Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest Revision - May 19, 2019 10:36 PM
This pancocojams post presents article excerpts about the protests calling for the ouster of Omar Al-Bashir, who had been President of Sudan (Northeast Africa) for 30 years. A photograph of 22 year old female student Alaa Salah has become a symbol of this Sudanese uprising.
This post also includes three videos about these protests, with a focus upon Alaa Salah leading crowds in a call & response protest chant.
The Addendum to this post showcases a video about people in the Sudan celebrating the ouster of President Al-Bashir.
The content of this post is presented for historical and socio-cultural purposes.
All copyright remains with their owners.
Thanks to Alaa Salah, the woman who photograph has become a symbol of Sudan's uprising and thanks to Lana Haroun who took that photograph. Thanks also to all those who have protested against this dictatorship, thanks to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/04/why-young-woman-in-now-iconic-april.html for a closely related pancocojams post entitled "Why The Young Woman In The Now Iconic April 2019 Sudanese Protest Photo Is Being Called A "Nubian Queen" ".
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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Video #1: 'Nubian queen' becomes Sudan protest symbol - BBC News
BBC News, Published on Apr 10, 2019
Video of a woman leading chants in anti-government protests in the capital of Sudan, Khartoum, has been shared hundreds of thousands of times on Twitter.
She has been dubbed "Kandaka", which means Nubian queen.
The protesters are calling for the resignation of President Omar al-Bashir who has been accused of human rights abuses and allowing political corruption.
Since protests began in December, 38 people have died, according to government officials. Human Rights Watch says the number is higher.
-snip-
Here's a portion of a call & response chant led by Alaa Salah [from sub-titles in that video]
Alaa Salah [lead] : Religion says that people
[crowd] - Revolution!
[lead] - If they see something wrong
[crowd] - Revolution!
[lead] - won't be quiet
[crowd[ - Revolution!
[...]
-snip-
This uptempo chanting is accompanied by the beat of drums.
[Update: Thanks to Ismail for correcting the first line of this poem. Here's the comment that she wrote on that video's discussion thread:
ismail, May 19, 2019
"She didn't say Men, She used the word "Zoal" which in the way she said it translates to "Person".]
-snip-
In article Excerpt #3 found below Alaa Salah refers to this chant as a revolutionary poem and said she was "singing" it with an enthusiastic crowd. The difference between referring to this composition as a "poem" or a "chant" being sung may be the result of translating from Arabic to English as one sentences in that article excerpt refers to "the poem being chanted" and another sentence in the same article indicates that "Salah said she now has to rest her voice as her throat has become sore from all the chanting this week."
One other line from this "chant"/"poem" found in Excerpt #3 is "The bullet doesn’t kill. What kills is the silence of people”.
Adding that sentence to the portion that was given in the sub-titles for the BBC video gives this result:
[lead] : Religion says that people
[crowd] - Revolution!
[lead] - If they see something wrong
[crowd] - Revolution!
[lead] - won't be quiet
[crowd[ - Revolution!
[lead] - The bullet doesn’t kill. What kills is the silence of people”.
[crowd] - Revolution!
-snip-
Note that Excerpt #4 & Excerpt #5 below give the name of this poem/chant as "thowa", an Arabic word that means "revolution". Excerpt #5 indicates that Alaa Selah says "thowa!" along with the crowd.
*Given the strong involvement of women in those Sudanese protests (and given today's world), my preference would be to change the word "men" in that first line to "people".
I tried but haven't found this complete poem and its composer online. One article I read said that this poem was chanted in other Sudanese protests that have been held since December 2018.
I'd love to add that poem and the composer's name to this post.
If you know anything about this poem/chant please share it for the historical record. Thanks!
