Totally worth all the work I did making that. I’m an immigration solicitor, by the way.
‘I SHOULD CALL THEM’ is a pretty extraordinary record that often befits its officially capitalised title. It’s perhaps the 2024 album that’s most harmed by its release date. Fucking October eleventh?? I’ve had, like, six weeks to digest this motherfucker! And it isn’t an album that grabs you instantaneously. There’s one or two immediate bangers like want that provide the occasional thrust to the spine to ensure you’re still paying attention, but debut album proper from the Sudanese/American wunderkind is a subtle, dense and layered project that has continued to reveal more intricacies in each of the eight times I’ve listened to it today. Six weeks?? Geddafuggardahere!
Can we talk about Sudan for a second? Duah was born a member of the Tunjur tribe, a non-Arab Darfuri tribe. I know what you’re thinking: “What the fuck do you mean ‘Non-Arab‘?? Sudan’s in Africa, no shit they’re non-Arab!” Well… can I talk about my day job for a second?
In Sudan, there are tribes that consider themselves ‘Arab’. Cool, whatever, go with that, I don’t quite understand how and where the definitions come from, but some tribes claim to be descended from the Arabian peninsular. A bit like those really annoying Americans who claim to be Irish because they have a drinking problem and their great grandfather had red hair. And also like those annoying Americans, there are some members of these Arab tribes that are kind of fucking shit up.
See, alongside the Arab tribes, there are the ‘non-Arab’ tribes. So I guess these non-Arab tribes must have a different religion? Nope, they’re all Muslim. So they’re different language marks them out? Nope. I mean, there are ancient tribal languages all over the place that people might speak, but everyone speaks Sudanese Arabic. Different culture?? Not really, they’re all basically culturally Muslim. One of my jobs is representing unaccompanied asylum seeking children, the vast majority of which at the moment are Sudanese kids from non-Arab tribes. And I still couldn’t tell you what the difference is between Arab and non-Arab tribes. The problem is, many people from the Arab tribes say that there’s a huge difference. They call the non-Arab tribes ‘slaves’, ‘black’ and – get this – ‘African’. There are people in Africa – like Dua’s family – who are being persecuted against because they’re black Africans. Not being funny, but you’d think that the one place that black Africans wouldn’t be persecuted against…
This isn’t just a cute little oddity though. There is an actual genocide taking place in Sudan right now. The horrendous Janjaweed Arab militias, who have been terrorising Darfur for decades, have now been legitimatised and morphed into the almost formal sounding Rapid Support Force, and have absolutely decimated the country. And what a time to be alive when you have to regret that not enough people are paying attention because of the other genocide that’s happening.
If I can just quote from An Independent Inquiry into Breaches of the Genocide Convention in Darfur, Sudan
(April 2023—April 2024):
- Based on clear and convincing evidence, the RSF and allied militias have committed and are committing direct and public incitement to genocide
- Based on clear and convincing evidence, the following actors are complicit in the genocide, in standing breach of Art. III(e): Sudan, the UAE, Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR), and Russia via the actions of the Wagner Group under its effective control.
Sorry, this post has taken a turn, hasn’t it?
So what can we do? I don’t fucking know. Just be aware, don’t ever forget it’s happening, don’t let UAE to continue its gross sportswashing while it funds one of the world’s top two current genocides. Oh, what’s that, UAE? Women can drive now?? Well I guess that makes everything alright then! Also, they did 9/11. Bit weird how nobody cares about that.
Fuck! This was going to be a short post!
I’ve been telling you that Dua rules for ages, by the btw.
The Album Title As AI Image:
Yes. You should
Necessary Evil 
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