On January 9th, citizens living in southern Sudan will vote on a
referendum to secede from the northern part of the country. A
clock in the town of Juba, the political center of southern
Sudan, counts down to this referendum, symbolical of the locals’
excitement to part from the hegemonic north. Nearby, the Darfur
genocide crisis that continues to plague the area is not an
isolated event. It’s all related, part of two brutal civil wars
that have been for decades tearing the nation apart; as of late,
literally. Sudan has traditionally been seen by many as the
bridge between the Arab and the African worlds—one not
particularly easy to cross. The north and the south of Sudan are
just about as culturally and religiously different from each
other as you could possibly imagine. In the north, Arab culture
dominates, and the majority religion is Islam. In the south, the
predominant culture is more traditionally sub-Saharan African,
and the primary religions are animist belief systems and
Christianity. Ever since the