Sudanese refugee and activist speaks on importance of speaking up and organizing

Muhamed Abubakr, a civil and human rights activist from Sudan, spoke Wednesday about how his experiences as a refugee from the Sudanese Civil War made him value activism. 

At 14, he co-founded a Sudanese aid organization which gave aid to upward of 1,500 children and other vulnerable groups. Since then, he has led and worked with many other organizations that work to support women, the LGBTQ community and other persecuted groups.

“I have always been concerned with women’s rights not just for altruistic reasons but for my sisters," Abubakr said. "When I get engaged with all of these different causes like LGBT rights, it’s specifically for the people I know and who are affected by my silence.”

Rabbi Jenny Solomon, the senior Jewish educator for NC Hillel, spoke about the continued relevance of refugees in our world.

“As Jews, we have been refugees so many times over and it’s so much a part of our story but we’re certainly not the only ones," she said. "We’re living in a time when many people feel very vulnerable and one of the most powerful things we can do is hear each other’s stories.”

Abubakr said Sudan in the early 90s was an interesting time and place to be growing up, as he witnessed his country devolve from a progressive society into one where women were second class citizens.

“In the mid-90s, for the first time, I watched my sisters leave the house in hijabs — it was the law — and the looks on their faces is still imprinted in my memory," he said. "It was a turning moment for me and had everything to do with the person I turned out to be. I became a person who reacts constantly to whatever surrounds him and I got involved with women’s rights and it only moved from that point on.”

Sophomore Laurel Cunningham said she is personally interested in the topic of refugees so she was excited to attend the event.

“I think I get caught up in the momentum surrounding empowering refugees and I forget about how hard it is in reality, and Muhamed really brought this to light," Cunningham said. "His work is gritty, underground and difficult. That was a really important reminder for me to hear.”

Abubakr said the Sudanese Civil War changed the people who lived through it in ways he didn’t think were possible.

“The government distributed weapons among people and asked to shoot to kill and we will take care of everything. I’ve seen people go from the very kind people I grew up around to being a scene from a horror movie," he said. "People were killed left and right. It’s a level of violence that I hope that you never have to be exposed to and live with the after taste of watching that.”

With regard to the current circumstances for refugees in the US, Abubakr stressed the importance of activism on an individual level by any means possible.

“People are really terrified of maybe being forced to go back to countries where they are no longer welcome and people standing up in airports and protesting is actually the only source of comfort they have at this point," he said. 

"I think it will be forever appreciated. Please keep doing what you do, keep protesting, be loud, be supportive, it’s literally the only thing they have.”

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