On December 19, 2018, protesters staged peaceful demonstrations throughout Sudan in response to rises in costs of living and economic austerity measures. Since then, the situation has escalated, including the removal of President Omar al-Bashir in April and a deadly massacre of an estimated 118 civilians in Khartoum on June 3, 2019.
To shed light on this critical moment in Sudan, we speak with Khalid Mustafa Medani, professor of Islamic studies, and Shahd Fadlalmoula, an activist based in the DC area.
Khalid Mustafa Medani is associate professor of political science and Islamic studies at McGill University in Montreal, where he also serves as the chair of the African studies program and the graduate program director of the Islamic Studies Institute. His current book project is titled Globalization, Informal Markets, and Collective Action: The Development of Islamic and Ethnic Politics in Egypt, Sudan, and Somalia.
Shahd Fadlalmoula holds degrees in global affairs and criminology, law, and society from George Mason University and currently works as a paralegal. She is a writer and poet whose work appears in the anthology I Know Two Sudans.
Cover photo: “Sudan Revolution” by Hind Mekki, licensed under CC BY 2.0