Her actions two years ago – and those of other women whose voices were suddenly thrust into Sudan’s political discourse – helped convince the country’s armed forces to end Bashir’s three-decade Islamist regime, ushering in a fragile democracy. She was dressed in a striking white toub robe and reciting a revolutionary poem, and some called her Kandaka, a reference to the ancient Nubian queens of what is now Sudan who would lead warriors into battle. Alaa Salah became a symbol of resistance in 2019, when the young Sudanese student climbed on to a car outside Khartoum’s military garrison to rally the crowd demanding the removal of dictator Omar al-Bashir.
