Author Speaks About Sudan

Nigerian author Wole Soyinka, the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, argued that the Arab section of Sudan must confront its past and acknowledge its role in the violence in Darfur instead of remaining in a “state of amnesia.”

In a speech last night called “Darfur: Anything to do with Slavery?” Soyinka addressed the ongoing violence that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of displaced refugees.

Soyinka argued that Arabs played a historic role in the African slave trade, and a feeling of supremacy still prevails among the Janjaweed.

Soyinka said the Janjaweed are “motivated” by a mentality in which they see their victims as nothing more than slaves.

“You destroy a people if you treat them with disdain,” Soyinka said.

The speech at the Center for Government and International Studies drew a full house and was followed by a question-and-answer session with Soyinka.

Jacqueline Bhabha, executive director of the University Committee on Human Rights Studies, called the speech “brilliant.”

“He did an excellent job of contextualizing the problem within a broader context,” Bhabha said.

Soyinka, who won the Nobel Prize in 1986, is primarily considered a playwright, though his novels and poetry collections have also garnered critical acclaim. Soyinka, originally from western Nigeria, is also known for his political activism, including outspoken criticism of dictatorships in Nigeria and worldwide.

Fletcher University Professor Henry L. Gates, Jr., director of the Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, called Soyinka “Africa’s most eloquent voice for freedom and dignity.”

The event was co-sponsored by the Du Bois Center and the University Committee on Human Rights Studies. The event concludes the year-long Darfur Event Series.