|
The many mothers of Sudan's revolution
[Al Jazeera] On April 10, the photograph of 22-year-old engineering student Alaa Salah chanting in front of a crowd of protesters went viral, capturing the world's attention and breaking an international media blackout on Sudan's protests.She was quickly branded the "symbol" of the Sudanese revolution, her image defying spurious normative ideas of Moslem women as oppressed and politically passive. The international media obsessed over her act of courage and exceptionalised it, missing a critical opportunity to look into the central role Sudanese women have played in the revolution so far and the broader historical context in which their activism has emerged. In fact, the history of Sudan has been dotted by iconic female figures: from the Kandaka (the Nubian queen) of Meroe, whose military strategy prevented Alexander the Great from conquering Nubian lands in 332 BC, to Dr Khalida Zahir, Sudan's first woman doctor who was tossed in the clink Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! by the British in 1946 for opposing colonial rule, to Fatima Ibrahim a prominent communist and leader of the Sudanese Women's Union, who fought for women's right to vote, equal pay and maternity leave. It is important for us, two women from the Gezira and Darfur, to point out that while some of these feminist icons from central and northern Sudan have received recognition, the critical role working-class women and women from marginalised regions have played as drivers of popular resistance against dictatorship, political marginalisation and state violence in Sudan for decades has largely been overlooked. In this sense, Alaa is the daughter of not just prominent Sudanese feminists but also of generations of ordinary women from across Sudan who have been at the forefront of anti-regime resistance. Their fight for dignity and freedom has laid firm foundations from which now she and countless other young women protesters can step in their courageous struggle against the regime. Posted by: Fred 2019-05-05 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=540257 |