Sudan
A black slice of land of an even blacker continent in need of a savior
Sudan,
Covered in darkness, from the sable skin of it’s people to their backward, dark-ages, unilluminated thoughts
Sudan,
Ruled by gloom, riches wasting coated with soot
Foolish people following old traditions and blind religion
Cue the knights in shining armor, ivory skin glowing in the bright African sun
Making capes of their legislation and slaves of my people
“Divide and Conquer” and divided they made us
1956 came and we were once again free
But free from the consequences we will never be
Embedded in our brains are their foreign ideologies
Judgement based on religion and race is now our mentality
For you have paved the way for further corruption
And our women’s wombs new colonizers have erupted
Their only aim to fill their pockets with the riches of the land
Preaching a false Islam we have never known
Twisting and manipulating words to fit their goals
And you claim to have brought civilization to our doors
But what we knew before you is civilization you will never know
Have you seen my people before you came?
The blood of the Kandaka* will forever run through our veins
*Kandaka: Ancient Sudanese warrior queens. The ancient Kush kingdom of Sudan revered women and was considered a very sophisticated and civilized kingdom.
I wrote this poem as a response to the “Swallows of Kabul.” After reading the book, I was struck with the idea of colonialism and what it does to people. Being from a country that was colonized by the British, I can see first-hand the effects of this colonialism. It always strikes me how different things could have been if we were not colonized. How our morals and ideologies would have been if they remained untouched.
In this poem I attempted to write, I explore the false pretense that colonizers use to rob a country of it’s sovereignty. We often hear of the west claiming that our part of the world is undeveloped, uncivilized and follows a religion that is backward in thinking. Through this poem I try to expose this false notion by referencing old civilized sudanese kingdoms. I also touch upon the consequences of colonization that are still felt today. Everything from the secession of South Sudan, to our twisted morals can be traced back to colonialism.