom taught me about ‘the disappeared’ in Chile and other Latin American countries. She taught me to write letters and educate myself about human rights abuses.”
Aria’s parents were intellectuals who abhorred organized religion, telling their children to choose their own, if they wanted to, once they were older and had done some research. Aria chose Christianity.
“In my quest for truth, I became a vegetarian 20 years ago, which is not a Persian thing. I had pink hair from 2002 to 2008 — also not a Persian thing. I wasn’t being rebellious, I just thought pastel pink — the color of peace and romance — suited me.”
Aria gave her first piano recital when she was three, by the Caspian Sea in Iran.
“I wasn’t a prodigy. I just started early,” she said. “My life has had many detours. My dad wanted me to study pre-med, so I was a chemistry major for three years. That changed my personality. I always wanted to be a musician and it took a while to get back to the core ‘me.’ I am a humble and private person who works hard and is trying to evolve.” If Aria’s love of life and infectious laugh are any indications, she is definitely back on her true path.
Aria started working as a volunteer for the Democratic Party during the Bill Clinton presidential campaign of 1992, then for Al Gore in 2000, mostly phoning undecided voters. She went on to become a team organizer and trainer.
She won’t go to bat for any politician just because they are running as a Democrat, but would more likely support a Democrat than a Republican as she considers the GOP the party of war profiteers.
“Before I support anyone, I watch them like a hawk and study their policies,” she explained. “I really liked Obama as a candidate and volunteered for him non-stop once Joe Biden dropped out.”
Aria set up Team Malibu in 2008, and campaigned the 2010 mid-terms for Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer. Then she established Team Topanga. “They are two separate teams, but we do a lot together,” she said.
When Joe Biden, always her first choice, decided not to run in 2016, Aria focused her energies toward Clinton.
“While respecting Bernie Sanders a great deal, I felt Hillary had a better chance to win. Now, of course, I realize I know nothing. I was shocked at the result. I didn’t hear anything during the phoning (to undecided voters) that led me to believe she would lose.”
Aria was also dismayed by the hostility of a few Republicans.
“They came to meetings and phone banks and yelled at me,” Aria recalled. “What I don’t understand is how Republicans who say they are pro-life also tend to be pro-guns, pro-war, and pro-the death penalty. I don’t understand why the life of a fetus is the only life that is so important to them.”
Despite the Clinton loss and Republicans winning control of congress and the senate, she’s not giving up. There are the 2018 mid-terms to fight for. Aria urges people to get involved, be vocal and replace fake news with the truth.
“The reason I volunteer is because I want war profiteers to fail,” she said. “Unfortunately, I feel they won the 2016 election. A few months after Trump’s inauguration, there could be another terrible event like 9/11, a new country will be framed, innocent civilians and our soldiers will be killed, and only war profiteers will benefit.”
In 2008, Aria founded “Harpists for Peace,” an international group of harpists who play for the dream of world and inner peace.
For more information, visit harpistsforpeace.com.
