When Emi Mahmoud was asked to comment on redneck sex videosrecent news — that the one-millionth South Sudanese refugee just crossed into Uganda to escape conflict, drought, and economic collapse — she decided to use her voice in a unique and powerful way.
The award-winning Sudanese-American slam poet, who was born in Darfur before seeking refuge in the U.S. and ultimately attending Yale University, released a new poem this week as a response. Called "Head Over Heels," the poem speaks to the crisis's latest harrowing milestone.
SEE ALSO: Young refugees launch digital magazine to tell powerful stories of struggle and triumph"My mind echoes through the numbers," she says. "One million gone, 400,000 dead in / Darfur, / two million displaced / and this lump takes over my throat as if each of those bodies just found a grave right / here in / my esophagus."
Throughout the video, produced by the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Mahmoud grapples with the reporter's question. She cycles through the things she should, or shouldn't, talk about: Sorrow? Displacement? Violence? "How it's never as simple as what you see on TV? / How there are weeks’ worth of fear before the camera is on?"
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Her perspective is sobering, but her stark words and turns of phrase are deeply moving. By the end of the poem, Mahmoud is able to keep focus on the crisis while simultaneously calling on the media to do better — to remember that these numbers don't mean the crisis isn't still happening:
Will it sting less if I say it softly?Will the pain leave when the microphone does?
If you don't see me cry will you listen better?Why does every word feel like I’m saying my last?Thirty seconds for the sound bite and now 3 minutes for the poem.My tongue goes dry, the same way we died—becoming ash without ever having been coal.I feel my left leg go numb and realize that I locked my knees,bracing for impact.I never wear shoes I can't run in.
More than 2 million South Sudanese refugees have fled to neighboring countries since December 2013, when conflict erupted in the capital city of Juba. Another 2 million people are estimated to be displaced within the country. An average of 1,800 South Sudanese have arrived in Uganda, specifically, every day for the past 12 months.
"I appeal to the leaders of South Sudan, to States in the region, and to the international community at large, to engage in more decisive and inclusive peace efforts," U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said at the Uganda Solidarity Summit on Refugees in June.
"The men, women, and children crossing into exile from South Sudan and from other countries today have the right to hope for a better future," he said. "One in which they can eventually return home, in safety and dignity."
The video of Mahmoud performing "Head Over Heels" is part of the larger #WithRefugees campaign. You can learn more about the campaign here, and watch Mahmoud's TED Talk from earlier this year here.
Topics Activism Social Good
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