Azhari Mohamed Ali

Azhari Mohamed Ali (Arabic: أزهري محمد علي; born 19 November 1954), is a Sudanese poet and activist.[1]

Ali was born on 19 November 1954 in the village of Al-Makniyah, El Matamma, River Nile State.[2] He lost his parents when he was only four years old. He started his life as a worker in the textile factory in Al-Hasaheisa, then formed a duet with Mustafa Sayed Ahmed and Wad Al-Maqboul.[3][2]

Ali wrote extensively about revolution and protesting.[4] A line from his poem was recited by the Alaa Salah, “The bullet doesn’t kill. What kills is the silence of people”,[5] which has been a well-known slogan chanted by protesters during the 2018-2019 Sudanese protests and earlier in the 2011–2013 Sudanese protests.[6] During the Sudanese protests in 2021, Ali was physically assaulted by the police.[7] According to Ali, the police chocked him with a flag he was carrying, beaten him with hands and batons, tore his clothes while shouting a torrent of hurtful and obscene phrases.[7]

Ali’s son, Zaryab, died on 10 July 2021 in Paris from cancer.[8] Ali’s brother died an year later in September 2022.[9]