User:FuzzyMagma/Kandaka of the Sudanese Revolution

Kandaka of the Sudanese Sudanese Revolution (also known as Woman in White and Lady Liberty of Sudan ) is a photograph of Alaa Salah (آلاء صلاح, pronunciation: ), a student at the Sudan International University, chanting during the Sudanese anti-government protester. The image, taken by Lana Haroun during the 2018/2019 Sudanese Revolution, gained world-wide media attention and went viral in April 2019, described by several media organizations as "iconic" and was compared to Taking a Stand in Baton Rouge.

Background
Since December 2018, a series of protests against President Omar al-Bashir took place, demanding economic reforms and the resignation of the president. A state of emergency was declared in February 2019 as a result of the protests. 6 and 7 April saw the largest protests since the declaration of the state of emergency. In continuing protests, the army was seen protecting protesters from the security forces on 10 April. Eventually the protests led to the military removing al-Bashir from power, installing a transitional council in his place led by Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf, but the demonstrators, including Salah, claimed it was just a change of leadership of the same regime and demanded a civilian transitional council.

As protests continued, on 8 April Lana Haroun took an image of an initially unnamed woman dressed in a white thoub standing on a car, who spoke to and sang with other women around her during a sit-in near the army headquarters and the presidential palace. The image was widely shared on social media and caught international media attention. The image has been described as symbolic of the crucial role of women in the success of the demonstrations, since the vast majority of protesters, almost 70 per cent, have been women. Sudanese women played major political roles in Sudanese and Africa-wide human rights struggles since the 1950s via the Sudanese Women's Union, continued creating organisations such as the No to Oppression against Women Initiative in 2009, and remained politically active during the 2018–2019 Sudanese Revolution.

Salah's white robe, a traditional Sudanese thoub, recalled the dress of female Sudanese protesters against previous dictatorships, as well as that of student protesters who were referred to as "Kandakas" after ancient Nubian queens. Her golden earrings are traditional feminine wedding attire. Commentators called the pose "the image of the revolution". Hala Al-Karib, a Sudanese women's rights activist said: "It is a symbol of an identity of a working woman — a Sudanese woman that's capable of doing anything, but still appreciates her culture."

Another well-known image of these protests is a photograph by Japanese photographer Yasuyoshi Chiba of Agence France-Presse, showing a young man in Khartoum reciting protest poetry, while demonstrators chant slogans calling for civilian rule, that was selected as World Press Photo of the Year 2020.

Alaa Salah
Alaa Salah, born in either 1996 or 1997, was then a student studing engineering and architecture at Sudan International University in Khartoum. She gained world-wide media attention due to the photo. As a member of MANSAM, one of the main Sudanese women's networks who signed the 1 January 2019 Forces of Freedom and Change declaration, Salah gave a speech at the 29 October 2019 meeting of the United Nations Security Council, insisting that in the Sudanese transitionary institutions women should have equal representation to men.