5K for Sudan Held in Wake Forest

Image credit: Claire Hambrick

On May 24, around 100 runners gathered at E. Carroll Joyner Park in Wake Forest for a 5K race supporting Sudanese refugees. The race, organized by businesses like Green Door Garden and groups such as the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) Triangle, raised money for Hope and Haven Refugees, an aid group that provides education, medical care, and other critical services. The event also raised awareness of the destabilizing role of U.S. foreign policy in Sudan since its 2019 revolution.

Before the race, members of Code Pink NC, Muslim Women For, and other groups gave brief remarks. One speaker was a Sudanese refugee who said:

“Back in 2003 through 2005, in Darfur region, we got attacked by genocides. It was like 4 a.m. in the morning and our village was attacked. I was with my mom and two sisters. It was random shooting all over the village and the genocide burning the villages. When people coming out from the fire, they shoot them … at the time my mom and sisters we had to walk 35 kilometers to go to a United Nations shelter.”

After time for a Muslim prayer and warm-up exercises, runners completed four laps around the park's track. A participant wearing a Sudan flag tank-top led the pack throughout the race and finished first. Many runners wore white shirts with a map of Sudan and the slogan “Between Two Niles Lies Revolution." Volunteers at the finish line handed out hibiscus refreshers and dates.

The event's organizers said the 5K was “grounded in supporting the Sudanese people and their right to freedom, peace, and justice.”

Alongside the race, vendors sold items such as athletic wear for hijabis, potted plants from Green Door Garden (which is Sudanese-owned), and Arabesque art prints. Community members sipping coffees or smoothies browsed leftist and anti-imperialist flyers offered by various groups. Kids played soccer on the lawn or searched for hidden toys to exchange for candy prizes from volunteers.

The 5K drew support from Zül-Qarnaįn, the performer who waved Sudanese and Palestinian flags during the Super Bowl halftime show. He said, “We need you to come out and support those who are oppressed, those who have been through so much in this life.”

The U.S. bears indirect responsibility for the Sudan’s civil war. After the grassroots-led December Revolution in 2019 ousted dictator Omar al-Bashir, a transitional government emerged. Generals Burhan and Hemedti, figures associated with the old regime, overthrew the transitional government in a 2021 coup. During this period, hundreds of democracy activists were killed by government forces.

The U.S. ignored the Sudanese democracy movement. Instead, it prioritized actors in Sudan that supported the Abraham Accords. Generals Burhan and Hemedti both supported the agreements. The American strategy of working with the generals collapsed in 2023 when Burhan and Hemedti turned on each other. In the civil war that followed, hundreds of thousands of Sudan’s people have been killed. The U.S. has not strongly supported either side of the conflict. However, it has not pressed neutrality on close allies like Egypt and the UAE, who support opposite sides.