People Building Worker Power Institute JAWAHER ABBAS

Jawaher Abbas grew up with fourteen brothers and sisters in the city of Nyla, the capital of South Darfur in Sudan. Her family was not wealthy, but people cared about each other, and she remembers the years before the war broke out as some of the happiest in her life.

Jawaher’s neighborhood did not always have electricity, and she often studied under the light of the oil lamp, but she loved school, especially geography. When Jawaher’s teacher dared students to name the capitals of the world, she’d always be the first one to run toward the classroom’s map and point with her finger. But all this was cut short in 2003 when war broke out in her region between rebel forces and the Janjaweed, a Sudanese Arab militia who, along with Sudanese government forces, embarked on an ethnic cleansing campaign against non-Arabs in Sudan.

As the civilian death toll rose, Jawaher fled the country for Egypt and then the United States. But Jawaher’s first few years in the States were not easy. As a wheelchair van driver, Jawaher got paid a minimum wage, and while she often worked 14-18-hour days, she would only get paid for eight. In addition, she had to do so much heavy lifting that she suffered two miscarriages. After she suffered her third, she knew she had to take a break and recover her health.

During her recovery, Jawaher decided to enroll in a local community college. She had postponed her education for too long and knew that if she waited for the perfect time to register, that day would never come. One day, while walking to class, Jawaher was stopped by Naomi, Worker Power’s canvasser, who urged her to register to vote. Jawaher did not know how to answer. She understood Naomi’s words but did not comprehend the concept, so she asked, “What does it mean to register to vote?”

In Sudan, one could get killed for registering people to vote, let alone cast their vote. Jawaher never had a chance to vote before. The idea of voting and that one can help others cast their vote appealed to her so much that she wanted to do exactly what Naomi did – help people register to vote and voice their choice.

Since 2018, as part of Worker Power’s field organizing team, Jawaher has registered hundreds of people to vote. Many of them have never voted in their life. She tells us, “When I knock on someone’s door, I know I have an important role to play. I am there to persuade them that they are important enough, that they matter, and that their vote matters. When you don’t vote, you lose your democracy, and democracy is too precious to lose.”

Today, Jawaher keeps a large world map at her home, right behind her desk. She likes getting lost in a spiderweb of distant rivers, roads, and countries on the map. “Looking at the world atlas makes me happy. It reminds me of my childhood, the school I attended, and the fact that we are all connected,” she says.