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Mende Nazer (born c. 1982) is a UK-resident, Sudanese author and human rights activist. Nazer was a slave in Sudan and in London for eight years. She later co-wrote the 2002 book Slave: My True Story.
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Nazer is a Nuba woman from a village in the Nuba mountains of southern Sudan. According to her own account, at the age of twelve or thirteen (her birthdate is unknown), she was abducted and sold into slavery in Sudan following a slaving raid on her village. Although her family fled the raiders into the mountains, she became separated from her family and was caught by one of the raiders. For six years, Nazer served a family in Khartoum, where she was forced into hard labour and was subjected to physical abuse. [1]
Six years into her captivity, Nazer was sent to London to be a household servant to a Sudanese diplomat, Abdel al-Koronky, acting chargé d'affaires at Sudan's embassy, who resided in Willesden Green. After three months, and with the help of a fellow Sudanese, she managed to escape. She claimed asylum. [2] At first, the Home Office denied her claim, two years after it was submitted. This provoked the rise of a movement in support of her, consisting of individuals and human rights groups, including Anti-Slavery International.
By the time of the denial, she had already had her autobiography published in Germany, coauthored by a British professional journalist. The Home Office reversed its denial in November 2002, and granted her political asylum. The decision stated: "In view of the widespread publication of her book and the high profile given to her claims both in Sudan and elsewhere, I am satisfied that Ms. Nazer would face difficulties which would bring her within the scope of the 1951 convention were she to be returned to Sudan. For these reasons it has been decided to recognise her as a refugee and grant her Indefinite Leave to Remain in the United Kingdom." [3]
In 2005, the English-language edition of her autobiography was published. In 2010, her life story was dramatised in the Channel Four film I Am Slave , starring Wunmi Mosaku, and in 2012, it was the subject of a stage play entitled Slave — A Question of Freedom, by Feelgood Theatre Productions. [4]
After the Sunday Telegraph printed a second-hand account of her version of her experience as a slave in September 2000, al-Koronky sued the paper for libel. In July 2002, before the case went to trial, the paper retracted its story and agreed to pay damages. [2] Nazer and the coauthor of her autobiography, which was published in 2003, have blamed this outcome on the Telegraph reporter's professional incompetence. In particular, the reporter never met with or even spoke to Mende prior to publication of the article. [5] As part of the case settlement, the Telegraph retracted the entire story. Nazer later wrote that she should have been given the opportunity to clarify the story's inaccuracies and point out the truths it contained. [5]
The slave narrative is a type of literary genre involving the (written) autobiographical accounts of enslaved persons, particularly Africans enslaved in the Americas, though many other examples exist. Over six thousand such narratives are estimated to exist; about 150 narratives were published as separate books or pamphlets. In the United States during the Great Depression (1930s), more than 2,300 additional oral histories on life during slavery were collected by writers sponsored and published by the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal program. Most of the 26 audio-recorded interviews are held by the Library of Congress.
Francis Piol Bol Bok, a Dinka tribesman and citizen of South Sudan, was a slave for ten years and later became an abolitionist and author living in the United States.
The American Anti-Slavery Group (AASG) is a non-profit coalition of abolitionist organizations that engages in political activism to abolish slavery in the world. It raises awareness of contemporary slavery, particularly among the chattel slaves of Mauritania and Sudan, raises funds to support relief and aid to enslaved populations and escaped former slaves, and lobbies government officials to increase their efforts. AASG'
The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and the Blue Nile. It lasted for almost 22 years and is one of the longest civil wars on record. The war resulted in the independence of South Sudan 6 years after the war ended.
The Nuba Mountains, also referred to as the Nuba Hills, is an area located in South Kordofan, Sudan. The area is home to a group of indigenous ethnic groups known collectively as the Nuba peoples. In the Middle Ages, the Nuba mountains had been part of the Nubian kingdom of Alodia. In the 18th century, they became home to the kingdom of Taqali that controlled the hills of the mountains until their defeat by Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad. After the British defeated the Mahdi army, Taqali was restored as a client state. Infiltration of the Messiria tribe of Baggara Arabs has been influential in modern conflicts. Up to 1.5 million people live in the mountains, mostly ethnic Nuba, with a small minority of Baggara.
The Nuba people are indigenous inhabitants of central Sudan. The Nuba are made up of 50 various indigenous ethnic groups who inhabit the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan state in Sudan, encompassing multiple distinct people that speak different languages which belong to at least two unrelated language families. Since 2011, when the southern part of Sudan became an independent state as South Sudan, the Nuba now live in the southern part of Sudan. Estimates of the Nuba population vary widely; the Sudanese government estimated that they numbered 2.07 million in 2003.