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Video #2: Royal Kids - Viral photo of 22-year-old woman becomes symbol of Sudan Uprising
Royal Kids, Published on Apr 11, 2019
A photograph of a woman, believed to be just 22, leading a protest chant has come to symbolise the Sudan Uprising. The photo, taken by photographer Lana Haroun, is said to summarise “this moment we have been waiting for for the past 30 years.” While Haroun does not confirm the woman’s identity in her post, several news outlets have identified the woman as Alaa Salah, a 22-year-old engineering and architecture student. The image features Salah standing on top of a car with her finger pointed towards the sky, surrounded by dozens of people recording on their phones. This image from the Sudan Uprising has gone viral. [Photo: Twitter/Lana Haroun] It has achieved viral status, gaining tens of thousands of likes and retweets since it was posted earlier this week. People on Twitter have praised the image for its powerful depiction of the woman. Others have pointed out the woman’s sheer “bravery” in getting up and leading protestors.
Some have compared the image to the Statue of Liberty. Others have suggested it belongs it will make history. Hind Makki, an interfaith educator, has also revealed there’s even more than meets the eye to this image. In a Twitter thread, she spoke about the rich symbolism of her outfit. She also spoke of the significance of women-led protests in the country. Last Saturday, tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the street in Kartoum, Sudan, to mark the 100th day of the protest movement against President Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year-long regime. More than 3,000 people have been arrested since the protests began last December, according to CNN. While estimates vary, it is believed there have been between 32 and 78 fatalities during this period, according to the broadcaster.
-snip-
This summary has been reformatted to enhance its readability.
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Sudan's 'Nubian Queen' becomes a protest icon | DW News
DW News, Published on Apr 10, 2019
Alaa Salah is one of the women leading the anti-government protests in Sudan. Now a picture of her has gone viral as a symbol for the protests and she's been labeled as Sudan's 'nubian queen'. Protests against the rule of Omar al-Bashir in Sudan first broke out in December 2018 and are ongoing since.
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ARTICLE EXCERPTS
Excerpt #1:
https://www.france24.com/en/20190411-sudan-women-take-lead-protests-rights-overthrow-islamist-bashir "Women lead the charge, and chants, in Sudan protests" by Leela JACINTO, 11/04/2019 - 21:04;
Latest update : 11/04/2019
"Sudan was a repressive place for women under Omar al-Bashir’s Islamist 30-year reign. But women have reclaimed their voice during the latest anti-regime protests and are determined to secure their place in the future.
[...]
When the latest round of anti-regime demonstrations broke out in December, one of the protest chants described Bashir as weak and compared him to a woman. But demonstrators changed that tune after women began calling it out on social media.
The international community got a crash course in female power this week when a video of a young woman in a white toub, or traditional Sudanese robe, leading a lively protest song went viral.
[...]
Standing on top of a car in sneakers, matched with toub and traditional bridal jewellery, Alaa Salah, a 22-year-old architecture student, epitomised not just girl power, but also the cultural diversity that was suppressed during Bashir’s reign.
Following the 1989 coup, Bashir’s alliance with hardline Islamist politician Hassan al-Turabi saw an austere brand of Islamism imposed on an ancient land at the crossroads of African trade routes, where merchants from as far as India and Anatolia settled, bringing with them a cultural heterogeneity that was an integral part of Sudanese identity.
Salah’s garment quickly turned into a symbol of cultural reassertion, a shout out to the Kandakas, or Nubian queens who ruled the Kush kingdom in what is now Sudan more than 3,000 years ago.
On Thursday, Sudanese Defense Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf announced the army had toppled and arrested Bashir and a transitional military council would rule the country for two years.
But demonstrators promptly rejected the military takeover, with the Sudanese Professionals Association, one of the main protest organisers, calling instead for a civilian transitional government to be put in place.
“We are definitely committed and focused on ensuring this is not a military coup and we’re determined to make that clear. It’s not a case of, ‘The military is going to save us.’ We don’t want another Islamist with a different face,” said Roubi."...
