Why Is Everyone Making Their Social Media Profile Pictures Blue?

You might have noticed people on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook have changed their profile pictures to a specific shade of blue. It’s a sign of solidarity with the people of Sudan.

I need you to give Sudan the same attention y’all gave to an empty building; Notre Dame de Paris.

Paint IG, FB, Twitter blue for #Sudan; Screenshot & make the pic below your profile picture. #PrayforSudan #SudanMassacre #SudanUprising #FreeSudan #IAmSudanRevolution pic.twitter.com/T3u0RhwDaF

— Gonca Aydın (@gncaydnn) June 12, 2019

Celebrities like Demi Lovato and Sophia Bush turned their Instagram profile pictures blue following a military confrontation in Sudan in early June that left more than 100 protesters dead.

Why Blue?

The military crackdown also resulted in the death of 26-year-old engineer and Brunel University graduate Mohamed Hashim Mattar, whose favorite color was blue. His death sparked the profile picture as well as the hashtag #BlueforSudan.

Mattar posted this tweet in 2013:

I paint the sky blue

(@Akidnamedmattar) May 6, 2013

According to The New York Times, the death toll makes the attack the deadliest incident since April, when Omar al-Bashir, the country’s dictator for 30 years, was forced out of power and arrested by military forces.

Doctors in Khartoum reported in the aftermath of the raid there were more than 70 rapes, according to The Guardian. In addition, at least 700 people were reportedly injured.

Faithwire: Eritrean Government Orders Closure of All Catholic-run Health Facilities in the Country, Forces Patients to Leave

There has also been a blackout of nearly all internet and telephone services in Sudan, making it very difficult to spread necessary information, BuzzFeed News reported.

Regardless, pro-democracy demonstrators plan to continue protesting their government.

Who Started it?

The effort to encourage people to turn their social media profile pictures blue was started by 25-year-old Remaz Abdelgader from Washington, D.C.

 

 

 

 

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PLEASE DONATE to sudan, using link in my bio. Just 5$ or even 1$ and place a blue heart emoji if you’ve donated below. It’s a great start. •Please WRITE to your members of Congress , condemn the violence used. Text the word RESIST to 50409 and an automated bot allows you to write a letter to them. Express your need to see the Sudanese people attain a democratic and civilian led government. Ask for a meeting, we’ve been lobbying here in DC, and have had senators and congressmen/women issue statements. There are even hearing happening currently in congress discussing the Sudanese uprising. This is largely due to our efforts in the diaspora to engage them. We are doing something more than just updating our dp to mattar blue. • Please also PRAY for sudan. Never underestimate the power of prayer. • Please also repost any news you see pertaining to sudan, we are the only voice they have rn. Screenshot this photo and change your profile picture on IG. This is an effort to raise awareness as we the sudanese diaspora are the only voice. The internet has been completely turned off in sudan. The government has shut it down in order to conceal its massacres and crimes against civilians. On the 29th day of Ramadan Janjawid militia burnt peaceful protestors alive in their Revoultion tents, threw live bodies into the Nile river, anchored with stone bricks to ensure they drowned, shot over 100 peaceful protestors dead, raped little girls, grown men and female medical doctors and so many more atrocities I can’t go on. Please change your profile photo and let the world know what’s happening. We cannot be silenced. United we stand, divided we fall. Our strength is in our unity. This specific shade of blue is in honor of the martyr Mohammed Mattar. @mattar77 Rest In Peace king. This shade of blue was his profile pic on IG and as a symbol to honor ALL martyrs we’ve changed our dp into blue. Rest In Peace courageous souls we’ve lost. But not in vain. The Revoultion continues . A civilian led democratic government will come to reality and the Sudanese people’s dreams will be actualized. #tasgotbas #iamsudanrevolution #sudancivildisobedience #sudanuprising and as a

A post shared by Remaz Mahgoub Khalaleyal (@reresolve_) on Jun 11, 2019 at 6:08am PDT

She told BuzzFeed News she came across Mattar’s social media accounts and noticed he had posted photos of that specific shade of blue. Though it was her post that ultimately went viral, Mattar’s family and close friends had already changed their profile pictures to match Mattar’s social media accounts.

“When I read up on it, I found that it was started by the family and friends of one of the martyrs, Mohammed Mattar,” Abdelgader said. “However, this shade of blue has now turned into an international symbol of solidarity.”

Christian persecution has also been prevalent in Sudan, as Faithwire has reported. Converts to Christianity have been targeted, while Bibles (until recently) had been restricted from being imported into the nation.