In 2019, when the people of Sudan brought down the military dictatorship that had ruled the African nation for 30 years, it was by that rare thing: a peaceful, leaderless revolution. The movement was guided by both the professional class and grassroots activists like Duaa Tariq, who helped organize protests as part of a neighborhood resistance committee and, as a founder of the socially conscious art group ColorSudan, seeded a path forward. In 2021, the military returned to power in a coup, and this year turned Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, into a war zone. ColorSudan responded with antiwar graffiti in the streets and drawing sessions to help children deal with trauma, efforts originating from the emergency-response rooms where residents keep the half-emptied capital running and a movement alive. By day, locals distribute what Tariq calls “decolonized and localized aid.” Night finds her among the young activists moving through the neighborhood chanting, “You’re safe. Don’t be scared … Even when it gets dark and ugly, we are here around you.”
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