OUR ORIGINS
The Darfur Diaspora Collective was created in response to the ongoing marginalization of Darfur within both national and international conversations about Sudan.
Our region has lived through genocide, mass displacement, and repeated cycles of violence, yet Darfur is still treated as something separate or secondary rather than central to the country’s reality.
Beginning in 2003, Darfur was targeted through a campaign of mass killings, forced displacement, and the destruction of villages and community life. Millions of people were driven into camps or forced to flee. Families were scattered across borders, often with no way back and no clear future. This violence did not happen in isolation. It was shaped by long standing anti Blackness and by a political system that made it easier to harm Darfuri people and harder to care when they were harmed.
For many of us, life in the diaspora began out of necessity. We grew up between places, carrying stories of loss, survival, and responsibility. We learned early how to translate ourselves, how to explain where we are from, and how to live with the feeling that our experiences did not fully belong anywhere. At the same time, Darfuri communities abroad have continued to support families back home, send resources, organize quietly, and keep culture alive without recognition or infrastructure.
In the current war, Darfur is once again facing targeted violence and mass displacement. The silence surrounding these events feels familiar. Attention comes late, if at all, and accountability remains out of reach. For those of us living outside Sudan, this has meant watching people we love face the same dangers again while having little access to the spaces where decisions are made.
The Darfur Diaspora Collective exists because we refused to stay fragmented and unheard. It is a space to bring Darfuri people together across generations and borders, to share knowledge, support one another, and speak for ourselves. The Collective works to challenge anti Blackness, resist erasure, and assert Darfur as central to Sudan’s story and future
For all those in the diaspora who are ready to move beyond isolation and silence, the Darfur Diaspora Collective offers a way to connect, contribute, and build together. Our work depends on participation, care, and shared commitment.