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Excerpt #2:
From https://www.yahoo.com/news/viral-photo-22-year-old-woman-becomes-symbol-sudan-uprising-080304968.html by Yahoo Style UK Francesca Specter,Yahoo Style UK, April 11, 2019
"A photograph of a woman leading a protest chant has come to symbolise the Sudan Uprising.
The photo, taken by photographer Lana Haroun, is said to summarise “this moment we have been waiting for for the past 30 years.”
Several news outlets have identified the woman as Alaa Salah, a 22-year-old engineering and architecture student.
The image features Salah standing on top of a car with her finger pointed towards the sky, surrounded by dozens of people recording on their phones.
[...]
Accompanying video footage shows her chanting a poem that translates to: “The bullet doesn’t kill. What kills is the silence of people”, according to a tweet from Africa Digest.
It has achieved viral status, gaining tens of thousands of likes and retweets since it was posted earlier this week.
People on Twitter have praised the image for its powerful depiction of the woman.
[...]
Samira Sawlani
✔
@samirasawlani
Apr 9, 2019
"Women are at the forefront of the uprising in Sudan.
Just look at her.
Absolute queen.
Crowd are chanting ‘revolution’.
(Video circulating on WhatsApp so have no idea who to credit!)"
[...]
“I’m very glad that my photo let people around the world know about the revolution in Sudan,” Salah told The Guardian about her viral fame.
“Since the beginning of the uprising I have been going out every day and participating in the demonstrations because my parents raised me to love our home.”
“The day they took the photo, I went to 10 different gatherings and read a revolutionary poem. It makes people very enthusiastic. In the beginning I found a group of about six women and I started singing, and they started singing with me, then the gathering became really big.”
Hind Makki, an interfaith educator, has revealed there’s even more than meets the eye to this image in a Twitter thread, where she spoke about the rich symbolism of her outfit.
Hind Makki
@HindMakki
Apr 8, 2019
"I've been seeing this pic on my #Sudan_Uprising TLs today and it's amazing. Let me tell you why.
She's wearing a white tobe (outer garment) and gold moon earrings. The white tobe is worn by working women in offices and can be linked w/cotton (a major export of Sudan), so it represents women working as professionals in cities or in the agricultural sector in rural areas."
3:41 PM - Apr 8, 2019"
Hind Makki
@HindMakki
"Her earrings are the gold moons of traditional bridal jewelry (Sudanese, like many Arabic speakers, often use moon-based metaphors to describe feminine beauty)"
3:42 PM - Apr 8, 2019
Hind Makki
@HindMakki
"Her entire outfit is also a callback to the clothing worn by our mothers & grandmothers in the 60s, 70s, & 80s who dressed like this during while they marched the streets demonstrating against previous military dictatorships."
3:49 PM - Apr 8, 2019
Hind Makki
@HindMakki
Footage of the woman from that iconic photo shows that she also chose a classic hair style that all our grandmothers had: a low bun with a middle part. Symbolism galore."
8:44 PM - Apr 8, 2019
[...]
She also spoke of the significance of women-led protests in the country.
Hind Makki
@HindMakki
"Sudanese everywhere are referring to female protestors as "Kandaka," which is the title given to the Nubian queens of ancient Sudan whose gift to their descendents is a legacy of empowered women who fight hard for their country and their rights. ✊🏾"
3:57 PM - Apr 8, 2019
[...]
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EXCERPT #3 [Added April 12, 2019 8:15 AM]
From https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/apr/10/alaa-salah-sudanese-woman-talks-about-protest-photo-that-went-viral 'I was raised to love our home': Sudan's singing protester speaks out Zeinab Mohammed Salih in Khartoum, Wed 10 Apr 2019 10.47 EDT
"The young woman in a photo that has come to symbolise the protest movement in Sudan has been identified as Alaa Salah, a 22-year-old architecture student in Khartoum.
Salah told the Guardian she was happy that the image, taken on Monday evening at a demonstration in the Sudanese capital, had been viewed so widely.