Slavery in Sudan began in ancient times, and had a resurgence during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005). During the Trans-Saharan slave trade, many Nilotic peoples from the lower Nile Valley were purchased as slaves and brought to work elsewhere in North Africa and the Orient by Nubians, Egyptians, Berbers and Arabs.
Senait Ghebrehiwet Mehari is an Eritrean-born German singer. She goes professionally by her single name "Senait". She is also known as Senait Mehari, although this is a common understanding and is due to the Europeanization of an Eritrean naming convention.
Turco-Egyptian Sudan, also known as Turkiyya or Turkish Sudan, describes the rule of the Eyalet and later Khedivate of Egypt over what is now Sudan and South Sudan. It lasted from 1820, when Muhammad Ali Pasha started his conquest of Sudan, to the fall of Khartoum in 1885 to Muhammad Ahmad, the self-proclaimed Mahdi.
Sudanese literature consists of both oral as well as written works of fiction and nonfiction that were created during the cultural history of today's Republic of the Sudan. This includes the territory of what was once Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, the independent country's history since 1956 as well as its changing geographical scope in the 21st century.
Leila Fuad Aboulela is a fiction writer, essayist, and playwright of Sudanese origin based in Aberdeen, Scotland. She grew up in Khartoum, Sudan, and moved to Scotland in 1990 where she began her literary career. Until 2023, Aboulela has published six novels and several short stories, which have been translated into fifteen languages. Her most popular novels, Minaret (2005) and The Translator (1999) both feature the stories of Muslim women in the UK and were longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award and Orange Prize. Aboulela’s works have been included in publications such as Harper's Magazine, Granta, The Washington Post and The Guardian. BBC Radio has adapted her work extensively and broadcast a number of her plays, including The Insider, The Mystic Life and the historical drama The Lion of Chechnya. The five-part radio serialization of her 1999 novel The Translator was short-listed for the Race In the Media Award (RIMA).
Racism in Sudan is a complex matter due to the racial mixture of various populations.
Sudan Sunrise, Inc. is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization based out of Fairfax, Virginia. According to their mission statement, Sudan Sunrise strives for grassroots reconciliation, education and community building in order to lift up examples of peace and forgiveness between former enemies as alternatives to the history of violence in Sudan and South Sudan. Sudan Sunrise also facilitates local efforts in Southern Sudan to provide education, health care and community development.
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North, or SPLM–N, is a political party and militant organisation in the Republic of Sudan, based in the states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. The group's armed forces are formally known as the Sudan People's Liberation Army–North or SPLA–N. As of 2017, its two factions, SPLM-N (Agar) and SPLM-N (al-Hilu) were engaged in fighting each other and against the government of Sudan, and as of 2023, the al-Hilu faction is fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), while the leader of the Agar faction was appointed into the military-run government.
Halima Bashir is the fictitious name of a Sudanese medical doctor, who is the author of Tears of the Desert, a memoir about women's experiences with genocide and war in Darfur. She worked as a doctor in rural Sudan, before being abused at the hands of the National Intelligence and Security Service after reporting truthfully to United Nations officials about an attack by the Janjaweed militia on a nearby school. She has since moved to the United Kingdom, where she claimed asylum.
I Am Slave is a 2010 television film produced for Channel 4 on the story of one woman's fight for freedom from modern-day slavery. It premiered on Channel 4 on 30 August 2010. The movie is mostly based on the experiences of Mende Nazer, a Sudanese author, human rights activist and a former slave in Sudan and London.
Christian Solidarity International (CSI) is a Christian human rights NGO that is "committed to defending religious liberty, helping victims of religious repression, victimized children, and victims of disaster." It is based in Switzerland, with affiliates in the United States, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, and South Korea.
Jalila Khamis Koko is a Sudanese teacher and activist. In March 2012, she was detained by the Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) and accused of treason. After a 10-month detainment, she was released in January 2013. In December 2013, Khamis was awarded the Delegation of the European Union to Sudan's "Heroes for Human Rights Award 2013".
Damien Gavin Lewis is a British author and filmmaker who has spent over twenty years reporting from and writing about conflict zones in many countries. He has produced about twenty films.
Photography in Sudan refers to both historical as well as to contemporary photographs taken in the cultural history of today's Republic of the Sudan. This includes the former territory of present-day South Sudan, as well as what was once Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, and some of the oldest photographs from the 1860s, taken during the Turkish-Egyptian rule (Turkiyya). As in other countries, the growing importance of photography for mass media like newspapers, as well as for amateur photographers has led to a wider photographic documentation and use of photographs in Sudan during the 20th century and beyond. In the 21st century, photography in Sudan has undergone important changes, mainly due to digital photography and distribution through social media and the Internet.
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