Africa Is a Country

Vote Sudan

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

Vote Sudan

By
Sean Jacobs

The result may be a foregone conclusion, but it hasn't stop young Sudanese, via the Girifna Movement, working to get the vote out using music.

Tuti Beach. Khartoum, Sudan. Image credit Jedrek Burak via Flickr (CC).

Sudanese voters go to the polls from 11 April to 13 April 2010.  The result seems a foregone conclusion: The incumbent president, Omar al-Bashir, will probably be returned to power for three reasons: his control of state media, opposition parties are boycotting the vote and one of the opponents with a decent chance of challenging Bashir, the Southern Sudanese Yasir Arman, can’t make up his mind about running or not.  That said, I like the way young people are responding to the process. Like the Girifna Movement working to get the vote out using music.  In this case, the song “Vote!” by Alsara featuring Oddisee.  The music video uses images of Girifna members being arrested by police. Here’s a transcription of the lyrics (which are partly in Arabic):

O youth with limitless potential
protect April from destruction
come on, vote, participate
come on vote, participate

To the long beard and the prayer bead of lies, we say
the country is waiting to be lifted up
lets fulfill its beautiful dreams

(In English)
Let me cast my vote on this
get my people hope on this
i spoke on this in hope it gets
focused on like most of rifts
that occur in Africa
We gone try be socialist
Sudan we try to keep together
other folks they hope we split
so dont you sit up on your couch
get outside your house and stand
right next to your brother man
whether he from north or south
its not about your color and religion
its just politics
we can end the starving if involving being part of it
this is at the heart of it, votings just the start of it
pieces of the puzzle put together view the larger bit
sure were anonymous when talked about on CNN
proper camera, propaganda
im starting to see a trend
future we gone lead us in
Africa the power house, we fuel the globe
its time they know without us that their powers out
let me hear you shout it out
democracy for all Sudan
divided we will fall so together as a sword we stand

Via Hisham Aidi.

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