{"id":20539,"date":"2019-07-10T21:45:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T21:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2019\/07\/10\/once-a-symbol-of-freedom-sudans-pop-radio-station-has-fallen-almost-silent\/"},"modified":"2019-07-10T21:45:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-10T21:45:00","slug":"once-a-symbol-of-freedom-sudans-pop-radio-station-has-fallen-almost-silent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/once-a-symbol-of-freedom-sudans-pop-radio-station-has-fallen-almost-silent\/","title":{"rendered":"Once A Symbol Of Freedom, Sudan’s Pop Radio Station Has Fallen Almost Silent"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Eyder Peralta<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n “I’m trying to keep hope, because everyone is leaving, bro,” says Ahmad Hikmat, Content Director of Capital FM in Khartoum. “I am losing my team one by one.”<\/p>\n

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Yasuyoshi Chiba\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Yasuyoshi Chiba\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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When Omar al-Bashir<\/a> was ousted from the Sudanese presidency in April of 2019, there was an explosion of new culture in Sudan. In a country under strict Islamic law, suddenly, graffiti appeared on walls. Music of all kinds blasted from speakers. Men and women commingled openly at a protest camp in front of military headquarters. <\/p>\n

Standing as a stark example of these post-military crackdown changes is Capital FM \u2014 a popular music radio station that was at the center of the spring’s cultural revolution.<\/p>\n

“It was just so beautiful, and we were just so proud that we’re soulful,” Ahmad Hikmat, Capital FM’s content director, says as he recalls the creativity that Capital exuded. “You’d wake up in the morning, and you’d hear a song on Capital Radio was D’Angelo. Who would play D’Angelo in the morning, you know? It’s just 91.6 FM that would do that.”<\/p>\n

But the surge of cultural awakening ended when the military junta running the country violently broke up the protests in the capital city of Khartoum. Now, Capital FM, is fighting for survival.<\/p>\n