Here’s Why Kendrick Lamar’s Performer Waving a Sudan-Gaza Flag at the Super Bowl

Singer Nina Simone once said "An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times." Since October 2023, many big and small influencers have used their voice to address the two wars happening in the Middle East in Gaza and Sudan.

Sudan and Gaza have both been at war through their militaries. The war between the countries sparked more attention in the U.S. when one of Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl halftime show performers waved a flag with the words Sudan and Gaza in the air.

Here's the meaning behind the performer's act of resistance.

Gaza and Sudan experienced war simultaneously, though the people in both countries have been at war for multiple years. In October 2023, Hamas, a military group that has ruled Gaza since 2007, stormed across the border into Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages after years of tension between the countries, per AP. Israel fought back by starting a ground and air campaign across Gaza, killing more than 47,000 Palestinians.

The war ruined most of Gaza and left multiple Palestinians imprisoned and without the necessary resources. In January 2025, after nearly two years of keeping Palestinians in prison, a ceasefire was made, causing Palestine and Israel to release hostages and prisoners. Since then, President Donald Trump has suggested the U.S. “committed to buying and owning Gaza” during the Super Bowl on Feb. 9, 2025.

The AP further stated The Palestinians want the Gaza Strip and the West Bank for a future state of their own, with East Jerusalem as its capital. That long-sought, two-state solution for the decadeslong conflict is backed by Mideast nations and much of the international community. Israel expressed openness to the idea of resettling Gaza’s population, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling it "revolutionary."

Sudan has been in conflict since an uprising forced President Omar al-Bashir in 2019. Bashir's absence sparked a short-lived democracy that was overthrown when army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led a coup in 2021. Like Gaza, Sudan and the RSF have conflicted since 2023. The bloody civil war killed more than 28,000 people, forced millions to flee their homes, and left some families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive as famine swept parts of the country.

As both wars in Gaza and Sudan continue, those who have used their platforms to bring awareness to them are demanding he reconsider his plans to acquire Gaza.

In his quest to seek ownership of the Gaza Strip, Trump shared that he plans to ban Palestinians from ever returning to Gaza, forcing them to leave their homes behind.

Zül-Qarnaįn Nantambu, the performer who waved the Sudanese and Palestinian flags in the air, said he believes there is "good" in Trump that he hopes he uses to change his proposed restrictions.

"I hope God shifts Trump's heart to be empathetic and compassionate to those who are suffering in Palestine and do what is right by the Palestinians," Nantambu told NBC News in February 2025. "And if he can, help the Sudanese — which I'm sure he can."

The Super Bowl's security detained Nantambu after they noticed him waving the flag. They didn't press any charges, but the NFL said he would be banned from NFL stadiums and events for life. The halftime show's organizer, Roc Nation, also said they had no idea Nantambu would pull out the flag and said he acted alone. Nantambu said Kendrick's symbolic performance of the injustice in America inspired his move.