Today on Sojourner Truth, we go in depth into Sudan.
Formerly a colony of the U.K. and Egypt, its history goes back to the days of the Pharaohs. Sudan is located in North Africa, bordering the Red Sea, Egypt, Libya, Chad and the Central African Republic. In 1989, Lieutenant Omar Al-Bashir seized power in a coup and ruled Sudan for 30 years. Keep in mind that Sudan was the largest country on the continent of Africa until it was divided in a U.S.-backed deal in 2011 with the secession of the oil-rich South Sudan.
In December 2018, protests broke out in several cities across Sudan against worsening living conditions and rising costs of living. Those protests morphed into a mass movement against President Omar Al-Bashir, calling for his resignation. Indeed, he was forced to step down, with the military taking credit for removing him. 70 percent of protesters are women, according to the BBC. After Al-Bashir's ousting, demonstrators continue to demand democracy and an end to military rule in favor of civilian rule.
Today, we delve into these recent developments in Sudan as well as the country's historical context.
Our guests are Dr. Nada Mustafa Ali and Dr. Khalid Mustafa Medani. Dr Ali is a scholar who engages with questions about social change and transformation in Sudan and beyond through her teaching, research, and activism. Dr. Ali teaches in the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department and is a core faculty in the Human Rights Minor at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Dr. Medani is an associate professor of political science at McGill University, and Chair of the African Studies Program. He has published extensively on political Islam in Sudan, civil conflict and the roots of the Sudanese Uprising.
