Viral ‘Blue for Sudan’ campaign calls attention to crisis in African nation after deadly military crackdown
- Activists, influencers and celebrities express solidarity with protesters in attempt to spread awareness
- International concern over situation in Sudan has grown after security forces dispersed sit-in in Khartoum, killing dozens
Using the hashtag #BlueForSudan, activists, social media influencers and celebrities have begun a viral campaign to express solidarity for protesters in Sudan based simply around the colour blue.
International concern has grown in recent days over the situation in Sudan after the military earlier this month dispersed a sit-in in Khartoum leaving dozens of protesters dead.
But, unusually for a crisis in Africa, awareness has spread even to young people around the world as celebrities on social media, sometimes with tens of millions of followers, take up the cause.
According to activists writing on social media, the blue viral trend started after a protester named Mohamed Mattar was shot dead in Khartoum on June 3 during the crackdown. His favourite colour was reportedly blue.
It “started as a tribute to him, now turned to a symbol of all our martyrs, and their dreams of a better Sudan”, wrote a Twitter user calling himself Saad the Lion.
Many users have also replaced their profile pictures on Twitter and Instagram with the colour blue, a move that has found prominent backers.