MIZIZI Releases New Soccer Jersey Paying Homage to the Sudan Uprising

MIZIZI, a US-based streetwear brand for the African Diaspora, announces the arrival of its new Sudan Soccer Jersey dedicated to Sudan and its uprising. The jersey has been available for purchase online since 1 January 2020, marking Sudan’s 63rd Independence Day.

The Sudanese Soccer Jersey was designed in light of the recent Sudan Uprising, which began in December 2018 with anti-government protests, leading to the ousting of former Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir. A joint 11-member military-civilian Sovereign Council is now in power for a three-year period until democratic elections take place in 2022.

MIZIZI has designed the jersey in blue following #BlueforSudan or the Mattar Blue Movement, which saw millions around the world change their profile picture to a dark shade of blue following the death Mohammed Hashim Mattar and at least 100 others on 3 June 2019.

‘It was originally inspired after seeding our last Sudan basketball jersey to the athlete and activist Ehab El Tayeb back in November. We started getting requests for another Sudan jersey and with independence day right around the corner, I started doing more research on what was happening within the Sudanese community, what they experience, and how to genuinely relate with what we create,’ said Ghanian-American Paakow Essandoh, the Chief and Founder of MIZIZI.

MIZIZI will be contributing a percentage of the Sudan Soccer Jersey’s proceeds to Sudan’s first women’s football/soccer team, Al Di’faa, which recently formed as a reflection of the new government’s aspirations to push for a wider acceptance of women sports players within the county.

In the front, the jersey says Sudan in both English and Arabic and includes a crescent or hilal to the top right and the MIZIZI logo to the top left. In the back, it says MIZIZI followed by the number 1956, which is the year Sudan gained independence from the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, the joint British and Egyptian government that administrated Sudan. The jersey is 100% polyester fabric and full sublimation printed for optimal comfort.

Reminding the African Diaspora to ‘stay rooted’, MIZIZI was founded in 2015 by Essandoh while he was a freshman at the University of South Florida. ‘It came together as a result of me being lonely and questioning my identity in a new city…I was inspired by a friend who used to wear modern Kenyan clothing to the dining halls. I originally drew mock-ups for MIZIZI to be everything from head to toe, hats, shirts, pants, shoes, all with African fabric stitched into it. But after a series of trials and tribulations over the course of two years and really developing the idea more, I decided to build the brand around sports jerseys and have been running with it ever since,’ he said.

The Sudan Soccer Jersey campaign was orchestrated by creative director, Temi Thomas, designed by Kenneth William Obeng, captured by photographer Kwei Yanful visually told by cinematographer Aaron Lewis and modelled by Grace Lul and Amal Rudwan.

For more information or to purchase a Sudan Soccer Jersey, visit MIZIZI’s website.