As another civil war looms in Sudan, we review its history of kingdoms, powerful women, missionaries and messianic revolutions, civil wars and diversity.

According to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Sudan is on the brink of a full-scale civil war, the consequences of which may be calamitous, destabilizing a wide region, including the Horn of Africa and parts of the Middle East. Sudan itself is in a state of disaster. For example, in a country of less than 50 million, about 3 million people have been displaced from their homes. There are many reports of indiscriminate killings, mass graves, and towns razed to the ground in Darfur, where the violence is morphing into its new horrifying phase of ethnic war. As a reminder, Darfur is a region already ravaged by decades of genocidal atrocities.

When it comes to talking about Sudan, and many other countries about which we woefully know very little, I think it helps to give some depth and dimension to the news in different ways, ways that help us understand the human face of Sudan.

Sudan is a complicated country with a rich history, some of which will be familiar to us. For example, what if I tell you that Sudan's history and its civilizations have been inspirational for African Americans? In fact, many prominent African Americans have traveled there - like Al Sharpton and Malcolm X. Although they have traveled to distinctly different regions of Sudan, they have made the journey for the same purpose: for what Sudan's civilization and history represent - a long history of kingdoms and powerful queens, a vibrant crossroad between the variety of distinct cultures in Africa's East and West, and the different races and colors of peoples, black and white from South to North, and between Islam and Christianity. Basically, Sudan has been a veritable melting pot for centuries.

In this episode, my guest, Dr. Christopher Tounsel of the University of Washington takes us through this rich history. And he personalizes the story for us by telling us why Sudan is important to him as an African American. Dr. Tounsel is an historian of modern Sudan, with a special focus on race and religion as political technologies. His first book, published in 2021, is Chosen Peoples: Christianity and Political Imagination in South Sudan. It's a book that we discuss here, and I begin the discussion by asking him what he exactly means by "political imagination". His answer opens a window to twists and turns of history, which caught him by surprise as he was writing his dissertation on Sudan's history...

Dr. Tounsel is now working on his second book, Bounds of Blackness: African Americans, Sudan, and the Politics of Solidarity. As you will note, he is very excited to tell us about this upcoming book, and I am very excited to be the first podcast host with whom he shares it. To learn more about Dr. Tounsel, you can visit his academic homepage.

Also, here is our prior podcast regarding Ethiopia's history.

I hope you enjoy these episodes.

Adel

Host of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠History Behind News⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ podcast

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