In today’s episode of Don’t Call Me Resilient, Nisrin Elamin, assistant professor of anthropology and African studies at the University of Toronto, paints a grim picture of life in Sudan today. She says the current conflict, which exploded on April 15, 2023 and involves two warring military regimes, is devastating both rural and urban communities. But Elamin also identifies small pockets of hope. With famine looming and in the absence of a properly functioning government, grassroots groups are stepping in to help people survive.

Elamin explains how the current war in Sudan is part of a long legacy of corrupt military rule and land dispossession that have plagued Sudan since its independence from British rule in 1956.

As a result of the current war, more than 10 million people have been displaced from their homes, making Sudan home to the largest displacement of people in the world. A new report by a Dutch think tank says that if no changes occur on the ground, 2.5 million Sudanese people could die of famine by September.

Even though what’s happening in Sudan may feel far removed, Elamin urges Canadians to realize it might be closer than we think. And it’s not just about our politicized Canadian refugee programs — evidenced recently in discrepancies between programs for refugees from Gaza and Sudan and those from Ukraine.

War is big business, she says. And Canadians likely have a role to play. “We are complicit… through our pension funds, our university endowments and some of our personal investments.”

Speaking of university endowments, students on campuses across Canada continue to push their universities to divest from assets that “sustain Israeli apartheid.” Today, Pratim Sengupta, professor of learning science at the University of Calgary (who appeared on the May 16 episode of Don’t Call Me Resilient), writes with two co-authors about how universities should “aspire to dignity-affirming dialogues” with their student protesters who, he says, are currently demonstrating the best of their critical education.

Thank you for listening!

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Note: We've got a late-breaking article about the Trump guilty verdict. Tomorrow's newsletter will have more on this important development.

• Trump found guilty in hush money trial, but will it hurt him in the polls? Here’s why voters often overlook the ethical failings of politicians

Also today:

• Honest dialogue is needed to help build consensus around solar radiation modification technology
• International study cap: How some private companies are marketing tech and AI solutions
• How to know when it’s time to quit therapy
• Student protests: How the university perpetuates colonial violence on campus
• For better or worse, unions have always taken a stand on global issues

All the best.