Sudanese Ex-Slave, Refugee, and Activist Speak at Brandeis (Press Release)

Sudanese Ex-Slave, Refugee, and Activist Speak at Brandeis

Brandeis University Hosts Interfaith Dialogue on Sudan Genocide

BOSTON — A survivor of the genocide in Darfur whose grandfather was burned alive by Arab militiamen, a young man who escaped from slavery in northern Sudan, and a human rights activist on the frontlines of the struggle against slavery and genocide in Sudan are coming to Brandeis University for an interfaith dialogue on the Sudan crisis.

Mohamed Yahya, Simon Deng, and Charles Jacobs will be the featured panelists at a symposium on Tuesday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. in Lown Auditorium (415 South St., Waltham, MA). The event is sponsored by Brandeis University's Okapi! Magazine and co-sponsored by several Brandeis groups, including the African dance club, Students for a Just Society, and College Democrats.

Yahya will present on the experience of African Muslims in Darfur, who face a campaign of genocide waged by the Arab Muslim-dominated regime in Khartoum. Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir was recently named the world's No. 1 dictator by Parade Magazine, and his armed forces are responsible for the deaths over 100,000 civilians in Darfur and the displacement of at least 1 million people.

Deng, who escaped after being held as a slave for several years by an Arab master in northern Sudan, will discuss the racism directed against Africans in Sudanese society. "We are called Abeed," notes Deng. "This word in Arabic means 'slave.'" Deng was recently profiled on BET's Nightly News and in the Christian Science Monitor.

Jacobs, the co-founder and chairman of the American Anti-Slavery Group, will speak about the failure of the international community, the academic community, and the human rights community to address a genocide in Sudan that is over half a century old. He will recount the many obstacles faced by the abolitionist and anti-genocide movement and discuss why the United Nations has repeatedly failed in Sudan.

"As college students we have a desire to fight injustices...and I think to hear it from actual people, who live in that region of the world would be enlightening to college students," commented Herschel Hartz, Brandeis student and event organizer.

The American Anti-Slavery Group (AASG) is America's leading human rights group dedicated to abolishing modern-day slavery worldwide. Since its founding in 1994, AASG has helped free over 80,000 slaves and has been working to end the Sudan genocide for a decade.

To schedule interviews with Mohamed Yahya, Simon Deng, and Charles Jacobs, contact Liora Kasten at (617) 426-8161.