Sudan

To Be or Not To Be: Sudan at Crossroads (Preface)

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To be or not to be

I have been an avid reader of the work of M. Jalal Hashim (MJH) for about a decade. This is the first time I read a book of his in English.

For me, as a Sudanese reader and writer, MJH has a firm place in a special, short list of critically important, contemporary Sudanese writers, due to his prolific and valuable record of publications, mostly in Arabic (with some papers and essays in English), addressing various topics from Sudan’s social history, to political theory, to cultural analysis and literary critique.… More

Amilcar Cabral on Decolonization and Culture (and Sudan)

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“A people who free themselves from foreign domination will not be culturally free unless, without underestimating the importance of positive contributions from the oppressor’s culture and other cultures, they return to the upwards paths of their own culture. The latter is nourished by the living reality of the environment and rejects harmful influences as much as any kind of subjection to foreign cultures.… More

Quotes from a Sudanese Leader

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Dr. John Garang de Mabior
The direct quotes, below, are from his book, The Call for Democracy in Sudan, 1992, edited and introduced by Mansour Khalid.

What does Garang Want?
Sometimes the questions are asked; what does John Garang want? What does the SPLM want? And then the answers are given: they want greater autonomy for the South. It is a fight between Christians and Muslims.… More

‘Hizbullah’ and ‘Jesus Inside’ on the Road

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In Arusha, Tanzania, the Dala-Dala (mini-buses), just like in many African towns, are important members of the urban scene. They weave through the town’s centre and sides, packing passengers to the limit, transporting them from place to place all day. They keep the socioeconomic pulse pumping, the streets noisy and colourful and the urban network tightly connected. Also, as in many African towns, each Dala-Dala likes to distinguish itself by colourful decorations and inventive/witty comments and nicknames, written in large letters on the back of the vehicle.… More

CUSH Manifesto on culture and politics

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It is said that Dr. John Garang DeMebior called it, “the most comprehensive treatise of its kind.”

In my previous article I mentioned the CUSH Manifesto briefly, and said that it would be called for to return to it with a bigger summary, within the topic of “the political role of culture”.
“The paper homework of this alliance has been done in what has come to be known as the Congress of United Sudan Homeland (CUSH). In… More

Garang: The Pan-Africanist

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For a long time, we heard much about John Garang de Mabior the politician and the armed rebellion leader. Little have we heard, however, in the conventional Sudanese media sources, about Garang the scholar of Economic Development and the national visionary, or Garang the pan-Africanist. This article attempts to give some glances of the pan-Africanist side of the man (as last week’s article highlighted his vision of economic development and national building).… More

Nafeer: Leadership Demystified

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“Each generation must discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it, in relative opacity.”
—Frantz Fanon (1961, The Wretched of the Earth)

“Any individual or group that would aspire to lead society must be ready to pay the costs of leadership: to accept the responsibility, to suffer calumny, to surrender security, to risk both reputation and fortune. If this price, or some important part of it, is not being paid, then the chances are that the claim to leadership is fraudulent.

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