“I’m very glad that my photo let people around the world know about the revolution in Sudan … Since the beginning of the uprising I have been going out every day and participating in the demonstrations because my parents raised me to love our home,” Salah said.
The current wave of protests against the 30-year rule of Omar al-Bashir started in December but intensified at the weekend when huge crowds gathered at a crossroads in front of a heavily guarded military complex in the centre of Khartoum.
[...]
“The day they took the photo, I went to 10 different gatherings and read a revolutionary poem. It makes people very enthusiastic. In the beginning I found a group of about six women and I started singing, and they started singing with me, then the gathering became really big.
“I have practiced presenting at the university; I don’t have an issue with speaking in front of people and at big gatherings.”
A line in the poem she read - “The bullet doesn’t kill. What kills is the silence of people” – is popular with protesters, and was chanted by demonstrators in January 2018 and during unrest in September 2013.
[...]
Salah’s mother is a fashion designer working with the traditional Sudanese toub – the dress she was wearing in the photographs – and her father owns a construction company.
The garment has become a symbol of the female protesters, and Salah said she had narrowly escaped arrest when she wore the toub at an earlier demonstration.
“The toub has a kind of power and it reminds us of the Kandakas,” Salah said.
Kandakas were queens of the Nubian kingdom of Kush, which ruled much of what is now modern-day Sudan more than 3,000 years ago.
Some commentators have raised concerns that the reference represents only one of Sudan’s many ethnic and tribal communities and that while the history of the Nubians is particularly popular with the Sudanese diaspora it excludes many of the country’s communities."...
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Excerpt #4 [Added April 12, 2019 1:57 PM]
From https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-04-10/heres-story-behind-iconic-image-sudanese-woman-white
Here's the story behind the iconic image of the Sudanese woman in white
By Shirin Jaafari,
April 10, 2019 · 3:15 PM EDT
"
[...]
Siman Hadi
@siman_hadi
#AlaaSalah has been called a 'kandaka' - a term used for ancient #Nubian queens
Draped in a traditional white thobe, singing for #revolution the poem "thowra" & surrounded by protesters became a symbol of Sudan’s protest movement.#Sudan_Uprising #Women ✊🏿
146
3:30 PM - Apr 9, 2019"
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Excerpt #5 [Added April 12, 2019 2:02 PM]
From https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/blog/2019/4/9/who-is-sudans-overnight-revolutionary-icon
"One woman has taken a days-long sit-in in Sudan - and the internet - by storm.
In photos and videos that quickly went viral on Twitter, a Sudanese woman stands on the roof of the white car.
She is leading a chorus among a sea of thousands of protesters - a revolutionary ode popularised by demonstrators in Sudan in late December.
In between lines of the poem, she and the audience shout: "thowra!"
Thousands of Sudanese have already taken to calling the movement in their country a "thowra" - a revolution - but in the past few days, people from elsewhere in the world have too."...
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ADDENDUM: VIDEO ABOUT SUDANESE PEOPLE CELEBRATING THE OUSTER OF PRESIDENT AL-BASHIR
Sudan Celebrates as President Steps Down
VOA News, Published on Apr 11, 2019
▶️Sudan burst into celebrations on Thursday, April 11 after hearing the news that president Omar Bashir had stepped down.(AP)
👉 News outlets say Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has resigned after nearly four months of demonstrations against his autocratic 30-year rule.
Both the Associated Press and Reuters say they have learned from government sources that the 75-year-old ruler will step down and that consultations are underway to form a transitional council.
Reports of al-Bashir’s ouster came hours after Sudan’s state-controlled television said the army will make an “important statement” sometime Thursday, but offered no details about the upcoming message.
https://www.voanews.com/a/sudan-president/4871154.html AFRICA: Sudan's Omar al-Bashir Ousted by Military April 11, 2019 3:45 AM
UPDATE April 11, 2019 6:26 PM
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