From South Sudan to WTJU: Mannasseh Mathiang to be Interviewed on The Black Beat
By WTJU Rock
Date: 03/29/2023
Time: 9:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Visiting South Sudanese musician and human rights defender, Mannasseh Mathiang, will stop by the WTJU studios Wednesday evening, March 29, 9 – 11 p.m. for an interview with Leslie Scott-Jones on The Black Beat. Listen in on 91.1 FM or streaming wtju.net. The show will also be archived and available for two weeks after broadcast.
Manasseh Mathiang’s democratic advocacy can be summarized in two parts. Initially, Mathaing worked to have the Sudanese peace treaty approved, a treaty which allowed South Sudan to gain its independence. To do so, he developed a small network of artists who visited all the cities in Kenya with high populations of Sudanese citizens, encouraging them to vote for the treaty. He was clearly successful as studies have documented Kenya had the highest proportion of Sudanese voters in the context of the entire Sudan diaspora.
Moving to South Sudan and experiencing a continuation of conflict/violence, Mathaing created an artist network of over 1,000 artists/musicians who led a national campaign to force the warring parties to sign a peace treaty. When this peace treaty was approved, Mathaing found himself an object of government repression. He fled to Kenya, where he recently learned a warrant was out for his arrest.
Mathiang is the Executive Director and Founder of Hagiga Ltd, a social enterprise registered in Nairobi aimed at promoting freedom of Expression through art and storytelling. He also Co-Founded #Anataban (I am tired in simple Arabic), a youth led movement made up of thousands of creative South Sudanese around the country.
