By Charles Mgbolu
Grammy-winning American music artiste Kendrick Lamar was at the climax of his performance at the highly publicised Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans when one of his on-field performers suddenly stopped dancing and unfurled a flag.
The flag bearing the colours of Sudan and Palestine had the words "Sudan" and "Gaza" written on it in protest over the two wars roiling the Middle East and Sudan in Africa’s northeast.
The audience in the packed stadium, on Sunday, was dancing and chanting Lamar’s famous line from his track “it’s probably A-minooooor” and didn’t immediately notice the performer who just a few seconds before was dancing in sync with hundreds of other Lamar performers.
The man clad in a black sweater jumped on a car used as a prop at the performance and waved to the flag before jumping down, running along the perimeter of the stage, still waving the Sudanese and Palestinian flags.
Security personnel at the stadium eventually noticed and gave a short chase before tackling him down. The Super Bowl game was attended by President Donald Trump.
The American football league (NFL) has confirmed the person was part of the 400-member field cast.
The company behind the halftime show, Roc Nation, said the protest was "neither planned nor part of the production and was never in any rehearsal."
What was the protest about?
In April 2023, Sudan became embroiled in a devastating civil war, pitting the Sudanese Armed Forces against the Rapid Support Forces. The conflict has resulted in widespread displacement, a humanitarian crisis, and thousands of civilian casualties.
Online, activists have long sought to draw attention to both Gaza and Sudan.
In August, American rapper Macklemore said he cancelled a concert in Dubai over the "humanitarian crisis" in Sudan.
Roc Nation, the entertainment company that produced the show, said that the protest act at Kendrick Lamar's show “was neither planned nor part of the production and was never in any rehearsal.”
Musician Kendrick Lamar has not commented on the incident.
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