Yolanda Ovide, the star of “Slave: A question of Freedom” advocates for a change in public perception of ayslum seekers.
The production which featured at the Lowry tells the amazing story of Mende Nazer, who was sold as a Slave in Sudan and taken to London in 2000.
Yolanda has urged people to do their research during black history month, and sends a message to this Labour government.
“We want to create awareness, get peoples voices heard, and try and get this Labour government to put their money where their mouth is.”
“For a lot of people black history month is about slavery 200 years ago, but there are still a lot of people who are suffering from slavery.”
“Mendes story was in the early 2000s, it is important for people to know that there is still work that needs to be done.”
“It is vital for people to look into modern day black hero’s, because Mende is one of those heroes.”
“We want people during black history month to do their research and support people and support the black lives matter movement.”
Who is Yolanda Ovide?
Yolanda is an actress, who has featured in productions such as “The importance of being earnest” and “Gangs of New York”. Yolanda has taken to acting since an early age.
“As a kid I would play make-believe games with my cousin, we would pretend to be wizards like in Harry potter, or pretend to be spies.”
“I knew then I had a thing for creating characters and art. I knew then this was the career for me.”
Why take on this role in “Slave: A Question of Freedom”?
“I didn’t know anything about this story when it was sent to me, so I decided to read her book.”
“I was blown away by how beautifully honest she had been able to articulate her life, before, during and after her enslavement.”
The play tells the story of Mende, a young girl born and raised in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, to convey the emphatic message: “No-one should be bought and sold.”
As Yolanda continued: “Normally when you hear about asylum seekers they are always someone else’s problem, they’re completely separate. Its always see as ‘them’, ‘they’re coming over here taking space’.”
“She has gone through such hardship. All she wanted to do was be free and return to her family.”
“Knowing how hard the system was for her and millions of other asylum seekers, tells me that something needs to a change on how we as an audience should view asylum seekers, and make it easier for people like them to go through the system.”
A moment of reflection
The international human rights group, Walk Free shared in their 2023 index that 174,000 people are currently living in modern slavery in Sudan.
This information showed how important the performance was to the message, as Yolanda added: “It was eye opening to know that this still happens in Sudan. Nothing has changed in the 70 years they haven’t been in British control”
“You never hear about anything that happens in Sudan in the news, so much support is needed, if I could spread awareness I would feel like I have done my job.”
The real Mende
“She was amazing, we were doing our rehearsals, then is ethereal figure came out in the theatre.
“She was stunning and had the most beautiful smile. Shes always smiling and makes you want to smile too.”
Yolanda added: “She was so warm, and she wouldn’t stop saying “thank you”, she was so grateful that we were telling her story, but were grateful for letting us tell her story.”
“It was amazing that someone like her with her story could still bring such a smile. That is something that I will never forget.”
What can we do to help?
“If you come and see the shows we always have Q&As, and we have leaflets about the Mende Nazer foundation, which helps people in the Nuba mountains in Sudan, they have been suffering with terrible droughts which means all their crops have died.”
“We have built schools and hospitals over there. Jess Philips has been a massive advocate for asylum seekers, we are encouraging people to email her for information after seeing our shows.”
The government has been contacted for comment, but with no reply.
Contact Jess Philips for more information: 020 7219 8703/jess.phillips.mp@parliament.uk
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